Effective Digital Marketing

5 Pillars of an effective digital marketing campaign for manufacturers

It’s no secret that building a digital marketing campaign for manufacturers or B2B companies is different than marketing for consumer goods. We often hear from clients that say their product isn’t “sexy” or doesn’t translate well to common marketing practices. Many of the same tactics used in B2C marketing are effective for B2B businesses, they just need to be tweaked. A B2B company is still selling to a person or group of people. In the next few weeks we’ll go into more detail on each of these points, but this five pillar plan for finding those people and helping them make a decision to buy from your company is a good start to an effective digital marketing campaign.

MOBILE FRIENDLY, RESPONSIVE WEBSITE

People are becoming more and more dependent on their smartphones. We’re not just talking about checking Facebook. In a 2017 survey by Boston Consulting Group, 60% of B2B buyers said mobile played a significant role in their purchasing decision and that number is growing. Google and other search engines are also prioritizing mobile friendly websites. If you want to reach the top of the search results, having a mobile friendly, responsive website is the first and most important step.

CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION

Once you get someone to your website, it’s important to deliver a web experience that fits the user best. Buyers are looking for different information than engineers. Helping different types of users find the information they want quickly helps close deals today and perhaps more importantly, retain those customers well into the future. What is Conversion Rate Optimization or CRO? In simple terms, it means doing more with the traffic that you have. Once you have a healthy amount of traffic to your website, systematically testing elements of your website to increase conversion rates can accelerate sales in a big way. See our recent presentation on CRO here.

VIDEO

My washing machine recently stopped running. Before calling a repair service, I checked out YouTube, found a simple fix and within a few minutes the machine was back up and running. Your current and prospective customers are also searching for solutions to their problems. YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world, second only to Google. YouTube videos often show up in Google searches. If you want to spread the word about your products, even B2B products, video content goes a long way.

EMAIL MARKETING

While the days of 90% open rates may be over for email marketing, it’s still an incredibly ;effective marketing strategy, especially for manufacturers. Seth Clayton, Online Marketing Specialist here at Foremost Media agrees. “Email marketing is still returning the highest return on investment. Studies in late 2018 showed an ROI of 4400% or $44 for every $1 spent.”

Unlike social media and even search traffic, there are no algorithms to overcome with email. Everyone on your list will receive the email. This can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s easy to blast out an email every time you’re running a promotion. It’s important to provide value in your emails. You can do this by including informative articles and videos along with your promotion. When crafting the email, think about how it will help the person receiving it, not just how the email benefits you or your organization.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Speaking of social media and algorithms, many manufacturers, especially those who don’t produce consumer products, don’t think they need social media. The reality is social media can make a big impact in recruitment efforts for new talent and customers, even in a strictly B2B environment. Your customers are there. According to Foremost Media Digital Marketing Specialist Rose Stricker, you should be too.

“Sure, in many cases, people use social media largely for entertainment purposes. However, between the funny cat videos, people are following their local news, they’re keeping up with trends in their industry, and they’re watching for opportunities that will help them improve their business. It makes perfect sense for your business to share its messages on social media platforms as much as on any other medium.”