Industrial Marketing Today

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Every manufacturing or industrial company that I talk to wants more leads. However, there is a serious disconnect between sales and marketing when it comes to defining a qualified lead. This is not a new problem. Google sales and marketing disconnect and you will find thousands of articles written on this topic. I am here to tell you that it is very real and thriving within manufacturing companies.

Lead Generation 94

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads 94

Industrial Marketing Today

JULY 16, 2012

In today’s uncertain economy, manufacturing and industrial companies are taking more than a hard look at their marketing spends. These companies have always thought of marketing as sales support, so it requires a lot of convincing to change that mind-set. Upper management and key decision makers are skeptical about inbound marketing with content being able to generate qualified leads and set the table for sales.

Lead Ranking 94

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 94

Industrial Marketing Today

MARCH 3, 2012

Blogging is proving to be just as as paradoxical for industrial companies as the wave–particle duality in quantum physics. Manufacturers, industrial distributors and engineering companies that I talk to do understand the benefits of using a blog as the hub of their inbound marketing strategy for SEO, lead generation, thought leadership and branding.

Trade Show 93

Trade Show B2B Thought Leadership FAQ Thought Leadership 93

Industrial Marketing Today

AUGUST 20, 2012

Content marketing is a central topic in most of my recent conversations with industrial companies. The primary goal is to generate better quality leads from their websites. That is the good news. The not so good news is that they have a mistaken belief that content marketing is for search engine optimization (SEO). They’ve heard/read that Google loves fresh content, therefore all they need to do is publish lots of content and they’ll be on the first page of Google’s search results.

SEO 93

SEO Content Marketing Copywriting Content 93

Industrial Marketing Today

MARCH 16, 2012

Talking to manufacturers and industrial companies on a daily basis has convinced me that when they say they need help with their lead generation, they really want more RFQ (Request For Quote) opportunities. Generating new leads, qualifying and nurturing them until they turn into a RFQ is too much work for them. For a real-life example of this lead generation disconnect, read my post, Manufacturers: Don’t Start a Lead Generation Campaign without Sales.

Lead Management 93

Lead Management Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads 93

Industrial Marketing Today

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Press or news releases about industrial products have been and still are very popular. They work because the content is mainly about features that help engineers specify these industrial products. [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Press 92

Press Features Marketing Websites Product 92

Industrial Marketing Today

AUGUST 27, 2012

Call it digital marketing or inbound marketing with content , the fact is marketing is now playing a much more active role in complex industrial sales. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll refer to it as digital marketing in this post and state that content is what drives this engine for generating qualified leads and creating sales opportunities. Manufacturers and industrial companies often use solutions or consultative selling to add value for their customers and transform themselves from supplier

RFP 92

RFP Peer-to-peer High Quality Lead Lead Scoring 92

Industrial Marketing Today

NOVEMBER 1, 2012

I’m a big fan of “Whodunit” movies and TV shows. I can sit through reruns of one of these mysteries even though I know who’s done it. What’s the connection [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Marketing & Strategy 92

Marketing & Strategy Marketing Marketing Websites Content 92

Industrial Marketing Today

DECEMBER 19, 2012

It is not uncommon to find industrial websites that have not been updated for a long time or with outdated content. Providing a cosmetic facelift is not going to improve the [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Marketing Websites 92

Marketing Websites Content Business Blogging Marketing 92

Industrial Marketing Today

JUNE 5, 2012

In my daily interactions with manufacturing, engineering and industrial companies, inbound marketing or content marketing is a popular topic of discussion. Decision makers in these companies want to jump on the content marketing bandwagon but they really don’t have a strategic plan of action and/or a clear idea of how it will drive sales and generate revenues.

Top of Funnel 92

Top of Funnel Content Marketing Planning Buying Cycle 92

Industrial Marketing Today

JULY 24, 2012

Summer is a good time to look back at what has worked for lead generation and compare yourself with your peers as you plan for the second half of the year. You could use some of these findings to validate your own industrial marketing strategy and/or find some new ideas to fine-tune it for the remainder of 2012. With that in mind, here are some useful data and charts from various sources.

Lead Generation 92

Lead Generation Tactics Peer-to-peer Generation 92

Industrial Marketing Today

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

It used to be that the biggest challenge faced by B2B content marketers was “What will we write about?” At least that was what I heard most often from many [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Content Marketing 91

Content Marketing Content B2B Marketing Marketing 91

Industrial Marketing Today

DECEMBER 26, 2012

As 2012 ends and we look forward to 2013, it is a good time to review your current industrial website. In keeping with the tradition of celebrating the start of [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Marketing Websites 91

Marketing Websites Content Inbound Marketing Design 91

Industrial Marketing Today

AUGUST 10, 2012

I’m not trying to be clever or facetious with my headline. 67 percent of manufacturers, industrial and engineering companies stated that customer acquisition or lead generation is their primary industrial marketing goal in 2012, the same top two marketing goals for the past six years. That’s one of the findings from a survey done by GlobalSpec during the first quarter of 2012.

