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How to adapt in a changing B2B manufacturing buying landscape

The buying landscape has changed in B2B manufacturing

These four photos represent the ways most manufacturers have approached new sales development over the past decade (or in the cases of images A, B and C, since the beginning of time!):

changing b2b buying landscape

  • Image A: The Three Rs (relationships, referrals and repeat business)
  • Image B: Trade shows
  • Image C: Calling on prospects and past customers (phone, email, knocking on doors, etc)
  • Image D: Getting discovered through Google searches

First of all, kudos to those of you who have successfully built your companies on the backs of these go-to-market methods. Your success to date is a testament to the fact that you have something your audience needs and you’ve figured out how to construct a profitable business around it.

That’s no small feat.

But as someone who has advised well over 200 B2B manufacturing leaders, here’s my warning as I look down the road:

For many of these companies, what got them where they are today won’t get them where they want to go in the years ahead.

I’ll use each of the four images above to illustrate why.

The Three Rs (relationships, referrals and repeat business)

relationships, referrals and repeat business

As of 2024, 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every day.

And as those who have been our loyal customers for many years walk out the door, so do the relationships we have with their companies.

Meanwhile, members of the workforce who grew up with iPhones in their pockets are moving into their seats and acquiring more buying authority. They collect and consume information differently. And they buy differently.

Trade shows

trade shows

Consider some of the best things a trade show represents from a business development standpoint:

  • A venue for building human relationships with a meaningful number of targeted prospects and customers
  • A stage for showcasing your products and exposing them to those individuals
  • The opportunity to come home with a stack of business cards for lead development

For three days, you can be in your element.

But here’s my big question:

What about the other 362 days of the year?

I’m not anti-trade show. In fact, I share the sentiment with many of you that nothing replaces being in a room with a human being.

But I am anti-trade show when a manufacturer spends $100K on a three-day event, only to invest a fraction of that into earning attention and trust with their prospective future customers over the remaining ninety-nine percent of the calendar year.

Right now it’s more possible than ever before to humanize our brands, to showcase our products, to articulate our value propositions and to tell our stories to the people we need to reach and influence.

All of this cannot be confined to a three-day per year effort.

Calling on prospects and past customers

Calling on prospects and past customers

Not long ago, my nine-year-old daughter Grace asked me, “Dad, who is Spam Risk? And why do they always call you?”

Not a bad question, Grace.

There was a time when sales professionals could warm up a receptionist to get to the decision maker. Then came email inboxes, ripe for us to invade. But today our phone and email service providers filter out the spam for us.

Even when a sales message does slip through the cracks, our guards are up by default. I don’t want an unsolicited sales pitch. And I’ll operate under the assumption that my prospects don’t either.

Now pair that with this:

If you Google search “how much of the b2b buying process happens before a sales call?” you’ll find numbers derived from a variety of studies that range from 50-70%.

Whether your future customer is buying a computer or a car in his personal life, or he’s buying a six-axis cnc machine or an inert atmosphere industrial batch oven in his manufacturing engineering life, chances are his first move is not to call a sales person.

The immediate access we all have to a wealth of information in our business worlds today is astounding, especially compared to a short decade ago.

We (and our future customers) would be foolish not to start our research before we talk to a salesperson.

Getting discovered through Google searches

Google searches

I’m often frustrated to see “Google” or “SEO” used as synonyms for “digital marketing.”

Take 30 seconds right now to think hard about your answer to this question:

“When do you go to Google in a business setting?”.

I’ll bet it’s some combination of the following:

  • When your current vendor drops the ball
  • When your equipment is reaching end of life
  • When you’re developing a new product
  • When you’re expanding your facility
  • When you encounter a problem you haven’t seen before

In other words – when you’re being triggered to go find a new solution.

And these triggers only come about so often (in many cases, no more than once a year). So if 99% of our audience isn’t going to Google this week or even this month, why is Google so often our default digital marketing channel?

We’re at a fork in the road

B2B manufacturing leaders have a choice to make in the years ahead.

Some will keep doing what they’ve been doing (the things I’ve already illustrated).

But I’m locked into my belief that the winners will be those who:

  1. Accept that the buying landscape has changed
  2. Reengineer their go-to-market strategies to align with it

fork in the roadThose winners will:

  • Go into their respective markets and proactively educate their audiences at scale
  • Position themselves as the most helpful, most knowledgeable experts in their product categories by showing, rather than talking, about themselves
  • Start building awareness and establishing trust now – before those buyer triggers pull their prospects into buying mode

Imagine this future state…

Consider how much more quickly and effectively you could scale if the tens of thousands of Design Engineers, Plant Managers, Project Managers, Operations folks, CFOs, CEOs, Owners or whoever it is that you need to reach:

  • Knew who you were
  • Understood your value proposition
  • Considered you the expert in your category
  • Believed you could help them solve their problems or achieve their desired outcomes

In this world:

  • Your sales team would reallocate the time they spend slinging product on one-sided sales calls into facilitating deeper, more engaged conversations with right-fit prospects who actually have buying intent
  • Your prospects would come to you with their guards down, already informed and excited to talk about how you could help them
  • You’d elevate your status with future customers from vendor to expert advisor and solution provider
  • You’d be seen as much less interchangeable in the minds of those prospects, which means you’d command a pricing premium that your prospects would defend when their procurement managers try to erode your margins

So how do you start making this shift?

First, let’s talk briefly about what not to do.

Hands down, the number one mistake most B2B manufacturers make is bypassing strategy and starting with tactics:

  • “We need a new website”
  • “We need to do some SEO”
  • “We need content”
  • “We need to run Google Ads”
  • “We need to post more social media updates”

When you start with tactics, you’re throwing darts.

And more often than not, you’re throwing those darts with a blindfold on.

Always, always, always begin by identifying and prioritizing the business problems your company needs to solve and the outcomes you need to achieve.

Then you build the plan.

Here are the types of business problems and desired outcomes we’ve focused on with our manufacturing clients time and time again:

  • “Our leadership team is focused on growing from $20M to $30M over the next 24 months and we need to support our sales team on the path to getting there.”
  • “We close 90% of deals once we get in the room with the right prospects. But we’re just not getting enough good leads in the door.”
  • “We have the best product in our category, but only a small percentage of our potential customers even know we exist.”
  • “We’re really well known for A and B, but our customers have no idea we can also help them with X, Y and Z.”
  • “We see a big growth opportunity in a new product segment and we need to get ahead of it while there’s market share to capture.”
  • “We have a new product launch coming up and we need to get the word out to the right people.”
  • “We have one customer that represents 50% of our revenue. That scares us and we need to diversify our customer base to balance things out.”
  • “Our products are cutting edge in our marketplace, but our brand image and website make us look like we’re operating in 1995.”
  • “We’re dabbling in all kinds of things from SEO to Google Ads to content, but we don’t really know what’s working.”
  • “Even though we have an amazing culture, we’re not showing it to the outside world. And we’re afraid that’s contributing the the challenges we’re having hiring great people right now.”

Some of these might sound very familiar. And you’ll almost certainly have others to add to your list.

Identify them. Prioritize them.

And then we can start thinking about a plan for addressing them.

What’s an effective plan typically entail?

Although we don’t believe in a “one-size-fits-all” marketing approach, here’s how things tend to flow:

industrial marketing process

  1. Strategy: Instead of tactics, start with your desired business outcomes and reverse engineer the marketing program to get you there
  2. Audience: Identify the buying process influencers from the right companies, establish where to reach them and validate through research what matters most to them
  3. Messaging: Craft north star messaging that aligns with those customer insights, while communicating how you create value and what makes you different
  4. Content: Support your messaging with the most essential content that will educate your audience, demonstrate your expertise and provide social proof that makes them believe
  5. Distribution: Precondition your audience for sales by distributing that messaging and content at scale, at the right frequency, in the places where those individuals already consume information
  6. Measurement: Install a system for measuring both business impact and the leading signals that show whether you’re on or off track all along the way

We can help you get there

Understanding what to do is one thing. Getting it done is another.

Most B2B manufactures are sales-driven organizations with limited marketing resources. Some may have small marketing teams. Others might not have anyone in that role (somebody is simply “wearing the marketing hat”).

Regardless, from strategy and messaging to content and campaigns, there’s too much to get done, too many unique skills required and too little time available.

We’re here to help.

We can meet you where you are and be your guide to where you need to go.

Here’s what makes us different than the typical agency:

1. We’ve embedded ourselves in manufacturing

Our team of industrial marketers at Gorilla 76 has been helping B2B companies in the manufacturing ecosystem (OEMs, machine builders, contract manufacturers, robotics systems integrators, industry 4.0 service providers, etc) drive growth for well over a decade.

We know how to talk to engineers and plant managers, just as easily as sales professionals and CEOs.

2. We bring a focused outside perspective

Sometimes when you’re constantly working in the business, it’s hard to see the big picture.

Across our team, we’ve consulted well over 200 B2B manufacturing leaders over the past decade.

We’ve identified patterns, implemented wide variety of strategies and tactics, seen what works (and what doesn’t), rinsed and repeated.

We’ll bring all of those experiences to the table for you and eliminate the overwhelming and wasteful guesswork up front.

3. We’re outcome-driven

Before we start anything together, we’ll define the future state you want to reach (problems solved and outcomes achieved) and quantify how we’ll know we’ve made it there.

And we’ll agree upon the milestones and KPIs that will let us report back all along the way. You’ll always know where things stand.

4. We’re flexible

We understand that launching a new marketing program is intimidating (and maybe even scary), especially for B2B manufacturers who have done very little marketing in the past. We’re ready to be flexible, as long as we align expectations together accordingly.

Let’s simply start at the beginning by nailing the strategy and go from there.

Not our first rodeo

Below are are a few case studies that illustrate how we’ve helped and the impact we’ve created.

Case study: driving $9M in pipeline for an industrial oven manufacturer: Learn how we helped this custom-engineered CapEx equipment manufacturer turn their marketing program into a revenue machine. Read/watch case study

manufacturing marketing case study - davron technologies

Case study: building a marketing program for a cable assembly manufacturer: Learn how we helped this custom contract manufacturer implement their first true, sustainable marketing program, focused on marketing-sourced pipeline. Read/watch case study

industrial marketing case study - MTI

Make sense to have a conversation?

If you’d like to talk about how to apply all of this in your own business, please consider requesting a strategy call.

Ad platforms are your vehicle, not your friend.

When you want to get from one place to another, you often use a car. But when it comes to how to get there, you likely won’t directly ask your vehicle, “Can you drive me to the nearest Super Target?” (We’re going to ignore the existence of Siri and self-driving Teslas in this piece).

The same goes for the ad platforms we use. When we want to reach a certain business goal as a marketer, the ad platforms are typically where we go. However much like your car, you don’t want to take its advice on how to get there.

I know it sounds kind of wild. “Wait, this guy whose literal job is to use the ad platforms is saying they’re NOT my friend?” Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. But I’m not saying they aren’t the best option to get you to your destination. Even if your car isn’t your friend, it’s still better than using a unicycle to get to a destination 20 miles away.

This article will go over some examples of how the ad platforms might be the best vehicle for you as a marketer, but often not the best advisor.

“Your ads would do better with more budget”

Let’s start with the most common and most dangerous example when it comes to the platform trying to take advantage of you as a marketer. This message may be worded differently depending on what platform you’re using; however they all have the same reason for existing. Remember, your ad spend = the ad platforms’ revenue.

They technically aren’t wrong when they tell you this, because whether your cost per acquisition is $5 or $500, if you increase your ad spend by a lot you will see more conversions. But they’re also not going out of their way to tell you the reason why you’re getting this notification. For example f you see this coming from your paid search campaigns, you either A) are using too many broad match keywords or B) you’re bidding on keywords with too high of volume for your budget.

Thankfully, there are ways to get more conversions out of your current budget instead of simply handing them more revenue. A better solution here would be to switch your keyword match types or focus on lower volume/higher intent keywords to get better results out of your budget.

Misleading results

I have seen paid digital campaigns do incredible things for businesses. Paid search leads becoming $100,000 deals for clients, large numbers of customers saying they heard about a business from paid social, and so on. Sometimes these platforms like to make recommendations for you to “boost your results.” But what those recommendations would actually do is boost what your results on their platform look like.

When running paid social campaigns, you’ll likely run into random representatives from the platforms saying they’ve “seen some aspects of your campaign that are alarming,” then tell you the solution is using a MUCH larger audience or switching your bidding optimization.

Say you’re running an on-platform lead gen campaign on paid social. Making your audience huge would significantly increase the amount of leads you’re getting from that campaign. However they wouldn’t be the high intent leads you’re after.

So while you and your sales team are dealing with ten times the leads and 95 percent of them have absolutely zero interest in buying from you, your platform numbers are saying,“Hey look how many leads I got you, you should increase your budget and get even more!”

*Head to desk, multiple times*

You absolutely can bring in fantastic leads using paid social or search, but don’t just go by how many leads you get in the platform. Pay attention to quality, see what is causing it, and then you’re set to scale it.

Hiding some of their best tools

Pro tip: When shopping for a car, if you ask the salesperson whether that’s the best deal they can give you, there’s a high chance they can “ask their manager” and get you a better bang for your buck.

The same goes for the digital ad platforms.

Some of the ad platform’s best tools and offerings are not front and center by the cash register or on the price tag. You have to look deeper.

An example of this is paying attention to what the platforms suggest as the default option when selecting different optimizations or audience strategies.

When starting a Brand Awareness campaign on LinkedIn, you have a choice between selecting your specific Brand Awareness goal as reach or impressions. One option will have your campaign trying to hit as many people in your audience as possible, the other going for as many impressions as possible.

If you select reach as your goal, LinkedIn might be forced to focus on hitting more people (even though not that high of a percentage of your audience is on the platform) instead of “going with the flow” and getting you as many impressions (a.k.a. exposure) on their platform.

What’s the default selection LinkedIn gives you? Reach. But why?

