When 27% of your audience is online during their buying journey, you need to promote your products online. After all, the goal of any B2B company is to communicate its products to other businesses. This is so that they can connect with them and turn other companies into customers.
Manufacturing marketing has become an essential component of B2B manufacturing companies. It helps manufacturers build relationships, increase sales, and achieve growth by promoting their products and services.
But how do you go about creating an effective B2B manufacturing marketing strategy? You can either hire a manufacturing marketing company or design the plan yourself. This article lists five essential steps to creating a marketing plan that is sure to succeed.
Hiring a Manufacturing Marketing Agency
The projected revenue for the industry this year is $8.18 trillion, as compared to last year’s $7.94 trillion. This means the market is becoming more competitive. So it’s important to create not just a marketing plan but an effective one.
But starting and running a manufacturing business is already time-consuming enough. How, then, can you develop and implement a marketing strategy while maintaining your business?
That’s where marketing agencies for manufacturing companies come in. These agencies specialize in helping manufacturers expand their brands and customer bases. Working with a manufacturing marketing agency lets you work with a team of marketing experts. Their main priority is to establish long-term and short-term success for your company.
But should you immediately ask for help from manufacturing marketing agencies? Before you can hire one, make sure you’re experiencing the following signs:
1. You Don’t Know Where to Start
Manufacturers aren’t often the experts in the marketing field. It can be overwhelming to design a successful marketing plan. If that’s your case, you’ll likely find yourself lost in your marketing journey. When this happens, it’s time to hire a manufacturing marketing agency to position your business for success.
2. Your Team Is Busy
Manufacturing companies sometimes find themselves lacking the time and resources for marketing. Because of this, you can consider partnering with a manufacturing marketing agency. They will help your team focus on other facets of your company while also optimizing future marketing initiatives.
3. You Need an Outsider’s Point of View
Customer behaviors are evolving, and so should your marketing plan as well. Manufacturers using old tricks like trade shows won’t see much success in their marketing efforts. Instead, diversify your plan with fresh ideas from a manufacturing marketing agency. With such innovative ideas, you can attract and convert new leads.
Creating Your Own B2B Manufacturing Marketing Plan
You also have the option of creating your own strategy, but marketing your products is easier said than done. It’s not just about posting on social media or publishing content on your website. You don’t market your services blindly. If you want your marketing efforts to succeed, you need a plan.
While each plan is different for every B2B business, the steps to create one are pretty much the same. Follow the steps below to develop a manufacturing marketing plan that fits your business needs. You can also hire a manufacturing marketing agency to help with these steps.
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Before you start creating a marketing plan, you first need to know who you’re marketing to. Researching your target market is one of the cornerstones of a successful marketing strategy. Without a clear picture of your target audience, you’re setting up your strategy for failure. That’s why you need to develop a comprehensive buyer persona.
Developing a B2B Manufacturing Buyer Persona
Buyer personas are like stereotypes of the types of people interested in your products. Their profiles include everything about your ideal customers, such as their relevant habits. By understanding your buyer personas, you can put all your time and effort into pursuing qualified leads.
To develop the right buyer persona for your manufacturing company, you need to get the following reports:
- Your target company’s information
- Their demographic data
- Their content consumption
- Their purchase and visit behavior
- Their cohort behavior
This step has to go well before you proceed to the next one. But coming up with an accurate description of your buyer persona can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. That’s why companies get help from marketing agencies for manufacturers.
These agencies gather and analyze data from your target audience through market research and surveys. They, then, use this information to create detailed profiles. These serve as your guide to developing an effective strategy that reaches and resonates with these people.
2. Set Your Goals
Every plan has a goal, and so should your manufacturing marketing plan. Your goals are what sets the direction of your marketing initiatives. They affect the kind of content you publish and on which marketing platform you share it. Having both short- and long-term goals lets you work backward to know how to get your business where you want it to go.
