Hire an industrial marketing agency

B2B industrial marketing is a specialized sub-discipline of B2B marketing. It involves particular emphasis on strategies most valuable to the industrial sector, such as trade show and event marketing and qualified online lead generation.

Marketing to businesses instead of consumers is a completely different challenge. Consumer marketing focuses on messaging and tactics for generating consumer demand. The marketing cycle for industrial goods is different. B2B marketing focuses on big-picture and long-term objectives. B2B marketers may generate detailed content, case studies, and other marketing materials intended to persuade companies to make a purchase. Some platforms and tactics that work well for B2C markets are inefficient for B2B markets. Many agencies specialize in B2C marketing tactics. It’s important that your chosen marketing partner has experience with B2B marketing.

Key marketing goals for B2B companies differ. Determining the right goals for each client is a critical part of marketing strategy. For instance, some companies struggle with brand awareness. Others need to improve close rate. Some possible goals for B2B marketing initiatives include:

• Demand generation
• Sales enablement
• Brand awareness
• Trade show marketing
• Content creation

Industrial products and services tend to be less visible than consumer and commercial goods. Industrial operators may not be aware of the opportunity to upgrade their equipment or processes. Even those that are aware of your product or service may be reticent to “fix what’s already working”.

Some industrial companies struggle with differentiation and demonstrating value. This can often be addressed with content marketing and messaging refinement.

Many of our clients look for help breaking into new markets–either new industry categories or new geographic areas. B2B marketing agencies can help by providing expert market research and analysis to inform expansion strategies.

Identifying the ideal target audience for your business requires thorough research and consideration. There are many factors to consider, including:

• Market size. Which audience(s) provide you with a big enough opportunity to be worth targeting? Can they afford your goods or services?
• Product/service fit. How easy will it be to sell your goods and services to this market?
• Market access. Are there any challenges (legal/geographic) that would prevent you from serving a new audience?
• Level of competition. Do your biggest competitors already dominate this niche?

Depending on your product and target market, some of the most effective B2B industrial marketing strategies include:

• Content marketing (case studies, white papers, blogs, articles)
• SEO (search engine optimization)
• LinkedIn cold outreach
• Trade show and event marketing
• Sales enablement (messaging, sales scripts, CRM implementation)

Value propositions describe the unique benefit provided by your product or service. Compelling value propositions are unique, truthful, and targeted. Unique, because if your competitors can claim the same thing it undermines the effectiveness of your message. Truthful, because if you can back up your claims it will instill trust in your target audience. Targeted, because every type of customer have their own wants and needs.

Content marketing plays a big role in B2B industrial marketing. Content supports visibility initiatives like advertising, social media, and SEO. It also supports your sales team. Many marketing resources can be used as sales materials to help move prospects through your pipeline.

Every industry has unique opportunities for reaching customers. In general, B2B social media like LinkedIn can be a valuable outreach channel. Industry groups and associations can be great for networking. Trade shows and events are high-volume networking opportunities that can be highly valuable with the right strategy. In some cases, search engines like Google can provide valuable lead generation.

Measurement is crucial for any marketing initiative. For digital campaigns, measurement is easy using tools like Google Analytics. For print or event marketing strategies, it can be trickier to attribute performance. It’s important to get buy-in from your internal sales and marketing teams, and to use tracking software like a CRM, to get the most accurate data from your marketing initiatives.

Two of the most common mistakes in B2B marketing include wasting money on ineffective strategies, and assuming what you’re doing is working. It’s easy to overcommit to a particular tactic, spending good money on bad ideas. Many companies lack the sophistication to track their marketing efforts. If you don’t know the outcomes, you can’t know if it’s working!

Data and analytics can inform your strategies, telling you when to pivot and when to stay the course. They are critical when developing marketing strategies and pitching new campaigns. However, it is important to ensure your data is clean and that a skilled analyst is in place to interpret it. Bad data (or bad analysis) can send you in the wrong direction.

Social media for industrial marketing offers two benefits. First, it is useful for brand awareness and confirmation. Second, with the right tactics and resources, cold social media outreach can be a surprisingly effective lead generator!

SEO can work well, but it’s a significant investment. Companies who buy in to content marketing can see great long-term benefits from an SEO strategy.

Email marketing depends on a few factors. The quality and relevance of your email list is paramount. Purchased lead lists tend to be ice cold and unlikely to convert. There are many kinds of email marketing. Newsletters sent to existing clients can be good confirmation tools, keeping your customers in your marketing ecosystem. Cold email outreach is challenging as most users find it “spammy”. However, with the right strategy and tactics it can be a valuable lead source.

Our top advice to B2B companies is this: implement a CRM! Customer Relationship Management software can help you stay on top of new and existing relationships, tracking all communications in and out and automatically reminding your team to follow up. This high level of responsiveness is a great way to foster business relationships.

Account-based marketing is a strategy where companies develop specific resources and messaging for each target account. Rather than producing general marketing resources to target many accounts at once, ABM agencies choose a handful of critically important accounts. Each account receives special attention. ABM is all about improving close rate on a select few opportunities to strategically grow your business.

Focus on value delivered. That can be monetary, or it can be “soft value”. Is your product easier to use than competitors? What human problems might it solve? Be thorough, be factual, and write for your intended audience.

Subscribe to our newsletter, for one! Look into relevant industry blogs and news sources to see what your competitors are up to. If you have a particular interest in an area of marketing, follow its top news outlets and/or subscribe to their newsletters for updates. Search Engine Journal is a good publication to follow for SEO news, for instance.