Imaginasium | Lead Generation | 5 minute read
Do’s and Don’ts of Lead Generation for Manufacturers
Times have changed! Today’s digital marketing, with the right strategy, can generate real B2B leads that convert into sales. In fact, in just 90 days we helped one client close $80,000 in new customer accounts; for another, we generated $2 million in one year.
For more than 30 years, Imaginasium has been perfecting the art and science of marketing for manufacturers – a specialized market that requires special understanding of how sales work in this space, and how to turn lead strategy into sales that close.
Old School? Meet New School
Some people, in fact, might call manufacturing an old school industry. But in recent decades, manufacturers have also engineered the infrastructure, products, and possibility – making it the backbone of American innovation. And yet, there is still reluctance to step into the digital world when it comes to marketing. The logic is that sales is a people business, built around relationships with a handful of warm contacts who have been cultivated over years of in-person visits.
It’s true, of course. But of course, the COVID pandemic changed how those relationships are built and nurtured.
Life Happens Online
Think about your customers. They might not spend a lot of time on Reddit, or go to Quora when they have a question about the line in their plant, but chances are good that they are on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. And even if they aren’t, they certainly use Google in both their personal and business lives.
As any good salesperson knows – cultivating customers starts by meeting them where they are.
The Power in Data Is How You Use It
Our strategy for each manufacturing client starts with gathering data on the competitive landscape. We want to know what your competitors are doing and saying online, in order to carve out the strongest position for your products. Then we do a deep dive into potential customers – whether there are a dozen or thousands – to understand where they engage online.
From here, we align your business objectives with potentially ownable space online. Is it Facebook ads? Pop-ups that appear in the margin, based on potential customers’ past Google searches? An email campaign? These are all simply tools in our approach… tools that depend on constant optimization.
Because to win, it’s important not just to launch a marketing campaign – but to constantly optimize it. Tweaking words and images to leverage the ones that are getting the most views and clicks.
From Clicks to Customers
The point, of course, is to turn clicks into paying customers. With one client, during an initial test run of digital marketing we were able to bring together a combination of an updated website, Google ads, and B2B leads that converted into $80,000 in sales – within 90 days. With another, we promoted an underutilized business to specialized customers, leading to more than $2 million in the first year.
Many of your competitors are probably not thinking this way. It’s a great time to get ahead of the curve and rethink lead generation marketing, for big results.