Well, if you generate more impressions from your campaign, you will likely get a lower CPM — good right?. But that also means more ad inventory taken up by your campaign that LinkedIn could offer other advertisers, driving demand (and your CPM) up.

We recently tested this on a few campaigns and saw an 18 percent decrease in CPM, a 12 percent increase in frequency, and you guessed it: almost ZERO change in the reach our campaign was generating.

The reason the platform is set up like this is the same reason paid social platforms tell you to use other sub-platforms such as “audience network” or “audience partners” for your ad inventory. Your ads get delivered on other websites where they don’t perform well in terms of conversions, but your CPM shows as lower. But this also means less ad inventory taken up on the platform, which in turn they can then sell to other advertisers.

Boosting posts

Just don’t do it, not even if there’s a fire.

You should try this instead!

Given that the digital ad platform landscape is hyper-competitive, each platform is constantly coming out with new tools to offer advertisers. Sometimes these new offerings are great — think of Facebook making it more user friendly to upload ads, or LinkedIn adding offline conversions. But sometimes these new offerings are only beneficial for certain advertisers, or in some cases the new offering is launched more like a “beta test” to see if it actually works.

A shining example of this? Google’s Performance Max campaigns, which launched last year and took the Google Ads landscape by storm.

No matter what campaign you were uploading, it encouraged you to select Performance Max as the campaign type. Why? They’ll never admit it, but Google likely needed as many advertisers as possible to try their shiny new toy to get data on how it can work. If you’re a B2B company running Google Ads, you should be focusing on high intent search campaigns, not top-of-funnel display campaigns. And most B2B companies don’t have an e-commerce offering, completely eliminating the Shopping Ad placement that generates a lot of results in Performance Max campaigns.

There is also very limited reporting, so you can’t tell what someone is searching when they convert from your campaigns, which is crucial for marketers to know.

Another recent example of this would be Facebook running “multi-advertiser ads”. Shiny name right? Well, essentially what this does is put your creative in carousel ads with other advertisers showcasing similar products and services. You read that right: Your ads will literally be shown in the same ad unit as your competitors!

This would be frustrating for a local burger restaurant to deal with, let alone a B2B marketer in a hyper competitive space. And Facebook has made it a default selection when uploading new campaigns, meaning you have to remember to toggle it off (until enough angry digital marketers write articles about how bad of a feature this is).

A heartfelt apology to the ad platforms….

Although this piece may have come off as a thousand word op-ed about how much I hate the platforms, that’s the last thing I want you to take from this. When it comes to reaching your business goals, there’s no better group of vehicles in the marketing world to help you efficiently get to your destination.

It’s like taking your car to a body shop. That mechanic will probably do a better job than your attempt following watching a five minute YouTube tutorial on how to fix an engine. But if you take every recommendation the mechanic makes, you’re going to walk out with a much longer receipt than you actually needed.

Much like the mechanic needs to fix your car in order to make you happy with their service, the ad platforms can most certainly help you close deals if used right, but their main goal internally is still to make them as much money as possible. Remember that.

 

 

 

 

The art of zooming in and out: How to diagnose your paid ad campaigns

As a digital marketer there are many different skills that make you better at your job such as ad platform know-how, content strategy and so on. But the most important skill you can have in your arsenal? Knowing how to right the ship when said technical skills aren’t getting you results.

Why do I think this is the case?

I see loads of great content on LinkedIn every day about the marketing space. But what I don’t think I’ve ever seen on LinkedIn is someone claiming their digital advertising works perfectly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. What buyers want, what content they respond to and how the ad platforms work is ever changing. When these changes happen, you might see a dip in performance. 

This doesn’t mean you should change every single thing you’re doing. It’s likely that only some parts of the campaign need tweaking. 

But to determine what parts calls for a shift in perspective. You may need to pull back the lens and look at the bigger picture of things and other times you might need to roll up your sleeves and look under the hood for what might be causing the issue.

I call this approach “zooming in and out” and we’re going to walk you through some actionable examples on how this can be applied.

Zooming Out

For most marketers the main metric they look at is the end goal: the conversion. Whether this is a high intent inbound lead in the B2B space or the purchase of this season’s handbag from a DTC brand, the end goal is what everyone focuses on. And you absolutely should. 

However, the mistake a lot of marketers make is only focusing here and not looking backwards in the customer journey. Or widening the lens even further to consider as your company’s industry, the time of year, and so on.

Let’s say you launched a new set of paid search ads at the start of the quarter and notice that leads are down 25 percent from paid search compared to last quarter. The first thing I am doing is taking a look at the bigger picture.

I’d ask myself 

  • If the history of paid search performance is similar for this quarter in prior years.
  • Whether the number of organic leads also decreased this quarter.

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, you’re likely looking at a natural downswing in overall business.

However, if their overall business is pacing the same as last quarter and their paid search for the same quarter last year did not see a huge dip like you’re seeing now, then you need to zoom out in a different way. In this case your “zooming out” would be looking at earlier touchpoints in the customer journey that lead to the conversion.

Start with their in-platform metrics. Is the CTR/CPC good? Are you getting a good quantity of clicks? Does your search terms report show high-intent keywords instead of spending a ton of money on junk?

If the answer to any of those is no, then you need to double check on the keywords you’re targeting and the ads you’re targeting those keywords with. Whether it’s paid social or search, if your in-platform metrics are not doing well, then the issue lies within the content you’re creating or the audience you’re targeting.

If all of their in-platform metrics look good then congrats — you’re targeting the right audience with the right content. You’ve now narrowed the list of culprits down to one option: What happens between your audience member clicking the ad and converting.

If you’re in DTC, this can mean a drop off in the checkout process, the user not being directed to the right product or a bad website experience. In B2B, check landing page metrics such as engagement rate, how far users are scrolling and how long they stay on the site — all of which you can find using the sweetheart of marketing analytics, GA4. If you aren’t checking these metrics or haven’t gotten comfortable with Google’s new toy, check in for a walk-through on getting more advanced with GA4.

So now we’ve done a temperature check on the business as a whole, along with all of the earlier touch points in your potential new customer’s journey. What’s next if we haven’t found the issue yet? 

Zooming In

When zooming out, you checked that your ship was built correctly and you charted your course keeping business trends and seasonality in mind. But a good captain knows one hole in his ship could bring the entire thing down.

The same goes for your advertising. When analyzing your paid media, there’s no shortage of filters through which to analyze ad performance and try to find what’s not working.

You can take a look at

  • The device that the ad or landing page is being served on.
  • Your different audience segments and demographics.
  • The specific time or days of the week your ads are running. 

Breaking your ad performance into more specific segments like these is what I’m referring to when saying “zoom in”. You’ll often times find that one segment of any of the above mentioned dimensions is what is causing your ship to have a hole in it, dragging the whole thing down.

And your paid search campaigns could have multiple small holes in it. For me, the Overview section in Google Ads is a great place to start. There you can find breakdowns of specific performance metrics broken down by device, demographics, or when your ads are running. 

Your “hole” could be that 75% of your budget is being spent on mobile phones, but the conversion rate on desktop is five times that compared to mobile. Or you could be spending 30-plus percent of your budget on weekdays past 6 p.m., but none of your conversions are coming from that time frame.

When you zoom in and see issues like this, it makes it easy to see what holes in your ship you need to patch up. Which is way less costly than building an entirely new ship.

Final Diagnosis

Although we have talked about zooming in and out as two separate strategies for diagnosing your paid media campaigns, you should use them in tandem when working to find out what is dragging your performance down.

Not just because it can be difficult to immediately gauge whether the issue lies within the bigger picture or just a small segment of your ads’ performance, but because sometimes it can be both.

When your ad campaign performance is not meeting expectations, you should always check everything

If you go to the doctor and tell them that your lower back is hurting, they don’t just check your lower back. They check your hamstrings, your neck, your core, your upper back, and more. Because often times the area that you first see your problem is not where the solution is.  Treat your ad campaigns as if you’re the doctor, and they’re the patient — and you’re going to do everything in your power to keep them alive and well.

The 7 core elements of an industrial marketing strategy

7 core elements of an industrial marketing strategy

This previously published article was updated on August 8th, 2023.

A few years ago, our industrial marketing agency took a close look at the manufacturing marketing commonalities among our most successful clients and boiled them down to seven things:

  1. Positioning
  2. Website Foundation
  3. Technology Stack
  4. Content Strategy
  5. Demand Generation
  6. Pipeline Management
  7. Data Analysis

These 7 Core Elements of an Industrial Marketing Strategy are the essential puzzle pieces you’ll want present, optimized and working in sync to drive marketing success.

In this (very dense) article, we’ll explore each Core Element in detail.

Core Element #1/7: Positioning

The first Core Element – right at the center of everything – is your Positioning. We define Positioning as:

The perception of your business in the minds of your customers.

Effective marketing for manufacturers starts by identifying and documenting what your ideal-fit customer looks like – both at a company and individual human level. And it’s followed by the crafting of positioning language that clearly articulates how you create value for these individuals.

Step 1: Establishing your ideal customer

Your first move is to define the characteristics of your ideal-fit accounts at a company level. What are the common threads among your very best customers?

  • How big are they?
  • Where are they located?
  • What do they buy from you?
  • What triggers inside of these companies lead them into the buying process?
  • How long and complex is that buying process?
  • And how does the sale play out?
  • Who on the customer’s side gets involved?

Once you’ve established what those ideal accounts look like, your next move is to identify, define and outline the characteristics of the individuals at those organizations most likely to influence the buying process.

Though not everyone is a decision maker, a “buying committee” is typical – especially if you sell a complex solution that requires a long, consultative sale.

So whose attention and trust do you need to earn inside of those ideal accounts? Plant Engineers? Facility Managers? CEOs or Presidents? Procurement?

And for each of those key buying process influencers – or buyer personas:

  • What are their responsibilities at the company?
  • What decision-making authority do they hold?
  • What are their personal pain points? And goals?
  • What common questions do they ask around those pains?
  • How sophisticated is their knowledge about potential solutions?
  • What do they value about you and your company?

Step 2: Conduct customer interviews

Once you’ve identified who your ideal customers are, you’ll want to actually talk to them. You’ll use insights from customer interviews to guide your positioning language.

  • What actually differentiates you in the eyes of your customers?
  • What language do they use to talk about their problems?
  • What challenges are they facing that you might not know about?
  • How do they measure success in their role?
  • What competitive alternatives do they weigh your product against?

Learning the answers to these questions directly from the mouths of your customers will ground your positioning language. You’ll be talking about real problems, real differentiators, and real success metrics – not just what you assume about those factors. 

This makes your positioning language incredibly specific and relevant to your ideal customers, and that makes you more memorable.

Step 3: Crafting your positioning language

The next piece of positioning – after you’ve identified your ideal customer at both a company and human level – is the crafting of your positioning language.

And by that, I’m referring to a clearly articulated value proposition.

Your positioning language is the messaging you’ll consistently use throughout your sales and marketing communications as you talk about your business to the outside world.

With our manufacturing clients at Gorilla, we like to use a blend of two positioning frameworks:

Both frameworks involve clearly identifying and documenting:

  • Your ideal customer profile
  • Competitive alternatives to your product/service
  • Problems your customers face
  • Your product or service’s unique attributes/benefits
  • The true value your provide to your customers

Once established, your positioning language will build confidence with your future customers. It will make them say:

“These guys understand me. And they’ve seen my challenges before.”

This messaging is your differentiator among the many undifferentiated competitors out there who pretend they do everything for everyone. And it will serve as the guiding light for all marketing and sales communications going forward.

Core Element #2/7: Website Foundation

Your website will almost always be part of the online marketing conversation. And that’s because it’s your home base – the online face of your company. It’s your storefront – even if you’re not physically selling a product or service through it.

Your website is the one place online where you control all messaging and content. And because your website is so central to your online marketing strategy, you want (at the very least) to put some essential pieces in place before you invest in driving traffic there.

We believe there are six essential building blocks for a B2B website. They follow.

Content Management System (CMS)

Your website should always be growing and evolving – creating more and more value for your prospects, leads, and customers as time passes. A flexible content management system makes that possible – equipping you with the tools to easily add pages and modify content without the help of an agency or IT guy. Our recommended CMS, hands down, is WordPress.

Learning Center

Further along in this article, we’ll cover the all-important topic of content and the necessity of consistently publishing insights that address the common problems and goals of current and future customers. All of that resourceful, customer-centric content needs a place to live. And that place is your Learning Center. For context, here are some Learning Center or Resource Center examples from some of our manufacturing clients:

Lead Generation Infrastructure

Until a visitor takes a lead-generating action like filling out a form, picking up the phone or engaging in a live chat, he or she is just an anonymous, faceless person.

This third essential website building block – your lead generation infrastructure – refers to the components you’ll need prebuilt and ready to deploy to facilitate the process of converting those anonymous visitors into solid leads. They include call-to-action buttons, lead-capture landing page templates and forms (maybe a live chat or chatbot tool too).

Lead Management Software Integration

We’ll look more closely at this topic when we get to Core Element #3 (your Technology Stack). But here in the context of these six website building blocks, I refer simply to the presence of a direct and seamless integration between your website and two essential software platforms.

The first is your CRM (customer relationship management) software. And the second is your marketing automation software.

On-Page SEO Essentials

SEO – or search engine optimization – is a complex topic. Among these essential website building blocks, I’m talking specifically about on-site SEO best practices, including:

  • The use of target keywords in key areas of any given page (page title, URL, H1, and H2 headlines)
  • Internal linking systems between pages on your site
  • And most importantly, the presence of in-depth, insightful content

Responsive Design

As more and more content is consumed on mobile devices, responsive (mobile device-friendly) design becomes increasingly important. Consider your own experience trying to navigate a website where you have to pinch and scroll just to read the information. How long before you’re gone, never to return?

By no means are these six website building blocks the end all be all. Instead, they’re the essentials. If you invest in driving future customers to your site before these pieces are in place, you can’t expect to optimize your results.

