The Next Generation of Manufacturing Marketing

Industry 4.0 is, according to many commentators, the future of all things manufacturing. Industry 4.0 promises to help drive the growth in the manufacturing sector. 

Most manufacturing businesses have already started adapting to the changes. An article written by Manufacturing Digital states “nearly 95% of manufacturers used Industry 4.0 technology to help keep them afloat during the COVID crisis, and more than half say the technologies were critical to crisis responses.” 

While the manufacturing sector has traditionally been dependent on in-person engagement, many companies are adapting to the digital world to meet the evolving needs of today’s buyers, partners, resellers, and distributors. And, right now, that transition is creating the perfect opportunity to market your business like never before The article provides the following tips to market that opportunity:

1. “Drive digital training and selling success for distributors across manufacturing: With digital solutions, manufacturers can now use repeatable training modules that can be easily recorded and shared. Those solutions can also be customised with thought leadership, product launch information, data sheets, case studies and subsequent content to drive business for your distributors. By investing in digital for its distributors and partners, these manufacturers filled the gap left by in-person events and made them more successful.”
2. “Use first-party data to personalise content for partners and customers: Adopting new digital tools like sales force automation technology, customer relationship management software, and marketing automation platforms can help sales and marketing teams collect important insights on audiences. With these insights, marketing can create collateral that connects, and the sales team can learn how interested a prospect is and understand the prospect’s pain points. Ultimately, these digital tools help automate the mundane data collecting and analysis so teams can focus on streamlining processes and drive results. “
3. “Scale your demand generation: As marketing moves online, digital experiences can provide companies with the opportunity to learn more about prospects and “warm” them up to the brand. Through experiences, companies can engage with interested prospects, familiarise them with the company’s offerings and qualify them for sales, rather than spending time on “cold” outreach and hoping for the best.

We hope these trends can help you develop a digital marketing strategy for your business.  Although this guide is aimed at manufacturing companies, it can really be applied to many other sectors. A digital marketing plan will be important for most companies to stay competitive in their markets, in both profitable and sustainable goals.

At Polestar, we remain excited about working with manufacturing companies. We have background knowledge in the manufacturing field from sector valuations and previous deals. Alongside that, we can introduce you to many key contacts that may help with some of your problems today.

As always, if you are interested, please reach out!