As B2B companies, many manufacturing companies are under the impression that online marketing is not for them. However, the statistics prove otherwise. Research shows that inbound marketing, or marketing strategies that attract leads to your website using content that is both relevant and of value, is key for both B2B and B2C companies alike. Inbound marketing, which utilizes techniques such as content marketing, social media, SEO, and blogging, is a proven strategy for reaching your target audience, generating new leads, and growing your manufacturing business. 
Why Inbound Marketing is Critical
Why is inbound marketing critical for manufacturing companies? Many companies in this industry believe that their target audience is not using the web to find products and services the same way as the average consumer. Unfortunately, this is simply untrue. HubSpot has even coined the moment when these companies realize that inbound marketing can help them – the “oh s**t moment.” When faced with the facts, manufacturing companies realize that their target audience is using inbound marketing channels to find anything and everything from material handling equipment to conveyer systems.
After facing this “oh s**t moment,” manufacturing companies begin to understand the many reasons why inbound marketing is important for business. First, your target audience is not only searching for better solutions online, but they are also engaging with social media at the same time, which means there is where you need to reach them. Second, your audience is doing significant research, particularly for big purchases. By providing valuable, relevant content that speaks to the concerns of your audience, you can position yourself as an industry expert and draw that audience to your business.
The Stats: B2B Inbound Marketing
Don’t just take our word for it. Allow the statistics to speak for themselves:
- 93% of B2B buyers start the process of buying using search engines, such as Google
- 84% of B2B companies are on social media, and 77%, 43%, and 40% have obtained new customers through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
- B2B companies that regularly blog generate about 67% more leads per month, 97% more inbound links, and 55% more visitors than companies that don’t blog
- You spend 61% less on acquiring leads using inbound rather than outbound marketing
- All of these statistics point to one thing – the fact that inbound marketing is inarguably the best way for companies in the manufacturing industry to reach B2B buyers.
Your Online Marketing Strategy
A successful online, inbound marketing strategy includes three main elements: SEO, content marketing, and social media. By making use of all three marketing channels, you will be able to effectively draw in more traffic, convert visitors into leads, nurture your leads, develop them into sales, and analyze your strategy to further maximize profits.
- SEO - Because the vast majority of B2B buyers are using search engines to start the buying process, search engine optimization, or SEO, is a crucial component of your online marketing strategy. With SEO, you can ensure that your business ranks highly on search engines and stands out from industry competition. There are a wide variety of ways in which you can optimize your website for search, including using keywords in your content, meta descriptions, title tags, and other relevant fields. You can also improve SEO through link building, which involves producing sharable content. With blogging and social media, you can increase the number of indexed pages that your website has, further raising your search rankings.
- Content Marketing - As another tenet of inbound marketing, content marketing includes not only blogging, but also landing pages, whitepapers, testimonials, video content, product spec sheets, and any other type of content that you produce. Blogging is especially important for the manufacturing industry as it allows you to share your original content and promote your company online, build links to your website, add indexed pages, and establish your company as a credible industry expert. Always create content that focuses on your consumers by providing them with information that is not only valuable, but relevant to their questions and concerns.
- Social Media - Although many manufacturing companies believe that their target audience is not on social media, they are wrong. LinkedIn is one of the most effective social networks for B2B companies to use because about half of its users are those who are making business decisions every day. Facebook and Twitter are also important as two of the most popular social networks. As Google’s social network, Google+ is important for SEO purposes. Finally, YouTube can also be extremely effective for communicating with buyers using demonstrations, virtual tours, and other important video content.
