Marketing is a pretty broad and encompassing area, and as an industrial services company it can be daunting when considering where to start with industrial marketing efforts. At Venture Accelerator Partners, we have a number of industrial clients that we provide both marketing strategy and tactical assistance for, and I wanted to share some of our marketing recommendations with you.
We have found that when working with industrial clients, they often do not require major marketing exercises such as a re-branding. Rather, they need a help articulating their marketing goals and more importantly executing on them effectively. A number of our clients run lean operations and as a result don’t have dedicated marketing staff. Hence the marketing “projects” that come up get left unattended while other matters are taken care of.
Marketing is something that can’t be overlooked in today’s marketplace, especially as an increasingly globalized world means increased competitions on a variety of fronts. Traditional ways of doing business and marketing are changing, and as an organization you need to change with it. Your current customers and prospects are changing how they search for and find information on suppliers, and you want to make sure you adapt and don’t get left behind.
Our top industrial marketing recommendations for B2B industrial organizations include:
1. Write Down Your Goals
What do you want to accomplish from your marketing initiatives? For example, drive new sales, build mindshare in new markets, provide an internal resource for employees, and so on.
2. Nail Down Your Story
Who are you? What do you do? What is your value proposition? What are your differentiators?
3. Website
Get your website up and running and keep it that way – ensure you have good solid content and are happy with your messaging. Ensure someone on your team has search engine optimization capabilities so prospects will be able to find you online.
4. Brochures
Develop brochures in PDF format for easy printing and emailing. Don’t spend money printing when you don’t need to – digital copies can often suffice.
5. Social Media
Engage in social media if your clients are there. In all likelihood, specific platforms will be better vehicles for your business than others. We recommend to most of our B2B clients that they explore Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ before looking at Facebook.
6. Events
If trade shows and other events are a good way to connect with customers and prospects, invest in cost-effective long-term solutions such as retractable banners, pop-up displays, table skirts, etc.
7. Case Studies
Customer success stories sell, and the more quantitative the story, the better.
8. Think Local
Think twice about traditional marketing methods such as radio and TV – these are expensive mediums and you want to be sure they can deliver bang for your buck. Consider contracting local papers or specific trade publications to gauge interest in writing a story about you, your product, and how your business impacts the local economy. Remember, PR is a 2-way street.
If you are in need of executional and actionable industrial marketing assistance, particularly if you’re a B2B company, we’d love to hear from you and discuss how we can help.
