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MiMfg Magazine
June 2019
• Keyword research — 75 percent of users will do
online research to find a solution to their problem.
You need to know what people are searching
related to your industry so that when you market
to them you are speaking their language.
Five signs it’s time to revise
your marketing strategy:
1. You’re not seeing results from your current
marketing efforts
2. Your marketing strategy is 2-3 years old
Okay, we haven’t been doing that.
Is it time to start over? 3. You’re launching a new product or tapping
a new market
“One of the biggest mistakes you can make is
throwing everything out and starting from scratch,”
said Jackie Ranoni, WBG’s visual designer. “There
are probably things you can repurpose, like existing
content just requiring an update or fresh look. You
could also source content from your sales team or
from frequently asked questions found during the
sales process to create something quick, and get it up
on your website to start capturing better and more
reliable leads.”
Before you rethink an existing strategy, make
sure that you’re not having a knee jerk reaction —
look at the data first (begin by adding the free Google
Analytics to your website to help locate that data), then
decide if you need to change your entire strategy, or
just implement some new tactics.
“It’s time to make a change when your business
has hit a ceiling — whether that ceiling is opera-
tional, sales-related or connected with your leader-
ship,” said Richards. “When you hit a ceiling you
need to take a step back and look at the issues at
hand, determine what it takes to solve them, and
who is the best person to solve them, and empower
those people to take you forward.”
“If any or all of these five signs apply (see right), it’s
a good idea to consult with a marketing professional,”
suggested Donna Campbell, WBG’s leading content
strategist. “Plenty of agencies, including WBG, offer
a free consultation and that can be a good way to
determine if you are in a good place to tackle these
issues with some new strategies.” 4. Your buyers are changing
5. You’re only doing one type of marketing
Marketing is just a lot of testing and failing. We
don’t have the resources to commit to something
that may not generate results right away.
The fact is, industrial buyers do 70 percent of
their research online before they ever reach out to
sales and 40 percent of those doing the research are
millennials — the generation that will be dominat-
ing the purchasing of manufactured goods for the
next few decades.
“Your marketing budget should be seen as an
operational expense because you cannot afford to sit
this dance out,” Campbell said.
Millennials pay attention to your website, your
market presence and brand strength, plus they search
for case studies and follow you on social media.
Manufacturers need to provide them with a positive
experience; just as manufacturers sought to do in the
1950s, the 1980s and at the turn of the century, only
now that experience must include digital.
“Today’s industrial buying journey begins online,”
Campbell acknowledged. “The more data you have
to establish what works and what doesn’t the more
successful you’ll be. By putting in the resources to
test and fail, you are actually reducing the likelihood
of these strategies failing over the long term because
you can learn, adapt and get better at it over time.”
Questions to ask when hiring an outside marketing firm:
• Are they interested in understanding
our “why?” and will they help us
define it?
• Does this agency have a proven
process for delivery? If they don’t
have a proven process, they might
be disorganized or still in a trial &
error phase of their business.
• Can they provide examples of clients
they’ve helped? (testimonials, case
studies, etc.)
• How are they structured and who
will you have access to? If you only
have access to a project manager
(vs. the whole team) that’s concerning.
You need to have a least some
relationship with the rest of the
team so that you don’t have to
change agencies every time your
project manager job hops.
• What do they specialize in? You’ll want
a diverse team that has specialists
in content, design, development,
UX/UI, SEO, social media.
• Do they work on a project model, a
retainer model or both? It will be
important to understand how
payments are structured and what
your options are.
• How quickly can they begin your
project? If you need to launch a
website in time for your biggest
trade show of the year, your agency
better have the capacity to meet
your deadlines.