In this digital age, the internet, and everything being wireless, it is hard to imagine that there are still companies that are doing all the bending, cutting, and forming of steel, manually. Yes, you heard it right, manufacturing is still alive and kicking. They are still producing all the things that people use in their everyday lives.
The big question is, has their marketing improved through the years? Fifteen years ago, most big companies used graphic designers and new graphics packages to move images on the screen. Their graphics department spends a lot of time making and changing words on adverts and sends them to newspapers and magazines.
Their graphics team, would discuss specific issues with their sales team, work out if there is something, they want to get rid of, and finalizes the adverts. Companies would then make leaflets, booklets and other advertising materials to market their products and services. From the birth till the end of the company’s life, most of them are still doing the same marketing strategy, the tools are different, but the way they do the marketing is still the same.
(To know about traditional advertising methods, visit http://classifieds.usatoday.com/blog/business/5-traditional-advertising-methods-still-work)
Research and monitoring
Most companies do their research so that they can work out any details on how to sell more products soon. This is how companies do it:
Marketing Process
As we can see, the real measurement to know whether a company is successful or not is through their sales. Are their products selling well or not? When we are talking about analysis, that’s OK, but it does not answer the big question, “Why?” There are a lot of issues that need to be answered when we are talking about a successful marketing campaign.
Was the advertisement convincing enough?
Are they putting their advertisement in the right publications?
Are their products priced right?
Is their target market needing their products?
Are the products good enough?
Are people needing their products?
Most companies could do with incomplete data is known whether their product sold well or not. If they are selling well, they will do the same advert campaign over and over again. Hoping that their previous success will continue for years to come. This is a typical marketing strategy that most manufacturing companies are using.
That is why many of them are either way below the danger zone and fighting for their companies’ lives or are not around anymore. The world around us is continually changing, and there is a lot of information available that can be used by marketing departments. The big question is, “How can companies take advantage of this?”
Defining a new marketing strategy for manufacturers
There is a new way to market a product using modern strategies successfully. There is nothing complicated or radical. It is based on sound principles, and most successful companies are starting to use it. All we need to do is get some necessary information about the company’s target market, people who they think will buy their products. Some questions need to be answered:
Who is the company’s audience?
Who will buy the product?
Is their products retail, where they can sell on High Street?
Can they convince purchasing managers of large companies to buy their products?
Are their products meant to be sold face-to-face to potential buyers in a meeting?
These are just some of the critical questions that need to be answered, to get proper information on how to market products successfully.
(Click here to know more about the latest marketing trends.)
What kind of contents most buyers respond to?
The answer to this question for most manufacturers is always “Leaflets, Booklets, and Presentation.” They think this is a proven and tested method. But, is this still true in the digital world? Is it still viable to print everything in book form? The answer is a resounding no.
In the world where people are more used to searching products and services through the internet than scourging the newspapers and magazines, printing leaflets and booklets are a total waste of time, money, energy and effort. They can reach certain age groups, but the Internet can also do that and more with less money, time and energy involved.
Where do they find the contents?
Regardless of the situation, it is likely that your prospected customers go to their office every day and read all your junk mails. They are not robots; your customers are humans, so you need to think hard and find out where they usually hang out when they are not reading your leaflets and booklets. If you know where they are hanging out, you can now target those places and decide what’s the best way to get their attention.
You need to know who your best customers are
You need to make a list of all the company names and your best customers that you usually deal with. You can search LinkedIn to gather information on them. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, create one. In today’s manufacturing SEO, social media platforms like LinkedIn is essential because most manufacturers, suppliers, and buyers engage on these websites more compared to other platforms like television, radio or print ads.
You need to name your best customers and the companies that you usually deal with and make a note on all the discussions where they take part in. You can now stalk them, see what they are saying about your products, and who are they saying it to. You also need to look at what their interests are, what they usually talk about, and start profiling them. Using this information, you can now search for more people like them.
This can be very important for marketing managers. It can open new markets by merely looking at what your customers are saying and who are they saying it to. For example, you saw some of your customers talking about the features and qualities of a particular product from your competitor, the good news is, your company also has a version of that product.
You can now talk to your team and see if your product can have the same features and qualities that your competitor has. You are not merely relying on your company’s sales data, but you are getting essential data before your products hit the market.
You need to start small
A lot of marketing managers, as well as marketing teams, is overwhelmed with all the data that are available for them on the internet. They are also under the impression that social media, trending news as well as blogs do not suit them. You need to remind the marketing people that customers are just people. If you find out where they are and what are their interests, what they like and what they need, you’ll find out that everything about your job is much more comfortable.