Continuous improvement of your website will be essential. And that process should begin with these six things.

Core Element #3/7: Technology Stack

There are thousands of marketing and sales software tools out there, covering everything from SEO and website optimization to email marketing and cold prospecting.

And lots of good ones too.

But since we’re talking about core elements of your marketing strategy, we believe there are three essential pieces of software you need in place. They are:

  1. CRM
  2. Marketing automation
  3. Website analytics

Here’s a look at each.

CRM

CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management”. And in short, this software exists to keep your company’s Sales efforts organized and make your team as efficient as possible on the business development front.

At the heart of your CRM are contact records for individual leads and customers. Inside any individual’s contact record, you can log calls and meeting notes, record data points like customer preferences, birthdays, favorite sports teams, etc.

A quality CRM software will also let you:

  • Sync your email software to automatically log communications to and from recipients
  • Assign accounts and individuals to specific sales professionals on your team
  • Build task lists with automated reminders to follow up with your leads
  • Track the lifecycle stage of your deals or opportunities
  • Assign values, timelines, and probabilities of these deals closing to give you a real-time forecast of your sales pipeline’s value

Several serviceable CRM tools exist at this point, including Hubspot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics, Netsuite, and Infusionsoft.

At Gorilla, we (and many of our clients) are partial to Hubspot because of its simplicity, affordability, fantastic user interface, and seamless integration with their own marketing automation platform.

On that note, let’s transition into the second piece of your technology stack…

Marketing Automation

What’s the difference between a CRM and marketing automation platform (MAP)?

Whereas a CRM focuses more on interactions with your customers and sales activities, a MAP allows you to automate and measure marketing activities

In short, your CRM is a sales tool. Your MAP is a marketing tool.

A high-quality marketing automation platform allows you to:

  • Easily deploy on-site lead generation devices (templates for lead-capture landing pages, forms, and call-to-action buttons)
  • Collect lead intelligence about specific website visitors and their companies
  • Score and segment leads based not only on demographic or firmographic data points but also on their level of engagement on your website and the types of content they’re viewing
  • Send manual and automated email campaigns
  • Measure marketing’s impact with easy to build reports and dashboards
  • And lots more

Like with CRMs, there are quite a few marketing automation platforms out there to choose from. Some of the most popular ones include Hubspot, Marketo, Pardot, and ActOn.

Once again, we’re partial to Hubspot. From our perspective, Hubspot is best in class and worth every penny many times over because of the efficiencies it creates and valuable information it puts at your fingertips.

Web Analytics

The third and final foundational piece of your Technology Stack is your web analytics software.

Unlike with CRMs and marketing automation platforms, where you could reasonably choose from many, Google Analytics is the clear foundational tool in this category.

In case you’re not too familiar, Google Analytics is a super robust and free platform for analyzing your website data. You’ll use it to learn:

  • How much traffic your website is generating
  • Where that traffic is coming from
  • What pages and types of content are attracting and engaging your visitors
  • What pages visitors are entering the site from out of search engines
  • How visitors are moving through your site and the paths they’re taking before they convert into leads
  • And so much more

Your ability to interpret the wealth of information provided by Google Analytics will have a profound impact on marketing decisions you make on a regular basis.

Core Element #4/7: Content Strategy

Joe Pulizzi – author and founder of the Content Marketing Institute and the man who actually coined the term “content marketing” – defines the subject as:

“A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Unless your company sells widgets or largely commoditized products (which isn’t the case for most manufacturing organizations we consult), your prospective customers likely go through an intensive buying process that could last days, weeks, months or even longer.

The buying process is changing:

  1. Your buyers are gathering information online, on their own, and all throughout the buying process.
  2. They don’t care about you until they’re confident you’ve seen and understood the problems they’re facing, and that you’ve solved these problems for other companies like them.
  3. So your website content will serve as their first stop, and the gateway to a real, human sales conversation.

Despite all this, most manufacturers fill their websites with nothing but word vomit about themselves. Company news. Press releases. Blatant self-promotion about the clear superiority of their product, how great their people are, and how exceptional their customer service is.

All of this is lip service.

I won’t tell you that this stuff doesn’t have a place in your marketing mix, but I’ll stand firm in my belief that before your future customers will pay attention to any of it, your focus simply must be on them and the issues that led them your way in the first place.

The most important word in Joe Pulizzi’s definition of content marketing is “valuable”.

The best industrial marketers out there embrace their roles as publishers of legitimately helpful and resourceful content that creates significant value for their ideal customers.

Truly valuable content directly addresses the buying triggers, pain points, common problems, goals, and related questions of the right people from the right companies.

This content can exist in many shapes and sizes, including:

  • Articles or blog posts
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Case studies
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
  • ROI calculators

Your content also plays a variety of roles throughout the marketing and sales process. It will help you:

  • Generate awareness in front of your ideal customers
  • Answer their most common questions as they gather information around the issues they’re trying to address and goals they’re trying to accomplish
  • Establish credibility for your organization before you’ve earned the right to a real conversation
  • Convert qualified (yet anonymous) website visitors into tangible leads with names, phone numbers and email addresses
  • Build trust and nurture those individuals in the background after live interactions with your sales professionals have been initiated
  • Better your team’s close rate by reinforcing the expertise your Sales professionals have demonstrated throughout their interactions

Once you’ve formed the habit of consistently publishing exceptional, focused insights for your specific audience, your content will naturally find its way into all aspects of your marketing and sales mix.

And it will strengthen each step of your business development process.

Core Element #5/7: Demand Generation

Looking back though Core Elements one through four, we talked first about Positioning – identifying your ideal account types and their buying process influencers, and developing a value proposition that will resonate with them.

Then we covered the foundational elements you’ll need in place to facilitate a fruitful online marketing initiative – your Website Essentials and Technology Stack.

From there, we introduced the topic of Content Strategy for the purpose of establishing an expert practitioner position and earning trust with those ideal customers.

All of this naturally leads us to where we are now – how we’ll establish awareness and engagement among those individuals.

From where I stand, there are three ways to approach Core Element number five – demand generation.

  1. Organic channels
  2. Outbound channels
  3. Paid media channels

Each of these three approaches makes sense under different scenarios. And often a combination of the three is best. Let’s take a brief look at each.

Organic channels

Organic channels include all platforms that you own and don’t pay to post on. Your company social media pages and blogs on your website are examples.

With organic channels, you’ll develop thought leadership content that establishes credibility for your website and in turn, teaches the search engines that your company is an expert about related subjects.

This authority with Google drives up your position on SERPs (search engine result pages), producing more website traffic (and resulting leads) among individuals seeking answers to questions you can address and solutions to problems you can solve.

Posting on your company’s organic social platforms can have a similar effect. You’ll gradually establish credibility as you gain more followers.

However, ONLY using organic channels is the long game. It takes time to bear fruit because you’re not guaranteed that your blog or social media post is going to be seen by your ideal customers.

Outbound channels

With outbound channels, you’ll zero in on an ideal customer profile, build a tight list of target prospects, and go after each directly. Tactical elements of an outbound campaign may include partially-automated email sequences, strategically timed phone calls, and direct mail.

The key to success – and common thread throughout these tactics – should be the delivery of resourceful thought-leadership content. When you focus on the customer rather than yourself, you’ll open doors, even if the recipient of your message is not sales ready.

Outbound can produce results quickly, assuming that there’s market share to be captured and that your value proposition is compelling. The downside is that it’s not sustainable. You’ll always be pouring money and manpower into producing results.

Paid media channels

The paid media landscape is changing at a ridiculous pace, with technologies becoming more and more sophisticated by the day. We’ve reached the point where you can literally advertise online to specific people with specific job titles from specific companies.

And the possibility of such laser-focused targeting is hard to ignore.

Imagine you have a football stadium full of 80,000 of your ideal fit customers, and you get to talk to them for one minute, nine to 12 times per month. 

What would you say?

Now of course, not everyone in that stadium is going to be actively listening to you. Many will be taking a bathroom break or waiting in line at the concessions stand. 

But the opportunity is massive, especially when repeated several times per month.

That’s essentially what you’re paying for on paid media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google Ads: guaranteed touch points with your ideal audience at scale.

That comes at a price, but that’s because you get to hand pick who your message is being delivered to, whereas with organic channels, you’re at the mercy of the platforms algorithm with no idea who exactly will see it.

When compared to outbound channels, paid media channels are much easier to scale and sustain long term.

Combining organic, outbound and paid media channels

Before moving on to Core Element number six, I want to note that the best approach to demand generation is often a combination of all three.

Here’s why.

Building an organic marketing machine won’t happen overnight. Organic channels require a base of exceptional content that snowballs over time as you establish and grow the authority of your website. So in the short term, you may need to drive results in a less sustainable, but more controlled way.

Outbound may not be self-sustaining but can get you to results more quickly.

Paid media is somewhere in the middle. It takes time to build trust and awareness with a paid audience, but it’s still quicker than an organic approach. It’s also sustainable as long as you have budget to support it.

Core Element #6/7: Pipeline Management

Close your eyes for a minute and look out into the not-so-far-off future. Imagine you’ve put all the first five Core Elements into practice.

You’ve built a powerful marketing infrastructure with your positioning, website foundation, technology stack, and content strategy. You’re attracting and engaging the right people from the right companies through demand generation strategies. And as a result of all this, your sales pipeline is filling up with qualified leads.

At this stage, a majority of marketers will pat themselves on the back and say “Mission accomplished.”

But the best marketers know their job doesn’t end here.

Pipeline management refers to what happens after the lead is generated. There are two sides to this sixth Core Element:

  1. Sales Enablement
  2. Lead Nurturing

Let’s define and explore each.

Sales enablement

Sales enablement is the act of equipping your sales team with the processes, data, and content to optimize their time and more effectively manage the sales pipeline.

Let’s break down those three components in our definition.

The first component of sales enablement is processes.

Processes refer to the design of methodology for qualifying and initiating communication with your inbound leads:

  • When a new lead fills out a form on your website, who will be alerted?
  • Who will reach out to that lead?
  • What messaging and communication points will be used?
  • And before that happens, will we use automation to score and segment that lead to first qualify or disqualify the individual?

Although sales owns the responsibility of physically managing the pipeline, marketing needs to help answer these questions and design processes accordingly.

The second component of sales enablement is data.

Imagine one of your sales professionals has been actively pursuing a specific lead for months.

This morning, that lead revisits your website, reads a few thought-leadership articles, views a handful of case studies, visits your “Request a Quote” page two or three times, but then leaves without taking further action.

How valuable would it be for your Sales professional to receive a real-time alert that all of this is happening? How might simply having that information alter the way he or she chooses to spend the next 15 or 30 minutes of the day?

The available lead intelligence that both your web analytics and marketing automation software provides can be incredibly powerful and highly influential in optimizing the time of your sales team.

There are so many ways to organize and make use of this data. But doing so requires someone who understands the tools and can make sense out of the overwhelming wealth of information they produce.

I feel strongly that this person should be a member of your marketing team.

The third component of sales enablement is content.

While examining Core Element number four, we broke down the roles and importance of content in your marketing strategy.

Here in the context of sales enablement, we’re talking not only about arming your sales team with the right pieces of content to move active leads and opportunities forward in the buying process but also helping them learn how to physically use content in their communications.

Imagine one of your Sales professionals has been pursuing a lead for a few weeks or even months. A series of phone calls and emails has ensued – as the lead has moved from researching a problem to exploring potential solutions to evaluating providers.

What if after the call, that sales professional sent a short follow-up email that read something like this:

Bill, good talking today. I wanted to pass along a link to an article we recently published that offers a deeper explanation of [insert topic from the conversation]. I think it’ll help clarify some points from our discussion. Let me know if you have any questions!

And what if you could help that sales professional replace this kind of message…

“Hey, Mary. Just checking in to see if you’ve decided on what solution to move forward with.”

With one like this…

“Mary, I was thinking about your challenge today and wanted to share these two case studies where our customers had similar issues.

I thought they might help put the solution we discussed into focus a bit more.

Would it be valuable to quickly talk through the parallels I see with your situation and how we might apply some of our learnings from these experiences?”

Marketers are communicators.

And it’s our job to help sales communicate better – to optimize their time and deliver messaging that resonates with your audience.

Lead nurturing

Regardless of how strong your sales team may be, they can only be in front of so many people every day.

But as your pipeline fills up, your organization needs to:

  • Remain top of mind among current and past customers and leads
  • Incrementally build trust in your company’s expertise
  • And ultimately, be the clear first choice when it’s time for a buying decision

This is where lead nurturing – the other side of pipeline management – enters the picture.

Lead nurturing is the slow, steady process of establishing a trusted advisor position in the minds of your existing and past customers and leads.

This means creating valuable and consistent touch points with your contacts that don’t bog down your sales team in the process.

There are a few different ways to nurture these leads:

  • Retargeting campaigns on paid media channels
  • A monthly email newsletter full of educational content
  • Building some kind of community around a recurring series or event (for example, Gorilla 76 runs an interactive webinar, Industrial Marketing Live, twice a month that’s built a large community of industrial marketers)

Core Element #7/7: Data Analysis

Once upon a time, measuring marketing results was about tracking impressions and reach. How many people are getting their eyes on us?

But it’s a different world today where so much incredible data sits at our fingertips. The key is figuring out how to harness it.

That means analyzing and interpreting the data to uncover key insights, disseminating the most important information to our sales teams and together with sales, using it to guide the continuous improvement of our business development strategies.

How do you go about getting sales and marketing in lockstep? How do you create an environment where a two-way dialogue between these two essential arms of your business development team are together sharing, interpreting, and actually using data to propel your company forward?

I recommend one simple step: Call your first (soon-to-be-monthly) Marketing-Sales Alignment Meeting.

Once per month, for 60 minutes, your marketing and sales teams should meet in the same place at the same time with the same agenda.

