Grant Marketing Blog

Massachusetts’ Guidelines for Manufacturing During COVID-19

Manufacturing businesses are included in Phase 1 of Massachusetts’ plan of slowly reopening the economy after a lockdown period that spanned multiple months. While some manufacturing companies remained open as essential businesses, these new safety standards are mandatory for all manufacturing businesses moving forward for the foreseeable future.

How Small Businesses Can Benefit from the Starter Growth Suite’s Capabilities

Small businesses are often the ones that suffer most when enduring hard economic times. Whether it’s constraints on budget or on workforce, smaller businesses often have a harder time bouncing back. Creating marketing assets, following up on a lead, or responding to an endless number of customer questions are vital tasks, but in crisis mode, are viewed as secondary. And they often suffer in an effort to remain afloat while tending to more imminent operational needs.

How to Know If You Need a Website Facelift

These days, your audience’s first impression of your manufacturing business is based almost exclusively on your website. Your website now is your 24/7 online salesperson, driving leads and conversions and serving as an integral part of marketing to prospects. If it’s not serving its functions, you are missing out on leads and revenue.

What You Can Do About the Current Impacts on Your Business and Budget

Let’s start by stating the obvious: life now looks nothing like it did two months ago. And two months from now … who knows? Every piece of our existence feels the impact—our lifestyle, our business, and our ability to adjust to change. In addition to learning the ins and outs of Zoom conferencing, setting up home offices, being a parent/teacher/spouse/employee/regular-everyday-human simultaneously, and adjusting to a possible long-term change in our way of life, the situation has also brought to light how able we are to adjust our strategies in order to stay afloat during a time where it’s very difficult to maintain “business as usual.”

Rethinking Business Models for Manufacturers

The current pandemic is a massive disruptor for the world economy, as we all know. For the manufacturing industry, it looks something like this: factory closures, supply chain disruptions, reduced production capacities, and remote work, among many other things are significantly impacting businesses in manufacturing. Let alone companies struggling with illness—and even death—among their workforce. (Of which, we offer our warmest thoughts.) While the world will eventually return to face-to-face interactions and normal shipping and production schedules, the habits that are being formed now will set a new baseline for our behaviors and expectations as consumers and professionals.

Manufacturers Shifting Production to Support Medical Supplies Needs

The global pandemic that has impacted nearly every corner of the world and disrupted daily life has been especially hard on certain manufacturing businesses. However, some manufacturers have leveraged their creativity and production capabilities to change their product lines to aid in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. From carmakers to bedding companies, here are a few examples of how companies are shifting their manufacturing focus to provide essential medical supplies.

Navigating Transparently in the New Normal

How are you holding up? We certainly hope all is well with you and your family. Clearly COVID-19 is causing disruption for everyone everywhere. 

If you’re reading this, we’re guessing that it has likely disrupted your normal business operations, as well. Are you trying to figure out your new normal: employee well-being; facility cleanliness and work station distance, vendor resources, production timelines … ? It goes on, we know. Perhaps you’re able to continue manufacturing, but customers can’t receive. And how is your supply chain doing as a whole? That’s another monumental concern. Good for now, but will parts and components run out soon? Are you discovering a lack of redundancies in your supply chain? That’s its own list.   

We understand that you, your company, and your customers are going through a period of unpredictability during this crisis. Here’s one vital thing you do have control over: communication. Doing so with clarity and regularity will promote stability, calm, and dependability during this period of uncertainty. Maintain open communication and keep your employees, customers, and suppliers aware of how you will support them.

5 Steps to Communicating Effectively with Your Employees, Customers, and Suppliers

How is all this unpredictability going for you? We know it’s impacting every portion of your life: work, home, family, kids’ schooling, aging parents, grocery shopping, and areas of your life none of us every dreamed would be affected. The hardest part is feeling like we have little control over an intangible, invisible intruder that can wreak such havoc on the entire world. Let’s look at what we know … at least today, as this is a dynamic situation that continuously changes.

What Is ABM and Is It Right for You?

Account-based marketing (ABM) has vastly grown in popularity among B2B sales and marketing teams over the years. According to a 2019 ABM Market Research Report by Engagio, 93% of respondents are either using ABM today, or are planning to soon. If you have not yet implemented ABM at your organization, learn about the six indicators that ABM is right for your manufacturing company.

What Does the Coronavirus Outbreak Entail for U.S. Manufacturers and the Rise of Reshoring?

It’s been about two months since the start of coronavirus in China. As of March 4, 2020, more than seventy countries have reported cases of coronavirus. Apart from the obvious impacts of the disease on human lives, businesses throughout the world are starting to face the economic impacts of the virus outbreak. As Fortune reports, 94% of the Fortune 1000 are seeing coronavirus supply chain disruptions.