Manufacturers are no stranger to sales success from word-of-mouth referrals and growing existing customers. While these tactics are timeless, more manufacturers are reaping the benefits of modern marketing tactics to growth their existing pipelines and drive more bottom-line revenue.
As you consider the marketing collateral that will accompany your product—one that’s gearing up for market launch or that exists—think outside of the box to attract, engage, and delight customers.
So, how can manufacturers take their marketing collateral to the next level? Read on for answers.
1. Blog Posts
A blog is a collection of posts that dive into a particular trend or topic. According to HubSpot, businesses that blog get 67% more leads than those who don’t.
In manufacturing, a blog can be used to address issues that are relevant to your target audience, like alleviating their pain points. By addressing these issues, you can then create a lead-in for your product or service, touting its benefits.
Establishing industry expertise can also help to build trust around your brand, so when a prospective customer is ready to buy a product or service, they’ll think of you first.
2. Brochures
Do you still reference old and outdated catalogs with hundreds of pages at trade shows, meetings, and conferences?
Visually appealing brochures offer ample space to effectively communicate your message in an easy-to-read format. They serve as an introduction to your business, highlighting key design and performance features of your product, and offer contact details like phone numbers, email addresses, and more. This provides a clear gateway for the prospect to engage with your brand—both online and offline.
There’s an extensive range of design options available for you to completely customize the brochure for your audience. They’re also generally cost-effective, as compared to other forms of print advertising. With the help of a graphic designer, you can add photos, charts, and diagrams to brochures to sell your winning solution.
3. Case Studies
Do you have any case studies featured on your website? In today’s world of peer-to-peer marketing where social proof reins supreme, case studies are among the most reliable items in a manufacturers’ toolbox.
With case studies, you can show prospects what others achieved with your product or service. For example, to explain the benefits of a custom build machine, you could illustrate a customer’s return on investment using your machine.
To create a compelling case study, include the following sections:
- Situation: Provide context around the situation
- Task: Describe the problem and challenges you faced
- Action: Detail what you did to remedy the issue
- Result: State the impact of your action using numbers and figures
Because case studies come from the mouth of the customer, they act as a third-party endorsement of your brand. Including direct quotes can add even more credibility.
>>>Case Study Example: Read How One Manufacturer Generated $6.4 Million in Additional Sales
4. Downloadable Guides
If you’ve already written a great deal of content about your new product or service, it shouldn’t be very hard to convert it into a downloadable guide—a document that provides prices, informative features, how-to tips, detailed descriptions, and more—on your website.
The goal of a guide is to generate leads, so create awareness around the benefits of the new product or service. Interview subject matter experts, like plant managers, line operators, and maintenance technicians to lend solid credibility to your work.
Once you have a draft in place, put the content behind a form that requires website visitors to enter a small amount of contact information in exchange for the piece. This should include a form that collects information about the contact, including:
- First name
- Last name
- Job title
- Company
Once you have this sort of information about a contact, you can then market to them in the future, sending more targeted collateral that’s specific to their industry or a product that they’re interested in.
5. Instructional Videos
Statistics show nearly 70% of consumers prefer video to learn about new products and services over any other form of marketing. Videos are a worthwhile investment that can be used across marketing platforms, including social media.
In manufacturing, it can be hard to understand the direct benefits of a product or service without seeing it in action. With video, you can showcase how something is used with real-life examples.
In addition, hosting your videos on websites like YouTube can increase your SEO standings and provide robust analytics that help you better understand your audience’s needs.