Planning 91

Planning Marketing Budget Creation PR Paid Search Agency 91

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 23, 2012

At this time of the year, many industrial companies are getting ready for their annual budget planning meetings. If you are one of them, a redesign of your industrial website [.]. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].

CMS Development 91

CMS Development Budget Programs Marketing Websites Content 91

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 16, 2012

The fact that you found this industrial marketing blog and are reading my post, tells me that you have asked yourself that very question and are curious about the answer. [.]. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].

Paid Search Agency 90

Paid Search Agency Companies Marketing Websites Content 90

Industrial Marketing Today

MARCH 23, 2012

Just like the classic ’60s hit song “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful, I am wondering if manufacturers and industrial companies believe in their industrial websites. I am not so sure manufacturing companies are fully convinced that their website is a real sales tool. My doubts stem from some of the things that I hear in my regular conversations with these companies.

Marketing Websites 91

Marketing Websites Marketing Budget Creation Budget Programs Marketing Proposals 91

Industrial Marketing Today

AUGUST 1, 2012

Many manufacturers and industrial companies are learning some hard lessons these days. Business as usual is not working – referrals are trickling in, if at all and the pipeline of leads is running dry. The old way of hiring away salespeople from the competition with their “ready book of business” is not producing the quick sales they had expected. Next, they try a series of marketing tactics without a strategy or a plan, hoping something will produce results.

Tactics 90

Tactics Planning Paid Search Agency High Quality Lead 90

Industrial Marketing Today

MARCH 12, 2012

Social media usage by industrial companies has received some coverage lately. I’ve read two different survey studies about how companies within the industrial sector use or plan to use social media. Depending on which study you read, the results can be confusing. Here’s one example of the confusion that I’m referring to. The study done by GlobalSpec reported “Only 22 percent of industrial companies use Twitter, which reflects its low value among engineers as a social media resource.”.

Social Media 90

Social Media Tactics ROI Paid Search Agency 90

Industrial Marketing Today

JANUARY 25, 2012

It is very common to find marketing content from manufacturers and industrial companies that is all about how great their products are or that their technology is innovative. Sellers may be too close to the forest to see the trees and firmly believe their marketing content is helpful to their buyers. Buyers can easily find information about your products and that of your competition from their online research.

Top of Funnel 90

Top of Funnel Buying Cycle Lead Ranking Digital Marketing Funnels 90

Industrial Marketing Today

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

If you want your industrial website to generate qualified leads and drive sales (Who doesn’t?), make sure the site is aligned with your sales process. Without this critical link, your newly redesigned industrial website may be nothing more than eye candy that does very little for your sales. In my daily conversations with manufacturing and industrial companies, I find the mindset is still very much centered on marketing the old way.

Top of Funnel 89

Top of Funnel Process Marketing Websites Sales Qualified Leads 89

Industrial Marketing Today

JANUARY 10, 2012

It is no secret that link building is critical to SEO success. However, some people often ignore internal links because they are just not aware of their SEO benefits. To most to do-it-yourselfers (DiY), link building for SEO means external or inbound or backlinks. These are links that originate from another site and point to a page on your domain. Don’t underestimate the SEO power of internal linking.

SEO 89

SEO Long Tail Marketing Link Building Domain 89

Industrial Marketing Today

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

Lead nurturing plays an important role in industrial lead generation programs because it is rare that an industrial sale is completed on the first call or the first visit to the manufacturer’s website. Forrester, CSO Insights and Marketo reported that lead nurturing produced much better results. Here are some of the significant findings from their research studies: Reduced the number of marketing-generated leads ignored by sales to as low as 25%.

Lead Nurturing 89

Lead Nurturing Sales Management Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads 89

Industrial Marketing Today

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Think of this post as an extension of my previous article “Why Industrial News Releases Make Good Blog Posts.” Let me start with some findings and statistics from different B2B [.]. [ This is only a content summary. Please click on the headline to read the full article. Visit my website for more content on industrial marketing.].

Content Marketing 89

Content Marketing Content Statistics Marketing 89

Industrial Marketing Today

JUNE 22, 2012

The more I talk to manufacturers and industrial companies, the more I’m convinced that RFQs and sales conversations are all that matter to them. I get it that industrial marketing must be held accountable and I firmly believe that it should make a direct contribution to growing sales and revenues. However, ignoring industrial marketing’s role in creating sales opportunities is a fallacy in my opinion.

Top of Funnel 89

Top of Funnel BtoB Buying Cycle Advertising Funnels 89

Industrial Marketing Today

JANUARY 3, 2012

Happy New Year! This is my first post in 2012 and I want to start the New Year by answering a perennial question about content marketing for manufacturers and industrial companies. The question – what do we write about? The answer – create a content series. Just like popular TV serials, you want to create a series of short blog posts that revolve around a common theme.