Your sales team will bring a list of open and recently-closed opportunities, broken down by status (active, closed-won and closed-lost) and you’ll conduct an open discussion to answer the following types of questions:

  • Which opportunities are ideal (and why)?
  • How well aligned are the characteristics of those companies and individuals with your ideal account and buyer persona profiles?
  • Which opportunities didn’t close and what got in the way? (Wrong fit? Price tag? Better competitor offerings?)

The marketing team will bring a list of leads generated since the last meeting, and you’ll conduct a similar conversation:

  • What common characteristics exist among the recently generated leads that were actually sales qualified?
  • What types of content or ads did they consume?
  • What keywords do they appear to have Google searched before arriving?
  • On the flip side, what are common threads existing among your unqualified leads?
  • What content and activities have attracted and engaged the wrong people (and in turn wasted our team’s valuable time)?

A venue for two-way data sharing accomplishes three things.

First, it establishes a consistent, recurring time for a dialogue that will build rapport between your marketing and sales teams.

Second, it demonstrates to the sales team that marketing is there to support shared business goals, rather than operating as some rogue wing of the organization.

And third, these meetings provide incredibly valuable insights from sales that will influence your joint business development strategy going forward.

Setting expectations for results

Sales and marketing alignment meetings are also a great place to set expectations for the timeline to results of marketing activities. If sales is expecting new leads a week after launching a campaign, and marketing knows it’s going to take several months to develop that channel but doesn’t communicate that, you’re going to have conflict.

Here’s a timeline to results that we walk through with our clients when launching a demand generation strategy:

  • Month 1: Validate we’re reaching the right audience. Is our content/message actually being consumed by our ideal customers?
  • Months 2-4: Start seeing qualified leads. Are the right people starting to convert and ask for a conversation with sales?
  • Months 5 and 6: We expect to see some of those qualified leads turning into opportunities in our pipeline.
  • Months 7 and beyond: We want those opportunities to convert into revenue and produce consistent business results.

Long story short, you should make it clear that a demand generation program needs at least 6 months to start producing consistent results. Be patient and set the right expectations with your team.

Now, it’s your turn

As you start doing the hard work to better your organization’s Seven Core Elements, realize that things may look ugly at first. And you might feel a bit overwhelmed. You’re not alone there.

Change won’t happen overnight.

Instead, the key is a continuous improvement – which happens through a smart and consistent investment of resources into your marketing strategy and implementation.

If your company is a midsized manufacturer or B2B industrial sector organization, and you could use some guidance on how design and deploy an effective marketing and sales strategy, consider requesting a consultation.

Manufacturing marketing: 8 guiding principles for 2023

It’s time for the role of marketing for manufacturers to change.

And my goal for this in-depth article is to empower you to be that agent inside of your company.

I’ll start by providing some context before diving deep into the following eight manufacturing marketing principles to understand, embrace and put into motion in 2023:

  1. Recognize the power shift from seller to buyer
  2. Understand who makes up the buying committee
  3. Create value to earn attention and trust
  4. Turn the knowledge of your experts into assets
  5. Capture demand where it already exists
  6. Create demand among the rest of your audience
  7. Communicate regularly with your sales team
  8. Measure results (but exercise patience)

Shifting the mindset from expense to revenue engine

If I’ve learned anything from over a decade as a manufacturing marketing consultant, it’s this:

Manufacturers are traditionally not marketing-driven companies.

Largely, what you have instead are hard-working second-, third- or even fourth-generation family-owned businesses who have built their success on the backs of loyal, repeat customers and referrals.

And the manufacturers who have developed more active business development functions have tended to lean sales-heavy (rather than marketing-heavy).

In fact, when the word “marketing” is spoken inside the walls of many OEMs, custom manufacturers or contract manufacturers, it’s often in the context of an expense.

You know — necessary evils like:

  • Making the trade show booth look snazzy
  • Designing printed materials for the sales team to leave behind after meetings
  • Updating the website with new features and benefits
  • Adding new SKUs to the product catalog
  • Posting photos from the company picnic (or of Suzie’s cute new puppy) on LinkedIn

Meanwhile, in places like the B2B technology sector, or even professional services, you have marketing-driven organizations that are investing 3-5% of sales back into marketing programs that serve as the revenue engine for their companies.

There’s a big gap here

In the years ahead, although I don’t believe marketing for manufacturers will catch up all the way, I’m encouraged to see the mindset beginning to shift. Here’s my quick take:

In this article, I’ll create a window into that shift for you. Specifically, I’ll take you through eight guiding principles to shape your mindset for 2023.

I’ll start by explaining how B2B buyers are evolving in their information-gathering processes throughout an often-long and complex buying process.

I’ll talk about how reaching different members of the buying committee is so crucial (rather than engaging in a race to the bottom on price with procurement).

I’ll describe how to tap in the brains of your company’s deep subject matter experts, leverage their knowledge and be a resource to both your current and future customers.

I’ll talk about capturing demand where it currently exists in your market, but also generating demand among the rest of your audience (so they think of you first when they do enter a buy cycle).

And I’ll conclude by encouraging healthy, regular dialogue with your sales team and working with them to measure marketing success in a way that lets you win both the short game and the long game.

Ready? Let’s get into it.

1. Recognize the power shift from seller to buyer

Transport yourself back in time 20-some years.

You’d probably be sitting in front of a big clunky off-white computer monitor, waiting on your AOL dial-up connection to lock in before you could Yahoo whatever you were looking for.

Now come back to the present day. So much has changed, and so fast.

Think about how easy it is to collect information about anything now. Whether you’re starting the search for a new car, deciding which Yeti cooler you want to spend your entire next paycheck on or simply looking for a list of birthday present ideas for your mom, the buying power is in your hands. Not the seller’s.

So, what’s that mean for you as a manufacturing organization?

  • Your prospects are actively looking for answers to their questions online
  • They’re consuming written, video, audio and visual content along the way to learn
  • They’re comparing their options
  • They’re pricing out potential solutions
  • They’re evaluating prospective vendors and partners
  • Then, they’re revealing themselves for a sales call

So while a majority of manufacturers are busy tasking their marketing managers with print brochures and product catalogs, the smart ones are out there in the digital world providing answers to questions, talking about solutions to common problems, comparing methodology for doing it one way vs. another way, educating about timeline to ROI and total cost of ownership and sharing success stories to make everything more tangible.

Most importantly, the smartest manufacturers are recognizing that they’re not going win solely based on their historical reputation, their existing customer base and referrals. Because that alone won’t cut it anymore.

Instead, they’d adapting to how buyers are buying right here and right now. And they’re meeting those future customers where they are.

2. Understand who makes up the buying committee

I say this often:

If your first touch is with procurement, you’re already too late.

Look all the way to the left in this graphic.

These people are physically using your product day in and day out.

Look in the middle.

These people are trying to solve problems on the plant floor, with your customers and throughout your organization.

Look to the right.

These people are ultimately writing the checks (but only after those to the left of them have weighed in).

If you can learn what matters to each of these key buying process influencers and earn their attention and trust by helping and guiding them, they’ll be your advocates when the buying process eventually does move into procurement’s hands.

But if you only focus on the far right, you’ll brand your company as an interchangeable commodity and find yourself in a race to the bottom on price time and time again.

3. Create value to earn attention and trust

Next, let’s talk more about what it means to create value for your audience through your marketing activities.

Look back at all the buying process influencers (or buyer personas) we just talked about. We could do one of two things in our communications with them:

  1. Try to sell them stuff
  2. Earn their attention and trust by being their best resource

Don’t get me wrong. Number one is the end goal!

And we need to get your sales team to that place. But right now we’re talking about marketing for manufacturing companies. And marketing is not the same thing as sales.

Think for a moment about those early-stage influencers in the buying process (often engineers or other technical professionals).

Then ask these questions:

  • What challenges are they facing that your experts know how to solve?
  • What questions are they trying to get answered?
  • What do they need to know to help them advance the buying process?

All of this should form the foundation of your content strategy.

The best sales professionals understand that you have to connect with the pains and desired futures states of prospects. The same goes with marketing.

If you talk all about yourself first, no one listens.

But if you talk about what your prospects care about, genuinely help them and demonstrate thought leadership along the way, you’ll then earn the right to talk about yourself.

Developing a content strategy as a manufacturing organization can lead you down a number of different paths.

There are many ways to achieve this goal:

  • Written blog content (educational in nature)
  • Videos of your experts talking about key topics
  • Webinars where you’re actively teaching and answer prospects’ questions in a live setting
  • Audio content (like a podcast or being a guest on other industry podcasts)

Decisions about which channels to use should be made based on a combination of the resources and skill sets at your disposal, as well any insights you have about how your audience prefers to consume information.

4. Turn the knowledge of your experts into assets

The best content comes from the brains of your company’s subject matter experts.

We’ve already talked about identifying the challenges, common questions and desired future states of your prospects. And we’ve talked about tactical ways to create content that will address those things (written, video, webinar, audio, etc).

So how can you actually go about creating those content assets?

After all, when’s the last time you met an engineer who’s gung-ho about spending a full day of his or her time writing a 1000-word blog post?

From my perspective, the job of a marketer in the content creation process is to be the facilitator or the knowledge extractor.

Here are a few ways we get it done with our own clients:

Written content:

We’ll identify the SME (subject matter expert) in our client’s organization. Then we’ll book a 30-minute interview to extract the key insights around the topic from that person.

Ahead of the interview we’ll do the prep work, so we’re asking the right questions and not starting from ground zero.

Following the interview, we’ll often do more research to help clarify points that were made. Or maybe follow with some clarifying questions for that SME. And finally we’ll send a draft for our client to review.

But notice that the insights come from the brain of the SME. That’s what matters.

Video content:

Like with written content, we’ll prep an outline for the conversation by doing the upfront legwork. Then we’ll set up a camera, lights and audio on site. Because this is a bigger production, we’ll always batch content creation. We call it “Knowledge Extraction Day” and the goal is to record a variety of content from a variety of SMEs that can be used for months and remain evergreen. In this case, the final product is the SME on camera, teaching.

Here’s an example we produced after filming on site with one of our clients:

We’ve created a variety of resources about tapping into the brains of your experts. Explore at will!

5. Capture demand where it already exists

A majority of your total addressable market is not in buying mode at this exact moment in time.

Several people icons in a group, 3 of then are highlighted in orange with an arrow pointing to them and saying "only 1-3% are actively looking for a solution.

Let that sink in for a moment.

If there are 1000 companies that could conceivably be your customers, maybe 10-25 are actively looking for a solution today (or let’s say this week). That number likely climbs the closer your product approaches commodity status. Conversely, that number likely shrinks the more specialized, complex and bigger-ticket your product is.

Regardless, when those active buyers are looking for a solution, they go to places like:

  • Their network
  • Google
  • Industry resources or organizations

We may not know exactly which organizations are buying right now, but we want to make sure they know you.

We call this “capturing existing demand”.

This is where both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search enter the picture.

SEO is a long game. You need to build authority in the eyes of Google (or other search engines) just as you build authority in the real world. It requires time. It requires high-quality, genuinely resourceful content. It requires inbound links from credible sources to your website that help Google validate your own credibility. Most importantly, it requires a sound strategy to pull all of this together.

SEO matters. But it’s hard to win in the short term if you’re just getting started.

On top of all this, the way Google populates search results is changing. You could have the best SEO game and be at the top of search results, but as many as 57% of searchers don’t click on a result due to enhanced SERP features that make it easy to get quick answers to questions without having to read an entire article.

The compliment to SEO (and in most cases, a way to move more quickly toward meaningful results) is paid search. With paid search (think Google Ads), you’re essentially paying for website traffic by selecting and bidding on keywords.

It’s very easy to waste money doing lead generation with pay-per-click (PPC) ads. One of the most strategic pieces of advice I can offer is to focus your PPC spend on high-intent keywords. Let me illustrate with an example:

For Gorilla, we’d rather bid on keywords like “industrial marketing agency” — not “industrial marketing strategy”.

Why?

Because those who are specifically searching for an agency are exhibiting signs of buying intent (those searching for strategy are probably trying to learn). While we love visitors from both categories, we don’t necessarily want to pay for visits from the latter. We’d rather earn their attention organically and through other more cost-effective marketing channels.

Here’s a webinar recording from our recurring series for manufacturing marketing directors (Industrial Marketing Live), on the topic.

Aside from going to Google, prospects who are actively looking to buy will likely tap into their referral networks and visit industry forums, directories and/or associations websites. Methodology for creating visibility in these places will vary, but don’t overlook them as sources for capturing existing demand.

6. Create demand among the rest of your audience

Now let’s come back to our hypothetical total addressable market of 1000 customers that we described at the beginning of the last section. If 10-25 of those 1000 might be active buyers at this moment in time, that means 975-990 companies that fit your Ideal Customer Profile remain.

These organizations are not in buying mode right now.

Many of them will be in a week or a month or a year.

But right now, they’re not.

So how do you think a “Buy Now” message resonates with that vast majority of your audience?

It doesn’t.

They’re ignoring you. Or worse, they’re writing you off because you’ve done nothing but blast unwelcome sales messaging in their ears for weeks or months or years.

Most manufacturers (and frankly, most companies in general), fail to acknowledge that just because someone in your audience isn’t buying right now doesn’t mean they’re a “bad” prospect or lead.

It just means that they’re not ready for sales messaging.

So let’s bring this back around to the concepts we’ve already talked about:

  • Knowing who the buying process influencers are
  • Understanding what matters to them
  • Creating amazing content that will earn their trust and attention

Now it’s time to go actively distribute this content to them to assure that the messaging is actually consumed by the right people from the right companies.

This strategy is called demand generation.

Most manufacturing organizations don’t have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for future customers to show up at their door steps.

They need to proactively get out into the world, build personal connections and earn trust. Read: GENERATE demand.

For most, these are sales activities.

But marketing has a major role to play here as well.

