How to Ask for Referrals from Existing Customers and Earn New Clients

People aren’t shy when it comes to speaking about their experiences with brands. According to Google, “Over 2.4 billion conversations about brands take place every day in the United States”—clearly illustrating that world-of-mouth marketing is not dead. In fact, the power of word-of-mouth continues to grow and is becoming an ever-important asset for companies to exploit. But how do we as marketers influence the narrative of these conversations to positively portray our brands and help us gain more customers?

5 Benefits of Producing Quality Content for Your Industrial Manufacturing Company

If you’ve done any marketing in the last decade, you’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king.” It’s probably a given since the term was coined by Bill Gates back in 1996 and remains prevalent—even more so in 2019. Clearly, Gates was able to see into the future! (Of course, he may have had a hand in creating it, to a degree!) Though content marketing has changed dramatically in form over those years, its significance hasn’t wavered. In the early days, content creation was a strategy that helped separate your business from the rest of your competitors. It has now become a proven necessity for all businesses. And still, it is king.

Measure Your Marketing to Manufacturing Companies

While proving marketing ROI may be challenging, inbound marketing is one of the best strategies for achieving high returns. Inbound marketing is a proactive approach that attracts, engages, and adds value throughout the customer journey. Encompassing branding, social selling, content marketing, SEO, and marketing automation, inbound marketing actively involves the customer at each phase of the buying process. 

Accountability = Higher Return

HubSpot’s State of Inbound 2018 found that 46% of executives[i] cited “proving the ROI of our marketing activities” as a top challenge.

While challenging, holding your marketing accountable goes a long way towards proving ROI. A recent Forbes analysis found that marketers who invested in higher levels of marketing accountability are achieving “5% better returns on marketing investments and more than 7% higher levels of growth performance.”[ii]

Your Brand Is Valuable. Do Your Photos Show it?

You see it every day. It has a strong impact on your life—how you buy, what you buy. But have you ever thought about how important photography is to your company or product brand? It’s part of brand development and brand strategy—sometime subtle, sometime bold—and all other things equal, it’s what gets your company attention over your competitors.

Hint: You Need Both Working Together to Truly Succeed!

Depending on where your company is in its evolution, you may benefit from (or need) brand development and/or strategic brand management.

How to Implement Video Marketing at Your Manufacturing Company

Video marketing is one of the most effective means of gaining a prospects’ attention online. In a world where the average attention span of an adult is around eight seconds, this attention-grabbing tool can be a game changer for all businesses trying to gain an edge. Sure, there is a time and a place to push other forms of promotional content, but video just works differently.

Does Social “Selling” Really Work?

The dynamics of B2B selling have changed dramatically from the days when the sales person controlled the sales process. Technology has put the buyer in the driver’s seat, with the ability to access a wealth of information and data about a product or service they are interested in.

4 Marketing Strategies That Help You Effectively Manage Your Sales Funnel

A common question we hear from our B2B clients is, “Do I really need a marketing plan if my sales pipeline is full?” First of all, congratulations—achieving a full sales pipeline is no easy task. But let’s pump the breaks for a second: why is your sales pipeline full in the first place? Unless your company has a team full of cold-calling gurus, then your saturated pipeline is most likely a result of previous marketing efforts.

Are You Answering Their Questions and Solving Their Problems?

The B2B sales cycle is typically an in-depth process that can involve multiple decision makers, and in some cases, takes months or years to complete.

Most buyers are well down the sales path before they even talk to your company. A recent survey found that 71% of buyers had conducted research, and 70% had developed an informal list of potential providers, prior to being in contact with prospective suppliers.[i]