Long Tail Marketing 88

Long Tail Marketing Thought Leadership Content Marketing & Strategy 88

Industrial Marketing Today

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

For the past six years, more than two thirds of manufacturers and industrial companies have said that lead generation or customer acquisition is their top marketing priority according to the latest industrial marketing survey released by GlobalSpec. The same survey also found that 42 percent of these companies have increased their budgets for digital marketing in 2012 and 47 percent of the respondents spend more than a third of their overall marketing budgets online.

Cost 88

Cost Planning Marketing Budget Creation Marketing Budget 88

Industrial Marketing Today

MAY 7, 2012

In my last post, I talked about using content to convert website traffic into leads and customers. In this post, I want to continue with a similar theme and talk about why your content marketing must have a purpose. With the abundance of content available on the Internet these days, it is difficult to rise above the noise and get noticed. Manufacturers and industrial companies cannot be content with just publishing content, their content marketing needs to drive the sales process.

Content Marketing 88

Content Marketing Planning Content Sales Qualified Leads 88

Industrial Marketing Today

JANUARY 18, 2012

Many manufacturers and industrial companies consider a website redesign during Q1. The two main reasons are 1) Not showing up in Google search results ( SEO – Organic Search Engine Optimization ) and/or 2) Not getting enough qualified leads from the website (Traffic and Conversion). You know your industrial site needs a major makeover but diving right into a site redesign without first doing a website evaluation or a site audit can be a costly mistake.

Marketing Websites 88

Marketing Websites CMS Development High Quality Lead Top of Funnel 88

Industrial Marketing Today

JULY 2, 2012

Manufacturers usually want their industrial marketing to generate leads that result in RFQs as quickly as possible. Inbound marketing tactics such as SEO and other content marketing strategies do fill the top of their sales funnel. Think of 3D CAD models and 2D CAD drawings as supercharged content assets for moving leads closer to the RFQ stage much quicker than any other type of content resource.

Lead Ranking 87

Lead Ranking Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads Buying Cycle 87

Industrial Marketing Today

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Content BOM is not a typo in my headline. Read on…. I am amazed how often I find that creating content is an afterthought for people who are considering an industrial web design (more commonly a site redesign). Somehow, they assume the web designer will take care of content creation and the cost is included in their proposal for designing the site. It is not surprising then that many of these industrial web redesigns are nothing more than a cosmetic facelift with copy-pasted content from their o

Design 87

Design Wikipedia Content Sales Qualified Leads 87

Industrial Marketing Today

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Generating leads is always the central theme in my daily conversations with manufacturing, engineering and industrial companies. However, a qualified lead means different things to different people and it is rare for me to find too many of these companies to have a clear definition of what a lead means to them. Truth be told, lead generation is a catchall for “We want our phones to ring.”.

Lead Ranking 86

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Paid Search Agency Sales Qualified Leads 86

Industrial Marketing Today

APRIL 14, 2012

April 2012 marks a milestone for my industrial marketing company Tiecas, Inc. We are celebrating 25 years in business! It has been an incredible journey so far. Come along with me as I take a trip down memory lane…. I remember registering my DBA as “Tiecas Type & Graphics” on April 14, 1987 with the Harris County Clerk’s Office in Houston, Texas.

Paid Search Agency 86

Paid Search Agency Work Management Marketing Management Companies 86

Industrial Marketing Today

MAY 1, 2012

You’ve done all the hard work of optimizing (SEO) your industrial website and now you have a steady stream of traffic to your site. Congratulations! Sorry to rain on your parade but that is only half the equation. The other half is all about converting that traffic into leads and customers. I find there is a strong but mistaken belief among industrial companies that somehow their site visitors will interrupt their online activities and pick up the phone to call their sales people.

Traffic 85

Traffic Marketing Analytics Tools Buying Cycle Lead Scoring 85

Industrial Marketing Today

JULY 8, 2012

One persistent problem for many manufacturers and industrial companies is the small number of leads generated from their Websites. By default, they assume that the issue is the lack of traffic because of poor SEO. It is quite likely, that your industrial Website is attracting enough traffic but suffers from poor conversion. In short, you may have a leaky industrial Website.

Marketing Websites 89

Marketing Websites Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Leads 89

Industrial Marketing Today

JUNE 14, 2012

Inbound marketing is a frequent topic of discussion in my daily conversations with Owners, CEOs and Business Development professionals from manufacturing and industrial companies. Irrespective of the size of the company, they all have one thing in common – they want to boost sales as quickly as possible. These industrial professionals have heard about inbound marketing being the “in” thing these days from marketing consultants like me and from other sources.

Inbound Marketing 92

Inbound Marketing Paid Search Agency Planning Companies 92

Industrial Marketing Today

APRIL 9, 2012

The Upstream Oil & Gas industry, also referred to as the exploration and production (E&P) sector, has a reputation of being very conservative and conventional. Even though the companies that operate in this sector are well-known global brands, they are not exactly forward thinking online marketers who use business blogs and social media regularly.

Social Marketing 87

Social Marketing Social Media Paid Search Agency Youtube 87