Content distribution can take on many forms. Here are a few worth noting:

  • Paid social. Target people with specific job titles from specific types of companies in specific geographic regions with specific interests and tell Linkedin (or even Facebook), “Show this content to these specific people. And after they’ve seen it three times, show them this related video. And after they’ve seen that a few times, show them this case study that puts it all into context.” Here’s a webinar recording we did on the topic: Facebook and LinkedIn Ads for Manufacturers.
  • Email. Stop thinking of email as a channel for announcing that you’ll be at booth 33 of the trade show next week and instead think of it as a medium for distributing all of the amazing, helpful thought leadership resources that you’re creating. Here’s a webinar recording we did about revamping your email strategy.
  • YouTube. Turn your channel into a wealth of tutorials and resources around your expertise.
  • Guest podcasting. This medium is growing exponentially. Have your SMEs appear on niche industry podcasts as guests to teach about the same topics you’re writing about and filming videos about.

Here’s an in-depth conversation about different channels for content distribution:

The biggest takeaway here:

Capture demand among those who are buying. Then start generating demand among those who aren’t (but will be somewhere along the way). When they enter a buy cycle, you’re the first one they’ll call.

7. Communicate regularly with your sales team

This one may sound like a no-brainer on the surface, but I’ve looked inside dozens of manufacturing organizations over the past decade and very few have successfully created any kind of meaningful or productive alignment between their marketing and sales personnel.

I believe the core of this problem lies in what I stated at the very beginning of this article:

Manufacturers are traditionally not marketing-driven companies.

If a manufacturer’s sales team has always viewed marketing as the folks who make brochures, update the website and post on Facebook, what motivation will they have to spend valuable hours (or even minutes) of their week with the marketing people? They’re busy killing what everyone else will eat, right?

Throughout this article, I’ve been laying the groundwork for a mindset that needs to transcend a manufacturing organization’s marketing department.

So, if you’re on board with the principles that have been laid out thus far, it’s time to get sales on the bus too.

Start by shifting dialogue with your sales team from a tactical to a strategic conversation:

  • What are the new sales targets for this year (or quarter)?
  • Where do the biggest growth opportunities lie?
  • Where can the company be most profitable?
  • What’s the current sales pipeline look like?
  • Where are future customers getting stuck?
  • How are they tracking deals in the CRM (or elsewhere)?

As these conversations become more productive, turn them into recurring meetings. Set an agenda, learn from each other and develop strategies together.

It’s easier said than done, but marketing-sales alignment must start somewhere. And regularly-occurring open dialogue will get you moving in the right direction.

8. Measure results (but exercise patience)

Here’s the harsh reality:

You don’t grow an effective marketing program from the ground up overnight. In fact, the number one ingredient missing from most manufacturing marketing programs is this:

Patience.

Ultimately, marketing success should be measured on the basis of contribution to pipeline. But remember what we talked about earlier: A majority of your total addressable market is not actively buying at this moment in time.

Will there be low-hanging fruit? Sure. And you should go get it (see the earlier section about capturing demand where it exists).

But I can promise you that throwing 100% of your marketing resources at generating revenue over the next quarter will fail for most companies.

Effective marketing for manufacturers is a process that involves:

  • Incrementally generating awareness
  • Building trust by establishing a position of thought leader in your space
  • Capturing demand where it exists while building demand where it doesn’t
  • Analyzing your marketing KPIs to create a flywheel of continuous improvement
  • Rinsing and repeating

Along the way, you’ll measure things like:

  • Organic search rankings
  • Website traffic growth
  • Volume of form submissions on your website
  • Engagement rates with content
  • Consumption of video content on YouTube or LinkedIn

These are often referred to as “vanity metrics,” but these marketing KPIs will serve as barometers for you. Are we moving in the right direction as we build this sustainable revenue marketing engine?

Just recognize that it takes time. And frankly, the key ingredient (patience) is one that many nearsighted organizations unfortunately won’t tolerate as they remain trapped inside an endless hamster wheel of marketing mediocrity.

Need some help?

I recognize this was a lot to digest. But hopefully, it has you thinking differently already.

If you could use some advice about where to get started, consider requesting a consultation, and we can talk strategy.

A guide to GA4 part three: Advanced reporting for advanced campaign management

As we covered in part two of this series, Google Analytics 4 offers essentially an entire department store of reports and metrics for analyzing your advertising efforts. 

But if you’re only viewing these at their basic level, you’re not using this platform to its fullest potential.

Part three of this series will walk you through how to get the absolute most from Google Analytics 4 by utilizing additional tools this platform offers.

The compare date range feature

This one is a complete softball, to be fair. But it genuinely boggles my brain how many digital marketers don’t use the compare feature in GA4’s (and other platforms) date range tool regularly when analyzing performance. 

Whether you launched a new landing page, campaign or audience, or simply upped your spend on a certain platform, this tool is essentially an easy button for judging performance before and after the date you launched it. This way, you can see if the change you made increased sessions, engagement rate, conversions or any other metric within GA4. 

And if your business experiences up/down swings due to seasonality or sees different traffic during the week vs the weekend, don’t fret. You can adjust the comparison time frame to options such as the same period from last year or have GA4 use the preceding period but matching the day of the week. 

 

Multi-dimensional breakdowns

When viewing reports in GA4, you can use different dimensions such as channel, source, device, location, landing page and more. Think of these as the “lens” through which you look at your GA4 metrics from. 

But what a lot of marketers don’t take advantage of is using more than one of these at once. 

A prime example of using this feature would be to see how certain channels/platforms are performing on specific devices by using “Session Source” as the main dimension then “Device Category” as the secondary dimension for the breakdown. Your Facebook or LinkedIn campaigns might be performing alright on desktop, however their mobile performance once users get to your landing page is very subpar. You now know that the landing page for your campaign is not mobile friendly, and adjustments need to be made.

To utilize this feature of GA4, simply hit the “+” sign that appears next to the main dimension that your report is already being broken down by (by default this is “Session Default Channel Group, but there are many options to use), shown below.

Some other options for secondary dimensions are demographics, location, specific campaigns, and more!

 

Filtering reports

This next little “trick” isn’t as much about diving deeper into your data, but more so making it easier to visualize it (which in turn, makes it easier to dive deeper). 

By utilizing GA4’s report filter and multi-dimension functions, we can easily look at just our paid social advertising’s performance between each of the device categories. 

Let’s say you notice your paid social channel isn’t working quite as well as you’d like it to. In this case, you want to only view data from the channel that’s struggling — without all of the other clutter. 

To do this, select the “add filter” button under the title of the report you are viewing. This will open up a pop up on the right side of your screen, where you can select to view data in that report within a specific dimension. 

For this example, we’ll look only at data from paid social by filtering the “Session Acquisition” by Session Default Channel group. The data is broken down by Session Source, with the secondary breakdown being Device Category.

Eliminating the clutter in this report to only look at my paid social performance made it much easier to notice an issue-my Average Engagement Time on LinkedIn is very poor both on mobile and desktop. If done correctly, Average Engagement Time from your LinkedIn Ads should outweigh your Facebook ads due to Facebook being more of a volume play instead of a higher intent strategy.

 

Customizing reports

The first two features we’ve gone over help you look at your GA4 metrics from different angles. One more feature GA4 offers that a lot of marketers might not be utilizing is the customize reports feature. 

Select the pencil icon in the top right of your screen when in a GA4 report, and it will bring up a toolbar on the right side of your screen.

Is there another metric or dimension you wish you could view in this report? Or perhaps you’d like to see some of the data provided in the report in a different visualization option, such as a pie graph? 

No matter what type of data you’re looking into or whatever metric you’d like to analyze, this feature allows you to make it happen. 

Scroll depth and session duration events

Do you have landing pages that include a lead form midway down the page? Or perhaps an explainer article on your site and you’re curious how far down users are reading?

You’re in luck because through Google Tag Manager, GA4 now has the ability to provide you that information. It just takes a little technical legwork, and you’re rewarded with data worth 10x what it took to set those events up.

Step 1. First go to your GA4 property and go to the admin panel. Under property settings, select “Data Streams.” In the “Enhanced Measurement” section, make sure that “scrolls” is toggled on, pictured below. If not, go ahead and turn it on.

Step 2. Go to your Google Tag Manager account, and go to the variables section. Ensure that the variables labeled “Scroll Depth Threshold”, “Scroll Depth Units” and “Scroll Direction” are toggled on, pictured below. 

If they are not, select the Configure button in the top right and toggle them on.

 

Step 3. Next you will have to set up triggers using these variables, that we will then use to make tags to fire events into your GA4 property. Here is a video walking you through how to create these triggers for both Scroll Depth and Session Duration.

 

 

Step 4. Now that we have set up the triggers for our site to start tracking scroll depth and session duration, the last thing we need to do is set up tags that fire events based on those triggers into your GA4 property. To do this, go to tags within Google Tag Manager and select “new tag”. There are many different tag configuration options available, but for this one we need to select “Google Analytics 4 Event”. 

From here all you need to do is give it an event name that will show up in your actual GA4 property for this event, and select your Google Analytics 4 configuration tag. 

Last, select the trigger that you want to use for this tag such as the 60% Scroll Depth one we created in the video. 

Your tag setup should look like this:


Note: You should be creating a separate trigger/tag for each Scroll Depth/Session duration threshold you want to measure.

Now all that’s left is to hit save, then submit your updates in Google Tag Manager for the events to start firing into your GA4!

Now go take on the world

You have now learned that the date range compare feature is one of your greatest weapons as a marketer, how to make any report give you the exact information that you need to optimize your digital campaigns, and even learned how to set up some fancy custom GA4 events to show off to your boss. 

You’re now capable of solving almost any issue possible when it comes to your digital marketing using GA4 (unless you’re not able to upload campaigns because you spilled coffee on your computer). 

All that’s left to do is to take this knowledge and run with it.

A guide to GA4 part two: Basic metrics and reports

Have you ever been watching a great TV show and when one episode ends on a cliffhanger you think to yourself  “I can’t wait to find out what happens next”? Google Analytics is that next episode.

You see, platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google offer plenty of insight on how your ads are performing on the platform. But what you need is insight on what users are doing on your site after leaving the ad platforms you’re using.

GA4 offers what those platforms can’t: Showing what happens after they click on your ad. 

Part one of this series walked you through some key changes between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4. Part two of this series will go over the core metrics in GA4 that can help you analyze your advertising performance, as well as the main reports we use here at Gorilla to help us make informed decisions. 

The metrics

Users

This measures the amount of individual people landing on your site whether it be from different platforms, campaigns, etc. 

GA4 also breaks this down by new and returning users, which is definitely something to keep an eye on if you’re running retargeting campaigns on paid social/search. 

However it is important to mention that due to how the tracking technology works, some users can be labeled as “new” when they are in fact returning if the user uses a different device or clears their browsing history. 

The takeaway: pay attention to new and returning users within GA4, but don’t let it be the end all be all when making decisions.

Sessions

Instead of individual people, this focuses on every session on your site. The same user can record as many sessions as they want on your site (this part of how GA4 will calculate new/returning users). 

Engaged Sessions/Engagement Rate in GA4 is any session that lasts longer than 10 seconds, results in a conversion event, or has at least 2 pageviews or screenviews (i.e. did they click to multiple pages on your site). 

Engagement rate is simply what % of sessions on your site result in an engaged session.

If users aren’t doing that once they click through the ad to your site, it’s likely due to one of the following misalignments: 

  • Your landing page isn’t appealing to your audience.
  • The landing page doesn’t line up well with the content from your ad. 
  • Your audience doesn’t line up well with the content you are advertising. 

Avg. Engagement Time/Avg. Session Duration

Average engagement time is how long your site was the focus of the user’s browser. Session duration is simply how long the average session lasts. Sometimes someone can leave your site open but move to a different window/screen, so engagement time can sometimes be more useful. 

If you’re in the B2B space, chances are you have a landing page where the user can learn more about your brand, a product you offer, etc. You just might even have a form on the page where they can give you their information to potentially give your company a lot of money. 

Can they read that content or fill out that form instantly? Not possible, unfortunately — so it’s kind of an issue if users aren’t spending time on your site once clicking through your ads. 

Average engagement time and session duration are crucial to pay attention to in GA4. If you’re running paid social and paid search ads, your paid search engagement time should be much longer than your paid social ads. If you’re running paid social on both LinkedIn and Facebook, you can expect your LinkedIn engagement time to be longer than Facebook.

Conversions/Events

GA4 automatically creates some basic events such as pageview, first visits, user engagement and more to track on your site. Events are essentially specific actions taken on your site by the user. 

So on top of making sure users are taking action on your site through engagement rate mentioned above, this allows you to track what actions they’re taking

For example if you’re a B2B marketer, form submissions from inbound leads are likely an integral part of your business. Setting these up not only as an event within GA4 but also a conversion event allows you to analyze where your conversions are coming from, but also what other events/pages may be leading to those conversions.

And there are limitless custom events you can set up on your site such as scroll depth, clicking specific buttons on your site, and more. These can give you even more insight on the actions your users are taking on your site (jump ahead to part three of this series to set up these advanced tracking metrics!).  

Reports

All of the above metrics can be extremely useful when analyzing your advertising performance to make informed decisions. But what really makes them useful is the different ways you can look at these metrics. 

Think of each of these core reports within GA4 as a different “lens” through which you view GA4’s data.

User/Session Acquisition

This report arguably offers the most information on what users from your ad campaigns are doing on your site. 

These two reports offer most of the same metrics such as engagement rate, engaged sessions, average engagement time, etc. The main difference is one pulls data based on each individual user, while the other is based on individual sessions. 

This report is most useful if you are running campaigns on multiple platforms. Below is what this report looks like, broken down by Session Source.

Let’s say you’re running paid social ads on both LinkedIn and Facebook using the same creative assets and messaging. Using these acquisition reports, you notice that although Facebook is driving far more sessions, LinkedIn is generating a higher engagement rate along with more conversions. 

