One way to stand out from the competition: Jump on manufacturing marketing trends before everyone else. By doing this, you’ll seem more innovative, better funded, and smarter than your competitors. End result: Your business grows.
Unfortunately, too many manufacturers do the opposite. They stick to what has worked for them in the past. Don’t get us wrong: Tried and true marketing practices certainly have their place. It’s important, however, to balance those older techniques with fresh insights and ideas. That way, your business stays current, and a step ahead of the others in the space.
So, what are the latest manufacturing marketing trends for 2023? Keep scrolling to find out.
8 Manufacturing Marketing Trends for 2023
- Boost the Value of Your Content
- Use Your Smartphone to Your Advantage
- Get Your Employees Online
- Automate Marketing Workflows
- Become a Testimonial Factory
- Send Better Emails
- Enhance Your Social Media Presence
- Be Personable
#1. Boost the Value of Your Content
If your content isn’t attracting clients and customers, it’s not valuable content. It’s just… ordinary.
There. We said it.
To attract and retain customers and clients, especially on the web, push yourself to add as much value as possible.
- Share unique expertise that potential customers can’t get from your competitors. Think about what your company is good at – really, really good at. Then showcase those benefits in your marketing content.
- Produce content with your top clients in mind. Ask yourself: What do our customers want to know? What would help them to trust us? What expertise might we give them, for free, to help them feel good about our product and/or company?
- Keep it simple. Nothing makes people bounce faster than dense sentences with lots of jargon. Write as if you’re talking to a 6th grader. That means short sentences and simple words. Don’t assume your clients already know or understand anything.
- Use photos, graphics, and video to your advantage. In addition to helping people to understand complicated topics, visual content keeps customers engaged. That said, you’ll want to use the right type of visual content for the job at hand. Video, for example, excels at helping customers understand how to use your product. On the other hand, if you want someone to understand the mechanics of your product, an infographic would be the way to go.
(Related: A 3-Step Guide for Determining the Effectiveness of B2B Content)
#2. Use Your Smartphone to Your Advantage
More and more social platforms and search algorithms prioritize video. That means, you’ll likely reach more customers with video than you would with static images, text, or carousels.
On top of that, studies show that the majority of buyers prefer to learn about a product by watching a video rather than reading an article.
Here’s the thing: Video marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated, or even scary.
These days, creating video can be as simple as pressing a button on your smartphone. In other words, unless you’re shooting a slick television commercial, you may not need a professional videographer. This is especially true if you’re shooting for social media.
Consider filming and posting the following types of videos:
- How-tos that show customers ways to use your product
- Teasers that build excitement around an upcoming release
- Explainers that pitch the value your product
- Demos that show how your product works
- Quotes about your company’s culture, mission, and values, with moving stock video in the background
- Throwback videos that string several photos together to tell the history of your company, product, and/or industry
- Customer testimonials that feature happy clients talking about why they love your product or service
Another consideration, especially for social media: Talking-head style videos where an expert from your company shares important information and insights about your industry, company, and product.
(Read more: 4 Types of B2B Video Content – and Where to Use Them)
#3. Get Your Employees Online
When employees share, comment, and like company content, it increases reach as well as helps customers to feel like part of a family. Encourage employees to share:
- Positive comments or stories about your company’s work culture
- Why they love working for your company
- Their expertise—especially if others online might benefit from it
- How they use your product (if applicable)
- Company news and updates
For best results, create a company-wide social media policy that explains what you encourage and discourage on social media. Another strategy: Offer specialized training for employees who wish to serve as company ambassadors on social media.
#4. Automate Marketing Workflows
Anything manual, repetitive task these days can likely be handled by automation.
For example: It’s time-consuming and tedious to post to each social media platform individually.
That’s why automation is key. Platforms like Hubspot and Sprout Social allow you to load social media posts for all of your social media accounts in just one location. You can also schedule the posts to go live at a later day or specific time of the day, freeing you up to focus on sales.
In the same vein, schedule emails and automated workflows through something like ActiveCampaign (and Hubspot, by the way).
Then, connect all the dots between your systems with Zapier. For example, Notify users via Slack and create a record in Salesforce when a user fills out a form. Send a thank you email when a record is created in your CRM. And so on.
#5. Become a Testimonial Factory
Whether you like it or not, your potential customers are already searching for and reading reviews of your manufacturing business.
According to one study, 82 percent of B2B buyers read a product review before making their buying decision. Another study found that people notice negative reviews more often than positive ones.
By showcasing positive reviews in an easy-to-find location, you reduce the risk of your customer searching for and finding the negative ones. To gain testimonials, regularly ask your customers for feedback. It might go without saying, but you’ll want to use any negative feedback to improve your product. Then, for the praise, consider showcasing it on your website, social media, and advertising.
#6. Send Better Emails
Email marketing is a fast and cost-effective way to promote your manufacturing business.
That said, it’s becoming more and more difficult to get people to click and open. People receive so many emails every day that they’ve become numb to the traditional marketing emails. Their inboxes have gotten a lot smarter, too, filtering out a lot of the spam.
To encourage people to open and read your email, pay attention to:
- Your subject line: That’s what gets someone to open. Tease the customer with a product benefit that seems… counterintuitive. Make them wonder, “What’s this about?”
- Length: People are busy, and their inboxes are clogged. Keep your email as short as possible.
- Helpfulness: Show your customer how to understand something in a new way – free of charge. Do this often, and you’ll train customers to open all of your emails.
(Related: 5 Email Marketing Best Practices)
#7. Enhance Your Social Media Presence
Try to post helpful content two to three times a week on each platform.
You might be thinking, “I don’t have time to create all this content.” Remember tip #4: Automate, automate, automate.
Here’s another hack: Repurpose your content. Take old content, make a few edits, and give it new life. This will save you time and resources.
After repurposing your content, post it across all platforms. Also, engage with your audience at least once a day by liking photos, commenting, and responding to comments.
(Related: 7 Tips for Repurposing Content)
#8. Be Personable
Think of company email, social media, and blogs as a conversation.
If you were face-to-face with a potential customer, there would be a give and take. You’d likely share a little about yourself. Maybe you’d even talk about a hardship you’ve faced. You’d listen, and you’ll look for ways to help your customer in a way that only you can.
Written communication shouldn’t be any different. So whether you’re crafting a blog post or filming a reel for Instagram, try to imagine a real life human customer as your talk or write. That will help you to look and sound personable, as well as humanize your brand.
Conclusion: It’s Always About the Customer
Marketing trends come and go but one thing will always remain important – clients. Customer loyalty and sales stem from providing an exceptional customer journey. Follow these 8 Manufacturing Marketing Trends and watch your customer relationships flourish.
