Solving 5 Challenges In Digital Marketing For Manufacturers

Digital marketing is an ever-changing landscape with continuous updates to tools, algorithms, and best practices – but given that manufacturers have longer sales cycles, larger purchases, and multiple target industries, industrial marketers face their own unique set of challenges. We’re covering the top 5 digital marketing challenges for manufacturers that we see today and how to overcome them.

1. Building an Email List

Purchasing an email list is usually not the best idea since there are no guarantees the contacts will have any interest in your product or service. Without having a prior connection with your business, recipients are less likely to engage with you and most likely to flag your emails as spam, which can affect your company’s reputation.

Solution

Think about creating meaningful content that targets the type of customers you wish to do business with. Then build landing pages with opt-in forms for website visitors to exchange their contact information for your content.

2. Outdated Tools & Technology

Many manufacturers may not have the proper tools or tracking methods in place to develop a strong digital marketing strategy. This may be due to budget, team size, or even existing contract obligations. But the reality is that data tracking and analyzing are the driving force behind the best sales and marketing decisions. 

Solution

Adopting new digital tools like customer relationship management software and marketing automation platforms can help streamline the process of data collection and in turn, drive results. Although the setup and testing may take time and some money, the outcome is worth that investment. Start with a free tool like Google Data Studio to put some basic reports together. As you learn the tool you can begin to set up more detailed reports. 

3. Insufficient Content

It’s been proven that B2B customers aren’t making purchases without doing their research first. Customers have become more self-reliant in searching for information online to help them select the right product or service. However, if searchers aren’t finding the information they need and instead are encountering confusing or poor-quality content, they will surely look elsewhere.

Solution

Make sure you’re creating quality content that directly answers the questions and concerns of your audience. There are a number of tools available to you to find out exactly what your users are searching for  – The perfect resource to spark content ideas!

4. Outdated Website

Most buyers prefer to self-educate, research, and select suppliers on their own time. They don’t necessarily want to speak to a salesperson until they are ready to make their purchasing decision. Having a user-friendly and informative website to engage visitors is crucial, but some manufacturers don’t have the expertise or time to update their websites.

Solution

Start with “small” updates that can make a big impact:

• Does your homepage clearly state the purpose of your business in 1-2 sentences?
• Do you have clear and enticing call-to-actions on each page?
• Have you updated your title tags and meta descriptions to include keywords?
• Is the content on your website current and accurate?

Once you’ve tackled these basic website needs, you can move on to additional changes like design and functionality to match your competitors.

5. Lead Management 

It’s important to realize that not all leads are created equally and therefore it’s a smart idea to pursue different leads in different ways. Someone who fills out a form to download an ebook is very different from someone filling out a form to request a quote. The latter may be considered as a sales-qualified lead (SQL) who is interested in buying your product or service now without the need for more information. The former is a marketing qualified lead (MQL), someone who is interested in your product or service but needs more information before buying it.

Solution

Recognizing the difference between MQLs and SQLs is critical in turning leads into revenue. Using customer relationship management software lets you keep track of the steps your leads complete and helps you prioritize which leads to follow up with and when.

If you’re a manufacturer or in the B2B space and are currently facing any challenges with your marketing strategy, feel free to reach out to Top Floor. We have decades of expertise in digital marketing for manufacturers and B2B companies and would love to help point you in the right direction. Contact us today!