If it’s the same creative on the ad and landing page, but the users are behaving drastically different on your site, this can clue you into the differences between audiences on Facebook vs. LinkedIn. 

This is just one of many ways you can use the User/Session acquisition report to diagnose issues with your digital campaigns.

Event/Conversion Reports

Similar to the User/Session Acquisition reports, these two reports show a lot of the same information. What makes these so useful is they help you recognize what events “feed” into other events, i.e. do your form submissions result from a high engagement rate, session duration, etc. 

You might see here that a lot of your lead conversion events are coming from sessions that occur on a desktop. However other events such as engaged sessions/pageviews are all coming from mobile with few leads coming in. You could be getting all of those pageviews from say, paid social ads. 

But if people aren’t converting you may need to take a look at the landing pages for those ads to ensure they are mobile friendly (does the page load fast, is the form easy to find, how well does the page read on your phone, etc.).

Conversion Path Report

If you are running ads on multiple digital channels, this report is one of your best friends. 

Hidden away outside of the reports section, the Conversion Paths report is stationed under the Advertising section of GA4. 

This report shows you

  • What channels are contributing to the beginning, middle, or end of your customer’s journey to becoming a lead
  • How many touch points on average it takes in each different “path” for your potential new customer to convert
  • Data that can be broken down by channel, source (such as different social media platforms), or even campaign if you’re utilizing UTMs in your ads

Below is what the report can look like broken down by channel.

 

Here’s a potential scenario for you:

If you’re only paying attention to leads coming “directly” from paid social, you risk cutting off a channel that was getting you a ton of traction — it just wasn’t getting all of the credit from good ol’ Google.

Users might be simply searching your company’s website later on to submit their information, even converting through one of your paid search ads. Your well-written LinkedIn ad might be contributing a lot of leads to your pipeline, but none of those lead conversions would “show” as coming from paid social. 

Analyze your advertising in a whole new light 

If Google Analytics is your digital marketing hospital, these reports/metrics are your tools —and the doctor’s in.

Google Analytics gives you the tools to look at your advertising from almost any angle possible. so you should use it to make the most informed decisions possible for your advertising. 

That way you can avoid giving your marketing a misdiagnosis, or pulling the plug on a campaign too early.

A guide to GA4 part one: Setting up for success

If you’re a marketer in the B2B space, hopefully you’re aware by now that Google has officially taken away our dear friend Universal Analytics and replaced it with their new baby- Google Analytics 4.

Compared to Universal Analytics, GA4 can seem complicated at first: It’s a completely new user interface, and the terminology that GA4 uses leans more technical than UA. 

To get you started with your best foot forward, part one of this series will walk you through the main differences between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4, along with what you need to set yourself up for success and maximize what you can get out of GA4.

What’s new?

The Metrics

At first glance you might think to yourself “what is this entirely new world Google is forcing me into?” However, a lot of the same metrics that we all know and love are still in GA4, they’ve just simply been “rebranded” to different names by Google. For example Bounce Rate in UA has been replaced by Engagement Rate in GA4 (they’re not 100% the same thing though, think of Engagement Rate as more of an upgrade for you). Here is an article they provide comparing the new GA4 metrics to their counterparts from Universal Analytics.

Data Collection

If you are in the digital marketing world, you hopefully are also well aware of all of the “red tape” being added surrounding data collection in the past few years. New regulations being introduced, software that protects a user’s information, and of course my least favorite: Apple’s release of iOS 14 in 2022. To combat this, GA4 is built to not rely so much on data from cookies (it still uses cookies for some of its data however), and leans more on what they termed Google “signals”. So a lot of the data collected is from the user being signed into a Google account on one or multiple devices.

Events, events, and more events!

In Universal Analytics actions that the user took on your site could be broken down into multiple main categories such as a pageview, a timer, e-commerce, and more. In GA4, things are a bit simplified.

 

Notice anything? Yes, everything in GA4 that happens is labeled as an “event”. There are a lot of events that are automatically set up whenever you create your GA4 property, along with a few extra so long as you have “enhanced measurement” turned on for your GA4 property. This likely is Google trying to align GA4 more with other actual ad platforms, where mostly every conversion you set up is labeled as an “event”. Here is a link from Google walking you through all events that are automatically set up for you once your GA4 property is created.

Account Structure

In Universal Analytics the account hierarchy was Account>Property>View. Your data was collected at the property level specifically, so if you had multiple websites you wanted to collect data from, you had to view them in separate properties.

In GA4, Google has changed the account structure to improve digital marketer’s options for data visualization.

The account hierarchy for GA4 is Account>Property, with a new feature called a data stream (essentially what web asset are you pulling data from). Instead of data being collected/reported on at the property level, it is now collected at the data stream level. What this allows you to do is if you have multiple websites under your company umbrella (i.e different brands, divisions, or locations) you can create a separate data stream for each site, allowing you to view the data separately or all at once if you want to judge overall marketing channel performance.


Do Not Freak out

The bottom line is, don’t be too scared of GA4. A lot of the same useful information is still in there from Universal Analytics, along with a lot of new tools at your disposal. 


Getting Extra Juice Out of GA4

Google analytics on its own is an extremely useful way to analyze website performance and user behavior from different sources. However once you connect your GA4 property with your other Google accounts (Google Ads, Search Console, etc), it’s kind of like upgrading to first class on your next flight. Here is a link to an article walking you through how to execute this (however there are endless articles and videos that can show you how to get it done).

Now the reason this is so important to do is it gives you access to additional reports that, although they aren’t automatically set up in your GA4 property, are extremely useful. 

For example if you connect your Google Ads account to your GA4 property, you now are able to see all of your favorite GA4 metrics broken down by your Google Ads assets. As a B2B marketer your landing page is one of the most crucial points in the customer journey, so being able to see what keywords, ad groups, campaigns etc are generating the best engagement metrics once the user lands on the site can really aid in optimizing performance. 

Fun fact: we’ve actually found that metrics stemming from what users do after they click on your ad have a much stronger correlation to conversions/conversion rate than any metric you see in the actual ad platform! Below is what one of our client’s gets to see broken down for each and every one of their keywords they’re targeting in Google Ads.

 




An example of how this could be extremely helpful is let’s say you have a keyword in Google Ads that seems to be crushing it according to in-platform metrics. Google is spending more of your budget on that keyword than any other you’re going after, it’s generating the most clicks, and generating the lowest CPC. But you might see in here that it has an extremely low engagement rate compared to other keywords you’re targeting. That might tell you that that keyword is too broad, or simply doesn’t align with what your landing page is trying to sell the user. You remove it, and by getting Google to spend much more on the higher performing keywords within GA4, you end up seeing more conversions from your paid search ads!

Time to take the training wheels off

Now that you’ve set up your Google Analytics 4 property, connected it to all of your other Google assets, and are tracking conversions, you should be able to get all of the data you need within GA4. 

So take off those training wheels and start using that data. And if you need help using that data to better inform your digital ad strategy, that’s exactly what part two of this series is for. Get started here.

4 marketing building blocks for B2B manufacturers

It’s tempting to get distracted by the sexy stuff when diving into a new marketing plan – flashy ad creative, cool one-off pieces of content, exciting live events, the webinar series you’ve been dying to launch. The list is endless.

However, creating great marketing campaigns starts with laying a strong foundation built on customer insights and strategic thinking. Trust us, it’s not boring by any means, but many in-house manufacturing marketers still rush to create content and campaigns without first investing in foundational marketing work to set themselves up for long-term success.

There are four crucial activities that form the building blocks for impactful marketing:

  1. Customer research
  2. Developing a positioning strategy
  3. Crafting a brand story
  4. Creating a content plan

Taking the time to do each of these well pays dividends when creating content and campaigns that resonate with your customers and differentiate you from competitors.

This article comes from a conversation on The Manufacturing Marketer Podcast. Listen to the full episode HERE.

Customer research

We know, we know, you may have heard this a million times already, but it still bears repeating:

Talk. To. Your. Customers.

The most valuable thing you can do as a marketer is speak directly to customers. Interviews reveal pain points, buying motivations, and opportunities your customers may not otherwise tell you about.

Conduct 20-30 minute interviews with at least 6 customers or prospects. Ask open-ended questions to uncover:

      • The biggest problems and pain points they face, both related and unrelated to your solution
      • How they define success in their role and jobs they do to accomplish it
      • Where they spend time online and how they prefer to receive information
      • What alternatives they consider and why they chose to buy from you
      • How they classify your product in the market

Record and transcribe interviews to capture quotes, language, and insights you can incorporate into positioning, brand story, and content.

Positioning Strategy

That customer research is GOLD, but if we’re being honest, no one is going to routinely go back and relisten to a 30 minute recording.

You need to package those insights into a clear and concise positioning strategy that your whole team can easily reference frequently.

Use your research to develop positioning that defines:

Ideal customer profile: Narrow down the exact customer profile you want to target based on attributes like industry, business size, and product types. This helps focus your marketing.

Competitive alternatives: Map out alternatives customers consider for your solution, like manual processes or competitors.

Unique attributes: List your differentiators beyond generic claims of “high quality” or “good customer service.” Identify features that lead to tangible benefits and be specific!

Market segment: Determine your positioning within the larger market as a leader, niche player, subset of a category or maybe even a new category.

Link unique attributes to value: Map each differentiator to the benefits enabled by the feature and the specific value it provides customers in relation to their goals. This helps customers understand how you solve their problems better than alternatives.

Brand Story

Your positioning strategy defines how you’ll go to market.

However, you need to expand on that and use language your customer is actually going to care about. Less bullet points and more human. We’ll give your positioning life through storytelling grounded in customer insights.

Frame your brand story by placing customers as the “heroes” on a journey, you as the “guide” providing a plan to succeed, and problems as the “villains” to overcome. Tell the story of the positives that happen when customers follow your plan versus the negatives if they don’t.

Use quotes, analogies and metaphors from customer interviews to make your story authentic rather than self-centered marketing speak. Frame yourself as helping rather than selling to create an emotional connection.

Create a Content Plan

At this point, you’ve talked to your customers, figured out what you need to say to them, and how exactly you need to say it. Now, you need a way to put it out into the world, and the best way to do that is with content.

Build a content plan informed by your new perspective on customer problems and positioning.

Start simple by listing 3 to 4 pieces of foundational content you will create in the next quarter, such as:

      • Long-form articles that address key customer problems identified in research
      • How-to guides that teach customers to do jobs related to their goals
      • Videos that demonstrate your expertise and humanize your company
      • Case studies that illustrate your brand story in action for similar companies

Update Continually

Foundational work doesn’t have to be set in stone. In fact, it’s stronger when you see these assets as living documents. Continually update based on new customer insights and a changing market. Share widely across functions so your brand story enables sales, customer service and product development efforts.

Drive content and campaigns with powerful value propositions by leveraging insights from customer interviews, your positioning strategy and brand story. With the right groundwork in place, your marketing will make a real impact for your business and customers.

A guide to digital ad platforms part two: Making sure your tools are working properly

Whether you’re advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn or Google, there is no shortage of metrics you can use to measure the success of your ads. While this is a great feature to have, it also makes it easy for some to get lost. 

Part 1 of this guide explained what tools to use for the job when it comes to running digital ads for your company. Now we’ll go over how to make sure a) those tools are working well and b) where to look to make them work even better.

Before we begin: Know your metrics  

One metric you should track as a B2B marketer is of course conversions, specifically lead form fills. But since conversion metrics (such as cost-per-conversion or conversion rate) are heavily dependent on your company’s average transaction value and sales volume, we’re going to focus on metrics you can use to improve those conversions regardless of what space you’re in. 

In terms of campaign objectives on the platforms, we will stick to the main two that Gorilla utilizes: brand awareness and website visits/conversions.

Paid social (LinkedIn & Facebook)

CPM

How it’s calculated: Total spend on your ad per 1,000 impressions.

What it really means: On paid social platforms an impression is generated once a user stops on an ad and actually gives it some attention. While this may seem minor, it is a huge indication on if your ad is grabbing the user’s attention quickly before they keep scrolling on their feed. 

This metric is most relevant when using the brand awareness objective. If your campaign objective is conversion based, your CPM will naturally be much higher and not really a key metric you want to be paying attention to.

On LinkedIn this metric can vary dramatically depending on how niche your industry is, but on Facebook you should shoot for under $5 for a brand awareness campaign. A good CPM is more dependent on the imagery than copy. Make sure your image and your image headline scream to the user that your ad is for them based on their profession. 

Frequency

How it’s calculated: How often an audience member sees that specific ad unit on average in a given time range.

What it really means: Pretty simple here: Is your audience receiving your message enough times to have them remember you. For this you want to shoot for around at least 3x a month per ad, and max around 10x per month. Any lower and the message won’t stick, any higher and your audience will feel spammed. 

If you are too high or low, look at your campaign budgeting along with your audience size to try and drive your frequency up or down. Like CPM, this metric is more relevant for the brand awareness campaign objective.

Click-Thru-Rate (CTR)

How it is calculated: Percentage of chargeable clicks divided by impressions.

What it actually means: While the imagery is typically what makes the user stop on your ad, the copy is what sells them on clicking through to the website. On LinkedIn you want to shoot for around 1%, Facebook around 0.5%. If it is significantly lower than this, look at the copy in your ad and make sure it a) hooks the user quickly b) makes it clear you can solve a problem of theirs and c) entices them to learn more by clicking through to your site. 

If the copy looks good for the product you’re selling, you may need to take another look at your audience and make sure it reflects who is most likely to be into what you’re selling.

Cost-per-click (CPC)

How it is calculated: Total amount spent on your ads divided by total number of clicks.

What it really means: CPC and CTR both reflect a lot of the same insight. If you have a low CPC, your copy is doing a great job selling the user on clicking through to your site to learn more. The main difference here is that your CPC can vary a ton depending on your industry, so if it seems high take a look at your CTR. If this looks solid, you likely just have a very niche audience that is tougher to reach on the platform.

