Digital Marketing Tips for B2B Industrial Manufacturers
Quick answer: B2B industrial manufacturers can succeed with digital marketing even if their products seem technical or dull. The key is to find an understandable angle that appeals to a broader audience, then humanise the brand on social media, for example by writing in the first person, and prioritise online presence and engagement, since leads tend to follow.
When one thinks about digital marketing – it is usually synonymous with trending hashtags, emotive, viral videos or stylish influencers and charming industry thought leaders. But what if your company or the industry that you’re in is more ‘practical’ or to put it more bluntly, more boring? How do you craft sexy content to promote the sale of your industrial machinery or increase product awareness on the benefits of the fertilizer that your company is reputed for, through social media? According to online marketing guru, Neil Patel – B2B companies with unintelligible products or services need to find and develop an angle that is understandable to appeal to a broader audience.
Digital marketing is fortunately not industry biased. Here are 5 tips to amp up your initiatives.
Humanize your brand
Once you have found an un-boring angle to craft your content with, make an intense effort to humanize your brand on social media. Online presence and engagement should come first, leads will follow.
• Use first-person voice when writing updates, articles etcetera.
• Tweet, post updates and write articles with consistency
• Initiate engagement and outreach from a real customer
• If you need to – hire an expert to handle your company’s social media. Look for an agency with success in a similar niche.
Use LinkedIn
Nine out of ten B2B companies are using LinkedIn. Its branding as a professional networking site is much more appealing to the world of B2B exchanges. Leverage on interesting content to communicate with your audience by helping them to solve a problem, create personal and emotional connections and share timely insights. Manufacturers have found that videos are effective tools for marketing and promotions on social media. Many social media platforms are supporting (and even prioritizing) video content.
Know Your Target Audience
Have a clear picture of ideal customers you want to target. B2B purchasing process often involve multiple stakeholders. By having targeted buyer personas, you can gain insights into your customers’ goals, pain points, thought processes and motivations. Map needs and challenges to your products and how your company can deliver added value. Craft messaging that communicates your relevance to set you apart from competitors.
Allocate Digital Paid Advertising Budget
Paid advertising allows you to reach your specific market segment based on a variety of criteria to optimize the ROI of your marketing budget. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) ranks highest among paid marketing options with an efficacy of 52%. Promoted Social Media posts come in second with an efficacy rate of 39%. The trend of using paid advertising – be it pay-per-click (PPC) ads on search engines or promoted social media posts are on the rise.
Leverage on Content Marketing to Support Customer Journey
Content Marketing is an essential strategy to help you get in front of your target audience early on –
in their research and purchasing process while building trust and articulating your relevance.
• 94% of B2B buyers say that they conduct some form of online research before purchasing a business product2
• 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information from a series of articles rather than an advertisement2
With effective use, content marketing can help boost Search Engine Optimization (SEO), increase brand awareness and drive new prospects to your website.
Given the right strategy, digital marketing for B2B companies can be as fun or even rival that of B2C companies.
References:
- https://blog.apruve.com/top-5-strategies-for-industrial-b2b-marketing
- https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-media-for-b2b/
- Image Credit : https://www.pexels.com/photo/business-equipment-factory-industrial-plant-357440/
Key takeaways
- Digital marketing works for technical industries too.
- Find an understandable angle for complex products.
- Humanise your brand, for example with first-person updates.
- Build presence and engagement first; leads will follow.
Frequently asked questions
How can industrial manufacturers make technical products interesting online?
Find an angle that is easy to understand and relevant to your audience, such as the problems your products solve or the people behind them, rather than focusing only on technical specifications.
What does it mean to humanise a B2B brand?
It means showing the people and personality behind the company, for example by writing updates in the first person, sharing team stories and engaging in genuine conversations on social media.
Is digital marketing effective for industrial manufacturers?
Yes. Digital marketing is not industry biased, and manufacturers can use content, social media and engagement to build awareness of machinery, materials and other industrial products.
How can 90 Degrees Asia help industrial manufacturers with digital marketing?
90 Degrees Asia is a Singapore-based B2B digital marketing agency that helps companies across APAC with LinkedIn marketing, content and lead generation. Its team can plan, run and measure campaigns tailored to your market and audience.
Want help applying this in your market? Talk to 90 Degrees Asia about B2B marketing across APAC.