Are you trying to generate leads or promote a new product? Do you want to establish your brand or scale your business? Whatever your reason, your marketing goals will fall into one of these three categories:
- To inform: You’re more likely to inform when you’re about to release a new product or service. Then, your marketing plan should be about adding value and connecting with your target market.
- To persuade: This is about convincing your market that your company is better than your competitors.
- To remind: Reminding means showcasing why your existing market loves and is loyal to you. You can promote your quality service or offer discounts on your products.
Establishing SMART Goals
Your marketing goals depend on what your company needs and are different from those of other manufacturers. But you need to make sure that your goals are SMART.
Establishing specific and measurable goals lets you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your strategy. The keywords here are “specific” and “measurable.” This means using accurate data to establish a timeframe and criteria for measurement. You can’t just set a deadline for one goal without knowing definite facts about your company.
For example, what are your manufacturing company’s financial capabilities? Can your sales team achieve a 30% sales revenue increase within a specific timeframe? Do you have the right tools to make your marketing goals happen?
Working with a manufacturing marketing agency helps you gather all relevant data for your goals. They develop a deeper understanding of your products and services, as well as gain insights into your market and competition. You’ll also be working with experts who know how to measure your goals.
3. Determine your Brand Message and Positioning
Your branding message outlines who you are and what you do as a B2B manufacturing company. It’s the foundation of all your marketing efforts and puts you at the top of your field.
Your brand messaging should be consistent while also considering your buyer personas. It should take into account what each persona needs while maintaining a clear sense of your brand.
Speak Your Customers’ Language
Whether you’re new to business or not, you need a great messaging strategy. It’s the language you use to communicate with both existing and new customers. And as time changes, so, too, does the language that your target market uses.
For example, millennial B2B buyers are more involved in the decision-making process of buying goods. Their searches are mostly for generic terms instead of looking up specific brands. Speaking the language of your customers will give you a greater marketing advantage.
4. Learn The Different Marketing Strategies For Manufacturers
At this point, you know who and why you’re marketing your products. You also have an idea of what language to use for your specific market. Now it’s time to determine the “what” of your strategy.
To do this, you need to consider all the marketing strategies you can use to meet your goals. Your marketing strategy as a B2B manufacturer likely includes basic marketing techniques. This means developing a website and using email marketing.
This is also the right time to venture a bit beyond your comfort zone and use some of these strategies as well.
Remember that you can use one or a combination of these strategies. Working with a manufacturing marketing agency gives you expert insights into these strategies. You can find agencies that offer specialized services and some that provide multiple services. That means they can help you with web development as well as content and video marketing.
5. Choose The Right Channels To Execute Your Marketing Plan
In this day and age, there are a lot of advertising media options for you to choose from. And it seems like a good plan to conduct your marketing campaign across all media types. After all, B2B buyers are spread out across these platforms.
Marketing on every platform all at once means higher chances of reaching your audience, right? And the more you can reach out to, the greater your sales. This seems logical, but remember that you’re also allocating a portion of your budget to these campaigns. So it can be expensive and actually lessen the effect of your campaign.
Decide on a Few Media Outlets to Run Your Campaign On
To know where they are, you can hire a manufacturing marketing agency to do market research. They also look at which platforms your competitors are using. They’re marketing their products on those platforms for a specific reason. If you share the same audience with them, then this is a great strategy to find the right marketing channel.
A Detailed Plan Helps You Stand Out
It’s hard to stand out in a competitive environment such as the manufacturing industry, but not impossible. Having a detailed and effective B2B marketing plan helps a lot in your marketing journey.
Start by following these steps to develop a marketing plan for your manufacturing company. To maximize your efforts, think about hiring a manufacturing marketing agency. You can do more with the help of experts in the field of marketing.
Waqar Hussain is the founder of The Business Goals. He writes about entrepreneurial strategies and is an SEO consultant by profession. He is a B.Com, GDM, and an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.