Adjustments you can make

Once you launch your campaign, let your ads run for around three weeks before making any major adjustments. 

Facebook and LinkedIn both take a bit to “learn” which content in your campaign is driving the best results best on your campaign goal, so making changes too quickly can hurt you in the long run. The same goes for making changes too often. If you make some significant adjustments to your campaign, give it at least a couple of weeks before giving the verdict on it worked or not.

Let’s say you have a campaign with 10 to 12 ads in it. Around three weeks into your campaign, go into the dashboard to see what content is working well and turn off the lowest performers in that campaign. Keep in mind what your campaign is optimized for — monitoring CPM and reach for awareness optimized campaigns and CTR/CPC for conversion optimized campaigns. 

If you are noticing your entire campaign is underperforming, here’s where to look to solve that for each of the metrics above:

  • CPM: If this is extremely high, make sure your audience isn’t too narrow for your budget. Also remember what an impression is —they must stop on your ad. Does your image make it clear that the ad is specifically for your audience right away?
  • CTR/CPC: Here is where you analyze your copy. Does the copy hook the audience right away and explain how you can solve their problem? Also, remember Facebook hides the copy behind a fancy little “see more” button after 125 characters. If your copy doesn’t have its hook in those first 125 characters, chances are these metrics will take a hit.

Paid Search (Google)

A majority of your conversions should come from Google, as this platform has the highest intent from the user.

Given that most B2B companies have a low volume of conversions compared to their B2C counterparts, you may have to look elsewhere for insight on what’s working. Luckily Google has a plethora of other metrics you can review to make adjustments that drive more conversions for your business.

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

How it’s calculated: Shown as a percentage, this tells you how many times your ad is being clicked per 100 impressions.

What it actually means: If you have a high CTR, your ads are likely showing at or near the top of the page. This means you’re owning that keyword for your space, which is a major win. 

In the B2B space, we pay particular attention to this metric over CPC (which tends to be higher in niche industries). And keep in mind that CTR will likely fluctuate from seasonal demand for your product/service.

You want a CTR above 3% at least — if you’re not seeing that, make sure: 

  • Keywords, ads and landing pages are consistent across the user journey
  • Ad copy clearly describes what you provide
  • Your budget is in line with keyword volume

Search Impression Share

How it’s calculated: The amount of impressions that your ad delivered divided by how many times your ad was eligible to be delivered (based on the search volume of your keywords).

What it actually means: This metric can vary a ton depending on your industry/how often your keywords get searched monthly. We’ve seen accounts with an impression share around 80%, others around 15%. Both can perform well. 

However, if this is dipping below, say, 10%, this essentially means you are playing Hungry Hungry Hippos for that keyword with hippos that are much larger than you (in terms of ad budget). Look into adjusting your keyword to be lower search volume/higher intent by changing the keyword match type, or making it more intent-based such as “[your product] for sale” or “[your product] pricing”.

Adjustments You Can Make

When launching a new campaign, you want to let your campaign “breathe” a little so Google’s algorithms can figure out what bidding strategy will get your account the best results. After three to four weeks of running ads, there are minor tweaks you can make to enhance the results.

The Overview section shows results based on demographics, devices, location and time. For example, you may see that 40% of your budget goes into mobile ads, while 90% of your conversions come from desktop computers (along with a much better conversion rate). Or you might see that upwards of 80% of your conversions come from males aged 25 to 45, specifically from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Below is what your Overview section may look like-notice how a small fraction of our spend is coming from Computers, but a much larger chunk of our conversions is coming from that Device Category along with a much better Conversion Rate? Might be time to increase our bidding on those specific devices!

On the left side toolbar, there are sections labeled Audiences, Devices, Ad Scheduling and more. If you see you are getting more traction from certain demographics, devices or time slots, you can click into here and increase your bidding in that segment to see if it boosts your performance. We recommend increasing/decreasing bidding by only 10% to 15%, as any higher you risk bidding unnecessarily high on certain ad auctions.

Bonus section: Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) obviously is not a paid media platform. However, it offers insight on something most paid media platforms lack: what happens AFTER a user clicks through to your site. There are many reports within GA4 along with many ways to customize/filter them, but here are a couple of the basic ones that can help you the most.

User Acquisition Report

Here you can see a breakdown of how people from the different traffic sources such as Paid Search, Paid Social or Organic are interacting with your site. The main metrics to look at here are the engagement rate (% of users that actually DO something on your site once landing on it) and average engagement time (How long do they stay on the site after clicking through?). This quick video below walks you through where to find it, what you can get from the report, and also some ways you can customize it to show more specific data.

 

 

This data is important because you might generate a ton of clicks through your paid digital platforms, but if the users aren’t staying on your site and taking action, you likely need to audit your audience or creative. We’ve seen that when these two metrics are solid, the conversions typically follow.

Conversion Path Report

Under Advertising on your GA4 toolbar you’ll see an option labeled “conversion paths”. The name here kind of gives it away, as it shows you the journey users take before converting. You can see what traffic sources are driving conversions, but also how many touchpoints it took to get them there. 

What I really love about this report is that if you’re running paid ads on multiple platforms, you can actually see if conversions are coming from users that interacted with an ad on one platform, then eventually converted through another. Just because you aren’t seeing direct conversions coming from a specific platform doesn’t mean it isn’t doing anything for your business. For example a user might be hit with ads on paid social a few times, then convert directly through a Google Ad. In this instance think of Paid Social as your “starting pitcher” and Google Ads as your “closer”.

Now take your toolbox and get out of here

Facebook, LinkedIn and Google are powerful tools for your business — especially now that you know what levers to pull so they’re working in your favor. 

Are there other ad platforms out there? Yes. But they don’t provide nearly the same returns. Are there other helpful metrics within those platforms? Also yes. But now you have your foundation. So grab your tools and get to work.

A guide to digital ad platforms part one: Using the right tools for the job

Being a digital marketer can be tough. Being a digital marketer in the B2B industrial space is even tougher.

It’s not as easy as posting a picture of a restaurant’s $10 double bacon cheeseburger online and boom — you see ROI from your digital ads. The product or service you’re selling to people can sometimes cost north of $500K, and on top of that, your audience is extremely niche.

It isn’t easy, and many marketers wonder how to use their ad spend efficiently. They’ve got the tools in the campaign manager dashboards of Google, LinkedIn and Facebook. But what’s true on the packaging production line or in the field technicians’ road kit is true in the marketing workspace: You won’t go far without the right tool for the job.

In this guide to digital advertising, we’ll walk through how to use each platform and tips in mind when advertising for your business.

You can check out part two here, where we cover metrics on each platform and how to use these insights to tighten your targeting and drive more business.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Google for B2B marketers 

The primary platforms we see working best for industrial companies are Facebook, LinkedIn and Google.

All three platforms we are discussing have plenty of similarities: i.e. they’re paid digital platforms that track advertising results to generate (and show) ROI for your business.

Each of these platforms can be a fantastic use of your marketing dollars, if done the right way. But each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Facebook

For Facebook, the main benefits are cost efficiency and tracking capabilities.

You can deliver your content for extremely cheap CPM’s on this platform, and track the results of your advertising to an extent that most platforms simply don’t offer.

Facebook’s Meta Pixel allows you to track online events such as leads from your website, visits to a specific page, and more. Or it could be offline conversion options where you can upload data from other sources such as your CRM. It even shows you what specific ad drove those actions, so you can make informed decisions on what content you show your audience.

Now you can see if the people you’re targeting are becoming leads and leading to more opportunities for your business.

The main downfall of Facebook (besides their nightmare of a support service) is something I would describe as a need to “trim the fat”. What I mean is, there can be an awful lot of people in your audience that are outside of your actual target audience.

The good news is though some of your ad spend will likely be spent on users that are nowhere near a potential qualified lead, the cost to distribute your content on Facebook is so low that your overall cost per lead should still be manageable if you’re running ads correctly.

LinkedIn

In contrast, look at LinkedIn like an excellent cut of meat — no fat cutting needed. LinkedIn uses its own first party data for its audience targeting. You can target users by specific job titles within a specific industry, or even layer it further by adding in job seniority as a criteria and basic traits such as age and location.

It also offers a lot of the same tracking capabilities as Facebook through LinkedIn Insights tag (their version of the Meta Pixel). They even offer offline conversions like Facebook does too (however LinkedIn’s Offline Conversion capabilities are still pretty far behind Facebook’s as of now).

You might be thinking, “Is there any con to advertising on LinkedIn for B2B?”

Once again, LinkedIn is like an excellent cut of meat. And just like a high end steak at your local butcher, LinkedIn can cost a pretty penny.

Website visits, cost per lead, and most CPMs will cost more on LinkedIn than Facebook, but here you’re paying for quality over quantity.

Google

Google is like a giant amusement park with every ride or attraction you could ever imagine. But sometimes finding your way around that amusement park can be really tricky.

Google’s new Performance Max campaigns also offer some impressive targeting capabilities such as individuals who research certain sites, search terms or have shown interest in certain products or services.

Google also has a wide abundance of creative capabilities. You can run basic search campaigns, video content, or essentially any creative asset you can think of. You can also advertise your product pages directly at the top of search queries through the shopping ad placement in Performance Max campaigns.

The biggest strength Google offers is the data that it provides for its advertisers. Compared to Facebook and LinkedIn, the amount of information you can get out of Google is best in class for ad platforms in terms of how the users behave, what makes them convert, when, etc.

If you’re running paid search ads, your targeting can be pretty simple. Your keyword targeting should mimic the products/services your company offers along with some of the problems your potential customers face that cause them to need your company.

Ironically, Google’s biggest strength as an ad platform can also be its biggest weakness as well. It is extremely easy to type up a search ad with a few keywords and hit “upload”.

But it’s harder to understand things like Google Ads best practices, where to find information and conversion tracking compared to platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Getting proficient on this ad platform can take much more time than some other options, but once you are there the opportunities can be endless.

What tool for what job?

Now that we’ve gone over a user’s mindset on each platform, as well as the pros and cons, let’s wrap up by discussing what the best use for each of these bad boys is.

To create demand: LinkedIn and Facebook.

LinkedIn=education, Facebook=entertainment

Your B2B product or service is likely complex. To really get the benefits across to your audience, it may require an in depth explanation, maybe with a neat little graphic. Your ads should be the most educating on LinkedIn because your audience is more engaged, in a business mindset and ready to learn on Linkedin.

Which as I mentioned above, your audience can and should be very specific when using Linkedin.

Facebook may not be a business platform, but with its potential reach it can be used to generate brand awareness for your company. That in turn generates interest in what you’re selling at a very efficient cost.

Use Facebook similarly to LinkedIn to help build the top of your funnel by emotionally entertaining your audience to generate interest.

To capture existing demand: Google

Google ads will be there for you when that audience member who’s been hit with your paid social ads for months finally makes the decision to invest in a product or service like yours and they search “best option for [your product]”.

Google is where you capture the demand of your high-intent, ready-to-buy potential customers that don’t need to be nurtured for months. Paid social is best used to educate, entertain, and nurture your targeted audiences, Google is best used to reel those suckers in.

I’m still a bit overwhelmed — where’s the one place I should start?

If your company may not have the budget to cover both paid social and search or you think it may be difficult to get your leadership to commit to multiple platforms, which one should you pick if you only get one?

Your best bet to start would be running high-intent search campaigns on Google. These users don’t need to be nurtured for months like some do on paid social. This is a quicker avenue to show results and get some room to scale out a full-fledged digital marketing program.

Understand your user’s mindset to create compelling ad content

A huge mistake marketers can make is not acknowledging that the end user is in an entirely different mindset when using each platform.

It may be the exact same person on the other end of that screen. However, speaking to them the same way on each platform can be a little like trying to fit a triangle into a square hole.

We’ll tackle Facebook and LinkedIn first.

These are both paid social platforms, where the user’s mindset/intent is a lot more passive than when they’re getting hit with Google Ads.

Facebook

When a user is on Facebook, they’re typically going on there to see updates from their friends, /family, and the latest adorable puppy footage.

On Facebook, you want your content to pull on one of their emotions. Try to grab their attention by being funny, addressing a problem that angers them while at work, or selling an ideal (“How’d you like to never replace your generator battery”) to grab their attention.

Remember: Facebook has mass abundance of content, so the user’s attention span is far shorter than most platforms.

LinkedIn

With Facebook, the user is in a mindset to be entertained, while on LinkedIn, the user is there to learn.

Content includes insight from companies they follow and, education directly related to their field and position.

This causes the user to be more engaged, making them much more likely to read longer content when it can help solve a professional problem.

With LinkedIn being much less of an emotion-based platform than Facebook, your content here can be more cut and dry. Content that addresses the user’s exact problem (and introduces how your company can solve it) will strike it big on LinkedIn.

Google

Google’s algorithm is more cut and dry than paid social platforms. It receives a search query from the user, and in a matter of seconds crawls millions of options across the web to give that user the best answer for their question.

Users comes to Google Ads to find the answer to a question they have, and they’d like it answered promptly.

So, you need it to be crystal clear to the end user and Google that the landing page and the ad are exactly what they are looking for.

Their search might not be worded as a question. For example, they might search “landfill odors.” But their real question is “My landfill stinks. How do I best solve this?”

With the right keywords and ad copy, your ad should essentially scream “ME. I AM THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION” (we wouldn’t recommend using that as copy though. It’s quite aggressive).

Google captures a more bottom-of-funnel, high-intent, ready-to-buy audience. So get to the point of how you solve their problem, because the user and Google don’t have much patience to wonder if you are or not.

Take this into practice and make your company some money!

You’re now ready to take everything you’ve learned today and execute. To review…..

Facebook is where you go to entertain and build a relationship with your target audience, utilizing it’s massive reach and advanced tracking capabilities.

Linkedin is where you to to educate your audience in depth about what your company has to offer, to a near perfect target audience for your business.

