Here’s a guide to business to business (B2B) marketing strategies for manufacturers from the team at Cloudfy. With our cross-sector experience we understand the fiercely competitive manufacturing environment and what’s needed to stand out from your competitors.
Manufacturing products and services can appear to be very similar. Your marketing must include everything your buyers need to know before they make their decisions. You’ll need to be laser-focussed on how you solve your customers’ problems to differentiate your offer. There are some important steps you can take to give your marketing strategy the firm foundations needed to ensure success.
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Market research in the manufacturing sector
Understanding your target audience is the first essential step. Market research provides valuable information about what your customers want and need. You’ll gain useful insights into what they like and dislike about your company, your products and your competitors. It’s the first piece of information you need to win their business in future.
You might use surveys, focus groups, interviews, and data you already hold about customer buying behavior to build the picture. It takes some time, but understanding your target audience makes your marketing more effective. To make sure you have high quality data you might outsource the process to B2B ecommerce, marketing or research specialists.
Once you have this information you can explore how to set yourself apart from your competitors. Reviewing what your target audience says about your competitors’ products helps you answer customer questions and concerns. Exploring how your competitors engage with their customers and position their brand helps you define valuable points of difference.
Search engine optimization
B2B buyers want and expect to carry out most of their research online. They are also happy to complete the majority of their purchasing process without the help of a sales representative.
If customers can’t find you, you’ll miss valuable sales opportunities. However, making sure your brand and product information are easily found online is a clear opportunity for competitive advantage. Making sure every element of your website is designed to provide helpful information that’s easy to use is essential. Professional support from a specialist B2B search engine optimization agency can make all the difference.
You’ll see more website traffic and conversion rates will improve when you’re backed up with frictionless customer journeys and high quality content.
Website optimization
Not all websites are the same. When you look behind the scenes, there can be problems that affect your online performance and search engine result page (SERP) results. A slow site or one that isn’t responsive on mobile devices can undo all your good SEO work.
Your user interface must also be carefully designed to make your customer’s experience easy and rewarding. It needs to look good and work hard.
This includes simple enquiry and subscription forms so visitors can request information and give you their contact details. Clear and easy page navigation helps your buyers learn more about your products. Make buttons to request a quote (RFQ) and see product details visible and easy to use. At each contact point make sure buyers know where they are and how to return to previous information.
Value added content
Your efforts to attract customers to your website is wasted if they don’t find what they want. Providing content that your audience wants to read is the next essential step.
Well-researched blog posts, whitepapers, e-books, technical specifications, and 360º images help visitors understand your products and complete their research.
You can create content specifically relevant to your business and industry by using your own research and existing knowledge. You can position yourself as an industry-leading expert with sector specific commentaries, reports and webinars. Fresh new content will intrigue customers and encourage them to continue visiting your site, even if they aren’t yet ready to buy.
Maximizing social media opportunities
Many B2B buyers are now millennials. They use social media as a business tool as well as for keeping in touch with friends and family. When you’ve written an interesting blog post, for example, it makes sense to share it on social media.
You’ll increase the chances for your potential customers to see it by publishing on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram. However, your content must be tailored to the channel. If this fills you with dread, a professional marketing agency will help you create social media schedules and calendars. They can write content and suggest subjects to engage your audiences and maintain a consistent presence for your brand.
You’ll also need to maintain the momentum with regular posts that provide industry-specific information rather than promoting specific products. Save your sales messages for special occasions like product launches, major new contracts or visits to trade shows and exhibitions.
Multi-media engagement
Augmented reality and virtual reality, live streaming and video marketing all offer new ways to engage with your B2B audiences. More and more online activity involves video content, making it an effective marketing tool. It’s becoming even more popular than email, blogging or infographics.
Partnering with multi-media experts helps you create engaging content to sell your products. This might include behind-the-scenes production tutorials, brand stories and customer testimonials.
Marketing measurements that matter
To be effective, you must measure the results of your marketing. Your B2B ecommerce site provides valuable in-depth data. Data-driven marketing involves collecting, managing, and analyzing information to improve business decisions and gain insights into your customers’ needs. You can develop your marketing strategy and generate new ideas for products or services.
Well-designed marketing measurements help to improve customer acquisition and engagement. You can keep track of your most popular products, average order size and frequency of purchase. Your reports can be generated in near real time and you can even set automatic triggers when certain things happen.
Analytics help you improve your marketing content and design, increase sales, and engage buyers. You can determine what’s most important to your customers so you can prioritize your plans.
Partnering with multi-media experts helps you create engaging content to sell your products. This might include behind-the-scenes production tutorials, brand stories and customer testimonials.
Work with a B2B ecommerce specialist
Standing out in a competitive manufacturing market requires good planning and a thorough understanding of market trends. At Cloudfy we specialize in meeting the needs of our manufacturing clients.
Cloudfy is a purpose designed B2B ecommerce website platform. Together we can seamlessly provide high quality content and exceptional customer journeys across multiple channels.
Find out how you can benefit from our integrated approach. Book a free Cloudfy demonstration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Market research helps manufacturers understand their target audience, their needs, preferences, and buying behavior. It provides valuable insights into customer expectations, allowing manufacturers to tailor their marketing strategies to meet those needs and stand out from competitors.
SEO improves the visibility of a manufacturer's brand and product information online, ensuring they can be found by potential customers. It increases website traffic, enhances user experience, and boosts conversion rates, ultimately leading to more sales opportunities.
- Providing valuable content, such as blog posts, whitepapers, and technical specifications, helps manufacturers educate and engage their target audience. It positions them as industry experts, builds trust with potential customers, and keeps them coming back to the website for future purchases.
- B2B manufacturers can leverage social media platforms, like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, to share industry-specific content, engage with their target audience, and promote their brand. It helps increase brand visibility, establish thought leadership, and drive website traffic.
Multimedia, including videos, augmented reality, and virtual reality, allows B2B manufacturers to create engaging content that effectively showcases their products and tells their brand story. It captures the attention of potential customers and enhances the overall marketing experience.
Marketing measurement enables manufacturers to track the performance of their marketing efforts, analyze customer data, and make data-driven decisions. It helps improve customer acquisition and engagement, identify popular products, and generate new ideas for products or services.
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