A Manufacturer’s Guide to Digital Marketing
The world of digital marketing has flourished in recent years. Many companies are relying increasingly less on traditional marketing strategies and moving toward the digital medium. Back in the day, most digital marketing campaigns took place on television, but that changed with the emergence and advancement of internet technology. Seeing that people are spending vast amounts of time on the internet, many marketers decided to direct their marketing campaigns online. Although some manufacturers saw the benefit of contemporary digital marketing techniques, a number of them are still relying on traditional methods. Read on to discover the most effective practices in regard to digital marketing for manufacturers and learn how to employ them.
1. Conduct online market research
Before you start preparing your digital marketing campaign, doing some research is essential. That’s how you’ll know what your online marketing strategy should center on. You can also analyze your own past campaigns to gain a general insight into what methods work best. Your research should revolve around discovering information about:
- where the demand for your products is concentrated,
- the profile of your main clients,
- the online environment where your targeted clientele spends most of their time,
- the marketing campaigns your competitors employ.
Only after gathering all the necessary information can you take the steps to work out the most effective digital marketing strategy.
2. Keep your target audience in mind
Digital marketing allows you to easily target a specific type of potential clientele. That’s why establishing the main characteristics of your target audience, such as their age and profession, is highly valuable. Then, you’ll be able to focus on online platforms that they use the most. Furthermore, most social media apps, including Instagram and Facebook, offer targeted ads that you can pay for. This allows you to target specific groups of people according to the information gathered from their profiles. For example, if you were targeting the audience that is likely to buy a panel PC, you would try to specifically target owners of industrial companies. These PCs are water- and dust-proof and are designed to withstand extreme conditions. Apart from the usual social media platforms, LinkedIn could be the ideal option in this case. All in all, investing in social media ads can be very profitable, as statistics show that as of January 2022, 48.5% of the world population uses social media.
3. Devise a comprehensive plan and establish your goals
Every successful marketing strategy requires proper planning. Therefore, you should jot down ideas for your digital marketing campaign and set feasible goals based on the market research you conducted previously. This will allow you to look at your marketing strategy objectively, and revise the plan if you notice any weak points. Having specific goals with set dates for achievement will keep you motivated and help you stay on track. Keep in mind that even though you should be ambitious, you should still make sure that these goals are achievable.
4. Make use of marketing automation
Automation is often used to speed up the workflow, but it can also serve its purpose in digital marketing strategies. Similarly to workflow automation, marketing automation is used for the following purposes:
- to automate repetitive processes,
- to be more accessible to potential clientele,
- to display more relevant, personalized content.
You can be more accessible to potential customers by setting up automatic emails and using chatbots. That way, they can get to the information they are looking for instantly, without having to wait for your response. Automation is also helpful in terms of content that is displayed to clients, as it enables them to see relevant content which is based on their previous searches and ads they clicked on.
5. Employ inbound marketing
Inbound marketing can be a great solution as it allows your audience to find your products on their own. This type of marketing pertains to attracting customers indirectly, by creating engaging and meaningful content. For example, you may write blog posts related to the kind of products you’re manufacturing. That way, you’re going to attract the audience that is interested in these products in particular. Since they will be visiting your website to read these posts, there is a high chance they will check out your products.
6. Get professional help to execute your digital marketing plan
Lastly, running a comprehensive digital marketing campaign can be a handful, especially because maintaining a steady online presence is the key to success. Although automation can help in some areas, you may still not be able to carry out the whole campaign by yourself. That’s why hiring digital marketing specialists can be highly beneficial. Not only are they skilled in writing eye-catching captions, but they can help you keep your social media accounts active on a regular basis. Furthermore, if you decide to include inbound marketing into your strategy, you may need some help to keep producing engaging content. In that case, hiring an inbound marketing agency can come in handy.
In summary, for a manufacturer’s digital marketing campaign to be successful, research, planning, and establishing goals is of the utmost importance. Furthermore, automating some aspects of digital marketing can boost the campaign. Opting for inbound marketing can also be beneficial for manufacturers. This is a comprehensive process, which is why hiring a professional to help with devising and/or executing the marketing strategy is sometimes necessary.
