If your qualified leads have become stagnant and you aren’t seeing an increase in sales, it might be time for a marketing reboot.

Often manufacturing companies are stuck in the old school way of doing things like cold calling and mailing brochures. While not totally obsolete, what brought in leads and new customers five years ago probably aren’t providing the same results today.

Companies looking to grow their business know they need the right sales and marketing strategy.

Keep reading to find out the top 5 reasons your marketing isn’t as effective as it could be and what you can do to make it better.

Mistake #1 – You Don’t Have an Industrial Marketing Strategy.

Don’t shy away from digital marketing for your manufacturing business because you don’t think you have the resources or the knowledge. You have to start somewhere, especially if you don’t have much of a budget to invest in right now. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

If you are just starting out, keep in mind that brand awareness takes time to penetrate the industry.

Mistake #2 – The Marketing Budget is Too Small

There is a huge misconception around how much b2b marketing should cost. Too often, manufacturers throw a dart on the board and guess what their budget should be. If your budget is small, you need to match your expectations of how much activity you get in return. Get pricing and free strategies from multiple marketing agencies that understand your industry, determine what you’re comfortable with, then add 20% to that number.

A successful industrial marketing strategy starts by allocating enough financial resources to accomplish what you want to do.

Mistake #3 – Industrial Marketing Efforts are Focused in the Wrong Areas

Where is the attention of your potential customers? Are they reading newspapers, magazines, active on social, or going to trade shows?

It doesn’t matter how good your content is if you’re marketing in the wrong places. It will never be seen by the right people no matter how much money you throw at it. You won’t get the return on your investment.

By incorporating digital marketing that focuses on your long-term goals, you will be able to measure the traction and attention your content is getting by utilizing resources such as Google Analytics. You need to have the ability to track your website traffic and leverage data. Also, analyze social media engagement to capture and retarget leads.

Additionally, don’t be afraid to bring in someone that does something different than what you have been doing. An outside perspective can provide a competitive edge to your marketing plan. At MFG Tribe, we work exclusively with manufacturers by offering effective marketing solutions specific to your industry.

Mistake #4 – No Distribution Strategy

What is your company doing with your great marketing content? This ties into Mistake #3. You have to distribute your content out to the areas where your audience is.

Even so, just putting information on your website will not get the most views or generate more leads. You have to use multiple distribution sources to determine what will get the most engagement.

Distribution Channels and Methods

• Website and SEO
• Email Marketing
• Social Media
• YouTube and Rumble
• Association Websites
• Pay Per Click

Having a distribution plan is essential before creating content because your content is affected by how it is distributed.

Furthermore, the creative piece that is pushed out on social is going to be different from what is published on your website. Each platform has specific requirements, so your content has to match the distribution source.

Mistake #5 – No Consistency in Your Content Creation.

Inbound marketing is a slow race. You have to be consistent even if you aren’t getting traction right away. Some pieces of content get traction faster, but your content marketing strategy needs to continue.

Start posting regularly scheduled content every week. Search engines and algorithms are looking for consistency to determine your ranking potential. This even applies to social media.

Everyone talks about creating content, but it all comes down to consistency. Platforms are looking for consistent posting because they know when content is posted regularly, there will be a higher likelihood of engagement from your ideal customer.

Tips on How to Keep Your Manufacturing Content Creation Consistent

Generating content ideas and then creating content can be an overwhelming process. After identifying your target audience and conducting keyword research, start small when you are first creating. Create one piece of content per week, gradually build your way up to creating more content until it becomes a process.

Moreover, once you get into a routine and begin seeing some engagement, you will want to create even more content.

If you post content sporadically, you will not have enough people waiting for that piece of content. The algorithms will not show your content to people who have not engaged with your account in a while. So, every time you stop creating content, it’s like starting all over again.

For industrial companies, creating content is an effective way of bringing in new leads in your brand awareness funnel, expanding your reach, growing your audience, and developing a customer relationship with your buyers.

By incorporating these industrial marketing tips, you will reach your target customers, increase lead generation, and grow your business. Work with a marketing agency that knows your business.

As the leader in industrial marketing, MFG Tribe has been helping Industrial companies from $2 million – $3 billion dominate their competition with the most aggressive marketing tactics that work in today’s competitive environment for over five years. Our strategy adjusts based on what’s most effective for YOUR company, and we only work with industrial companies. If you’re looking to set up your marketing efforts with the Industrial Marketing leader, schedule a discovery call today!