Summer Marketing for Manufacturers

Summer is coming... said Jon Snow never.

Now that summer is approaching many manufacturing and industrial companies can start catching your collective breath.

Break neck speeds slow down.

People go on vacation.

There is just less urgency with some things.

Summertime can afford you more time to work on your company rather than working in your company.

You can spend more time planning your company's growth, rather than be caught putting out the day-to-day fires.

Your Manufacturing Marketing Summertime Plan

Summer marketing for manufacturers isn't always clear cut. Every manufacturer wants to have a marketing plan. But few seem to have an actual plan to help them execute on bringing in new business and growing the company. Here are a few projects you might want to consider working on this summer:

Redesign Your Website

If your website doesn't work well or look good on a mobile device because it was built years ago, or it has extremely outdated content, now is the time to start looking to revamp your web presence. More and more web traffic for manufacturing and industrial companies, even from people are referred to your company, are coming from mobile devices. When potential customers get referred to you, in any way, they aren't always in front of a computer. Often their phone is what they have on them (since they're playing Candy Crush.  LOL!).  When you do start building your new site or redesigning your current one, our guide on Redesigning Your Website will provide you with some tips on how to avoid some common pitfalls in website redesigns that are avoidable.

Refresh Your Logo and Branding

Does your company have a logo? Probably.  Did you design it yourself or have your nephew throw something together because it was cheap? Many companies opt for something simple when starting out because it is easy. But now that you're established you should think about getting a logo or brand that really distinguishes you distinguishes you from every other manufacturing company out there. A logo is your firm’s brand. It is the mark of your trade. Stand out.  Be recognizable.  There is a reason so many business’ logos are distinctive. The Apple logo. Nike's logo. The Starbucks logo. All immediately recognizable as the source of a particular good or service. Spend the time and effort to get a distinctive logo for your company to set you apart.

The Dreaded Social Media - Build Up Your Social Presence

Social media is the new town square. It’s where everyone congregates and interacts. People share their lives on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Did you know a whopping 85 percent of manufacturers report using social media? Manufacturers and Industrial firms can use platforms such as SlideShare, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook (just to name a few) to create inspirational and educational content that indirectly promotes their businesses.

It starts conversations among customers and prospects, which often results in sales. A really good example is the video from A Day Made of Glass.  It shows the possibilities of glass in the future.  It really doesn't promote any specific product, but it has received millions of views and helped create widespread awareness for Corning, a major producer of ceramics and glass.

Claim Your Google Business Listing

You probably already know that sometimes when you do a search in Google, a map shows up with businesses? That’s because of Google’s “local search” algorithm. Every business that shows up on that Google Map has a business listing. If you want to improve the chances of  your business showing up, you will need to claim or create a Google Business profile for your location. Just list your services, describe what you do, add your phone number and web address, and the chances that you start showing up in local searches jumps exponentially. Marketing for manufacturers should always include this step.

Examine Your Paid Marketing Strategy

Don't run paid ads?  For manufacturers, summer marketing is the perfect time to start thinking about it.  I don't know of any business that doesn't do their research online when trying to find a supplier or manufacturer.  Google AdWords is an integral part of most marketing strategies since it lets those people specifically searching for your product find you in a blink of eye (or the touch of a keyboard).

If you already have paid ads as part of your strategy, sit down and take a good look at the metrics that mean the most to you and your business.  Is this generating a good ROI for you?  Is your Cost/Conversion way too high?  Are you being shown for keywords that make absolutely no sense?  We've seen it all and if you don't pay attention to this, costs can skyrocket and you'll have no clue why.

We recently put together a case study of how we optimized a manufacturing companies marketing and by really looking at their numbers we were able to reduce their marketing spend by $90,000/year and get them MORE traffic and customers.   You can see how here:  https://bcpdigitalmarketing.com/industrial-marketing-case-study/

Next Steps

Whew!  That's a lot of ideas, but maybe one or two of them are more pressing for your company. Summer marketing for manufacturers can be the perfect time to take care of them.

Now is a great time to get started.

If you need any help building or redesigning that new website, brand, marketing plan, or social presence, Apply to Work With Us Today!.

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