The manufacturing industry has transformed significantly in recent years. Several factors have contributed to this transformation, including technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, increasing importance of sustainability, etc. But one major change has been the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and automation. These technologies have enabled manufacturers to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and increase productivity.
With the manufacturing industry becoming more agile, data-driven, and sustainable in recent years, there’s also increasing market competition. This has compelled the manufacturers to rethink their marketing strategies. The best way forward is to use digital marketing for manufacturing companies. In case you are one of them, consider these top 10 trends that will impact the marketing in manufacturing industry in 2023.
Trend 1
Personalisation is the key
Modern-day customers are constantly bombarded with information these days. Thus, if you take a generic approach to reach them, your manufacturing brand may get lost among thousands of other brands. But this can be tackled by offering your customers more personalised and customised products and marketing messages.
A personalised approach involves tailoring marketing efforts to the specific needs and preferences of individual customers or segments. This can be accomplished through the use of data and analytics to gather information about customer behaviour and preferences and use it to create targeted marketing campaigns.
Following are ways in which you can personalise your marketing efforts:
- Curating targeted email campaigns
- Designing personalised landing pages
- Providing personalised product recommendations
Trend 2
Focus on content marketing
Content marketing can be an effective way for your manufacturing brand to reach and engage with your target audience and ultimately drive sales. It involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and ultimately drive profitable customer action. It can be used to educate and inform your customers and also to showcase your products and services.
Here are some ways in which you can use content marketing to reach and engage your target audience:
- Blog posts to provide valuable information to your customers, such as how-to guides, industry news, and product updates
- White Papers and ebooks on topics related to your products or industry
- Infographics to present complex information in an easy-to-understand visual format
- Videos to showcase your products, demonstrate how they are made, or provide educational content related to your industry
- Social media to distribute your content and engage with your audience
Trend 3
Leverage video marketing
Video marketing is increasingly gaining popularity especially in the manufacturing industry. It is more effective than other marketing approaches as videos are more engaging, memorable, shareable, and versatile. That’s why it has become an important part of the marketing strategy for industrial products. You can use videos to educate and inform your customers and to showcase your products and services.
Here are a few ways for effectively using video marketing:
- Product demonstrations to display how your products work and showcase their features and benefits
- Behind-the-scenes videos to display your operations, show how your products are made, and highlight the technology and processes involved
- Customer testimonials videos featuring customers talking about their experiences with your company's products
- Educational content videos that provide valuable information related to your industry or products
- Stream live events, such as product launches or trade show appearances, to a wider audience
Trend 4
Get highly active on social media
Manufacturing brands can connect with their customers and promote their products and services through various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. As an increasing number of customers are active on social media, having a strong social media presence is inevitable for your brand.
Here are a few ways that you can use social media marketing:
- Share engaging and informative content
- Run social media ads
- Engage with followers by interacting with them, responding to their comments and questions, and addressing any concerns or complaints
- Host social media competitions or giveaways to increase engagement and build buzz around your products
Trend 5
Use email marketing
Email marketing involves sending targeted, personalised emails to your customers or subscriber list to promote your products or services and drive sales. It can be an effective way for your manufacturing brand to reach and engage its target audience. Here are a few ways that you can use email marketing:
- Send newsletters to keep your customers informed about new products, industry news, and special offers
- Send targeted emails to specific segments of your email list
- Use automated email campaigns to send personalised emails to your customers based on their behaviour or actions
- Use A/B testing to test different versions of your emails and determine which ones are most effective at driving sales
Trend 6
Leverage search engine optimisation (SEO)
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the practice of optimising your website to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be an essential part of your marketing strategy as it can help attract more qualified traffic to your website and ultimately drive sales.
Here are a few ways in which you can use SEO:
- Use relevant keywords in your website content, titles, and meta descriptions to signal to search engines what your website is about and to attract qualified traffic
- Optimise website structure and navigation to make it easier for search engines to crawl and understand your content
- Use header tags in your website content to signal to search engines the content hierarchy on your pages
- Create high-quality content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience and uses relevant keywords to attract qualified traffic
Trend 7
Bank on paid advertising
You can use paid advertising, such as Google Ads and social media ads, to target specific audiences and drive traffic to your website. Paid advertising is a marketing strategy in which you pay to display your message to a targeted audience. It can be an effective way to reach and engage your target audience and drive sales.
Here are a few ways that you can use paid advertising:
- Use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to display ads to a targeted audience when they search for specific keywords
- Use display advertising to display ads on websites and other online platforms to a targeted audience
- Use social media advertising to display ads to a targeted audience on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Trend 8
Take advantage of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is widely used with increasing popularity of social media these days. And you can take advantage of this trend to reach and engage your target audience, particularly if you are targeting younger consumers who are more likely to follow social media influencers.
Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals who have a strong online presence and influence over a specific audience. These individuals, known as influencers, create content that will promote your company's products or services to their followers.
Here are a few ways to leverage influencer marketing:
- Partner with influencers who create content related to your company's products or services
- Offer product samples or other incentives to the influencers
- Collaborate with influencers for content creation
Trend 9
Don't miss out on user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is any content created and published by your users related to your products or services. It can be a powerful marketing tool for your brand, as it can help build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Here are a few ways that you can use UGC:
- Encourage customers to share photos of themselves using your company's products
- Host a contest or challenge that encourages customers to create and share content related to your products
- Use customer reviews and ratings on your website or third-party review sites like Yelp or Google My Business
Trend 10
Include virtual and augmented reality in your marketing
You can use virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) to showcase your products in an immersive and interactive way. These technologies can be powerful marketing tools for your brand as they allow customers to experience your company's products in a way that is impossible with traditional marketing methods.
Here are a few ways to include VR and AR in your marketing efforts:
- Create interactive product demonstrations with VR and AR that allows customers to see how your product works and explore its features and benefits
- Create virtual showrooms with VR and AR to enable your customers to browse and interact with your products in a realistic environment
- Create customised product experiences using VR and AR to help your customers see how your product would look and function in their own environment
Final thoughts
Your manufacturing company can surely benefit from implementing the above digital marketing trends. But you can take your marketing game a level up by partnering with Amura Marketing Technologies, a leading digital marketing agency in India.
Amura Marketing Technologies has over 15 years of experience, an on-time delivery record, extensive manufacturing market understanding, agile processes, and a team of 150+ digital experts. Through our MarTech expertise and targeted B2B manufacturing marketing strategy, we have helped many renowned brands transform their businesses digitally. So, are you ready to rethink your digital marketing strategy with Amura? Get in touch with us today!