Google is where you capture the demand that you generated using Linkedin and Facebook by reaching users right when they are ready to make a business decision. In this case, hopefully it is to give your company a lot of money to solve a problem of theirs.

If you got to the end of this and are wondering, “Great, but what the heck do I measure on these things?” don’t fret. All that fun stuff is in part two of this overview.

 

Demand generation for manufacturers: The art of attracting more leads

What is demand generation and why is it so important for manufacturers?

Let’s walk through a thought exercise.

Think about your target account.

Which group of buying influencers is the most important to talk to? What problems do you solve for them?

graphic conveying ideas about buying process influencers expressed in the post

For this example, imagine your answers were:

  • Target account = General Motors
  • Buying process influencers = process engineers
  • The problem you solve = high scrap rates, which you help reduce by 5%

That GM process engineer (let’s call him Andy) is aware of his scrap problem, but isn’t in the market for new tooling. He does, however, like to scroll through Facebook on his lunch break.

Andy starts seeing a mix of ads from your company – educational articles, case studies and product videos. It’s clear you solve the exact problem he’s having at work.

Now, repeat that scenario over the course of six months.

GM’s scrap problem has been getting worse and frustrations are building.

Finally, Andy gets approval to replace the old tooling. Because of your Facebook ads, he’s familiar with your products and reaches out to you directly.

THAT’s the power of demand generation.

Why does this work?

Most of your prospective customers are like Andy. They have a problem you can help solve, BUT they aren’t currently in a buy cycle.

Yet, many industrial companies market to Andy as if he were looking to purchase tooling tomorrow.

If Andy were only seeing ads with pictures of your product that said, “Get a quote now,” that wouldn’t be memorable OR helpful for his current situation.

The scrap rate was a real problem. He needed guidance, not a sales pitch.

And upgrading tooling can be expensive and risky. He needed to trust you, too.

The ads he saw:

  • Offered guidance through expert articles that actually helped Andy do his job better
  • Built trust through case studies about how you solved problems for customers just like him
  • Demonstrated how your tooling worked with technical product videos

Overtime, those small touch points built trust with Andy. When it came time to buy, he knew who you were, how you could help him and had some trust in your brand’s ability to solve his problem.

It’s a similar approach your top salesperson might take with a prospect. Send them helpful information over email. Take them out to dinner a few times to build a relationship. Invite them to your shop for a product demonstration. 

The touch points on social media are much smaller, but they’re also less expensive, more frequent and SCALABLE. 

There are tens of thousands of Andy’s out there seeing these same ads and having similar journeys. That scale is the advantage of a demand generation program.

But what about trade shows? Prospecting? Email?

A demand generation program on paid social doesn’t need to replace your current sales and marketing efforts, especially if they’re producing results.

Demand generation is an opportunity to amplify what you’re already doing.

There are a few key reasons why you should consider adding demand gen into your marketing mix:

  • The buying process is changing
  • Most of your buyers aren’t in buy-mode right now
  • It’s an opportunity your competitors might not be taking advantage of, giving you an edge

Graph showing how the prospects buying power has increased over time, while the business's power in the sale has gone down

The buying process is changing

More and more of the buying process is happening online. Young engineers are reading articles or watching videos before they’re talking to a sales rep about a solution.

As access to information increases for your customers, your “power” in the buying process decreases.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing! You now have opportunities to help and influence your customers before they even talk to you. You can generate demand.

Several people icons in a group, 3 of then are highlighted in orange with an arrow pointing to them and saying "only 1-3% are actively looking for a solution.

Most of your buyers aren’t in buy-mode right now

This was Andy’s situation in our example. Only about 1-3% of your potential buyers are looking for a solution right now. If your marketing is only geared toward them, you’re missing all the Andy’s who could be buying from you in six months.

Demand generation is an opportunity

Open Google and search for the “Facebook Ads Library.” Once there, search for your top competitor. You can see all the ads they’re running.

You can do this on LinkedIn, too. Just go to their company page, click “posts” and filter by “ads.”

Are they running ads? If so, would they have helped Andy in his situation?

Most industrial companies aren’t doing demand gen.

This means you have an opportunity to talk to your ideal customers where your competitors aren’t. At a trade show, you may be across the aisle from each other, but on Facebook? Your customers are only seeing YOU. 

Why pay for ads when you can post on LinkedIn and Facebook for free?

There’s a big difference between organic and paid social media. 

When you post organically on your LinkedIn page, LinkedIn can show that to whoever it wants. There’s no guarantee that all your followers will even see it.

LinkedIn also tends to suppress company page reach, because users would rather see updates from their friends and colleagues.

For example, Gorilla 76’s own LinkedIn page has over 4,000 followers, but our posts only get about 500 to 1,000 impressions when we’re regularly posting helpful content.

Paid social media comes with two major advantages:

  1. Controlled targeting
  2. Scale

Just look at this audience built in LinkedIn based on our earlier example:

Screenshot of an audience built in the LinkedIn platform

That’s 25,000 people…

…with the exact right engineering titles…

…working in motor vehicle manufacturing.

And that’s only scratching the surface. With some more specific information about business goals, this audience could easily be scaled up or niched down.

Don’t forget, this is also guaranteed distribution. LinkedIn doesn’t show ads to whoever it wants to like it does with organic posts. It shows them to the audience you specified, which is MUCH larger and targeted than your organic following.

The pieces of a successful demand generation program for manufacturers

Before you start, two things need to be clear:

  1. How exactly does this program fit into your business goals?
  2. What’s your focus going to be?

Don’t do demand gen just to do it. This strategy won’t be effective unless it ties back to business goals. If one of your goals is growing your customer base in the automotive industry, your demand generation program should target that industry.

Which brings me to the second point: focus.

You probably have five to 10 industries or customer segments you could sell to. Demand gen and paid social are scalable, but you can’t boil the ocean here. 

You need to focus on one audience to get started. Otherwise you’re going to dilute your efforts and spend way too much money on ads.

Once your goals and audience are clear, you can dive in.

There are three key components to a demand generation program:

  1. Developing your messaging: what do you need to say to your customers?
  2. Creating content: how are you going to communicate that message?
  3. Distribution: how are you going to make sure your ideal customers consume that content?

Developing your messaging

How do you want to position yourself in your market? What differentiates you? What problems do you solve for your customers?

These are all important questions you need to answer with your messaging, and the best way to answer them is by actually talking to your customers.

As a business owner, you’ve probably interacted with a lot of customers and have some really great assumptions about the above. But you need to validate those assumptions by actually talking to your customers. I’ve seen it happen many times: the business owner assumes one thing and their customer tells them another.

Their answers to the questions above become your messaging. 

Next, you need to create content that communicates that message.

Creating content

We’ve written about content creation a LOT here at Gorilla, so if you’re interested in the nitty gritty, I’d recommend this article, or this one or even this one. However, I’m going to give the 30,000-foot view.

venn diagram, left circle says "What your prospects want (or need) to understand, left circle says "the knowledge of your people", the overlapping section says "your messaging and content strategy"

Content is critical for your demand gen success because:

  1. No one wants to be sold to 
  2. It builds trust by showing your expertise
  3. It helps your customers do their jobs better, and helpful = memorable

Think back to Andy at the beginning of this piece. The ads he saw weren’t reminiscent of a used car salesman. They were full of expertise and insights from the company’s subject matter experts and customers. This content helped Andy start solving problems at work. 

THAT’S what made him remember the brand. Not a flashy “get a quote” button.

Content can work like another salesperson on your team, offering helpful info to customers and guiding them through the sales journey.

So, what content do you need to create to do this? Look back to your messaging and audience.

If the problems you solve for your customers are highly complex…

…consider educational articles written by your own engineers to break it down.

If your target audience is primarily engineers who need to spec equipment into projects…

…consider more technical product videos and spec sheets.

If your solution is a large investment for your customers…

…consider social proof like case studies or video testimonials from other customers to put them at ease.

Once you have some content, it’s time to distribute it to your ideal customers.

Distribution

Gorilla 76 founder, Joe Sullivan, has a great analogy about the importance of distribution:

cafe in an alley

Imagine you’re opening a new restaurant. Your chef has worked in the best kitchens across Europe. Your waitstaff never lets a glass become empty. The finest linens and fresh centerpieces adorn your tables every night.

It’s a really classy, 5-star joint.

But…you’re located on a quaint side street and no one knows your restaurant even exists.

In that scenario, it makes perfect sense to put a little money into advertising this amazing restaurant, right? How can you expect people to find it on their own?

Manufacturers and restaurants are apples and oranges (or maybe more like apples and CNC machines,) but the principle still applies.

You’ve put so much work into making your business great. But what’s the point if your ideal customers aren’t aware of you?

You need to target these customers where they’re already spending time and deliver the right message with the right content.

Bonus: Analyze and iterate

Even after all this hard work, it’s still probably not going to be perfect. You need to analyze your ad performance to see what’s working best.

Then, you can test small adjustments to your copy, creative and content to optimize your ad performance.

When to expect results from demand generation

You might be thinking this sounds like a lot of work. And for Facebook or LinkedIn ads? Maybe you’ve tried them before and haven’t been impressed. Where are the results?

I’ll reference back to Andy again. He was seeing ads from the tooling provider for SIX months before he finally reached out. Although that’s only an example, it’s pretty typical for manufacturers who are running demand gen successfully.

There are a couple of reasons for this longer timeline to results for manufacturers:

  1. The amount of trust you need to build
  2. The length of your sales cycle

Sure, maybe B2C brands like Nike can expect to see results from paid social in 24 hours – buying a $75 pair of sneakers isn’t a high-risk investment.

Spending $100K on tooling or machinery is a completely different story.

How long would you expect it to take for your top salesperson to start building a relationship with a brand new target account? Now double that. That’s how long it takes to start building trust with your ideal customers online.

Once they trust you, how long does it take them to actually buy from you? For most manufacturers, it can be anywhere from three months to over a year. The longer your sales cycle, the longer it’s going to take to see real results (read: revenue) from your paid social demand gen program.

If you quit after 30 days, demand generation is always going to be tossed aside as a failure. 

We recommend giving this type of program at LEAST six months to start gathering high intent leads. You’re literally generating demand here. That takes time, energy, and most importantly, patience.

We’ve talked about:

  • What demand generation is 
  • Why it works for manufacturers
  • And the pieces of a demand gen plan

This article is a great place to start, but if you want to chat with an expert about how this could work for your specific business, feel free to book a free consultation.

The importance of ethical B2B marketing

“Ads make promises.
Promises bring people hope.
Don’t f*** with a person’s hope.”
—Seth Godin, VeryGoodCopy

Ethical marketing can be underrated in the B2B industry.

And that’s not good, because B2B is the lifeblood of our economy.

Unethical business practices (in marketing or otherwise) make our economy less efficient. That has ripple effects for everyone.

Take for example inflating the efficacy of an electrical efficiency system. This redirects investments from more effective technologies that offer greater global benefits. We’d all love lower electrical bills, right?

That’s why we’ll all be better off with ethical B2B marketing practices.

So, how can we make that happen within our organizations?

What does ethical B2B marketing look like?

“Good products can be sold by honest advertising.” —David Ogilvy, The Father of Advertising

Unethical marketers practice deception, manipulation and puffery that promotes materialism, wastefulness and debt.

Ethical marketers promote products and services that solve real problems.

They provide customers with complete and honest information. They clearly show when the product will meet customers’ needs. And they’re open about how the business functions throughout the entire buying process.

The pillars of ethical marketing: honesty, clarity and transparency

— Honesty means everything you say is completely true.

— Clarity means the information is concise, easy to understand and not at all misleading.

— Transparency means providing any relevant information that could impact a buyer’s decision.

Every marketing strategy should serve your target customers’ best interests.

Say you distribute a news roundup billed as “Everything you need to know in the industry to succeed.”

You can’t leave out bad industry news that hurts your bottom line. Nobody makes solid choices on incomplete information. Customers will lose trust in your newsletter after it leads them to make unwise business decisions.

If you only want to share the good news in your industry, be honest about it. Call your newsletter something like, “The sector’s best news stories”.

Winning from mistakes: The subcontractor case study

I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business. —Harvey S. Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

There’s no such thing as a perfect company, and everyone knows that. Yet many companies spurn the imperfect.

Highlighting how you overcome adversity allows you to turn mistakes into wins.

And on the flip side, not being honest, clear and transparent can be a major risk if you’re called out in public.

Let’s look at an in-house example.

A subcontractor wanted G76 to write a case study about one of their big construction projects.

Senior Writer Rose Hansen interviewed the project’s general contractor. He said our client delivered a great final product. But there were problems with the workmanship in the early days.

To their credit, the client corrected every mistake. The project finished ahead of schedule despite early delays.

Such a tight turnaround seemed like an ideal focus for the piece. Stories about a business owning its mistakes are novel enough to attract attention.

And that’s what content marketing is all about.

Rose wrote a case study about an honest and forthright contractor that takes feedback well and works hard until the job is done right.

“It’s a beautiful story to share on social media, because we see all these ‘We’re so great at everything’ kind of stories all the time,” said G76 Thinker & Senior Strategist Mary Keough. “It was really nice to see this real plot find a happy resolution, and they wanted to cut out all of the plot.”

From the account manager’s perspective, admitting those faults would be a stain on the resume.

The client asked Rose to omit all their mistakes from the narrative and stick to the good stuff. It left the case study feeling hollow. Their most impressive feats were made to fix those mistakes.

On top of that, the general contractor and other people within the project knew that wasn’t the full story. If they got called out, Rose was afraid it could tarnish the client’s reputation.

“We were using the general contractor’s testimony to twist the story to support a version of events that did not happen, taking his quotes out of context,” Rose said.

She worked to find a solution, but the client wouldn’t budge. Neither did Rose. It was for their own good.

G76 eventually gave the client the version we supported. They could do with it what they would. But in the end, they saw it our way.

The story went live, showing the team’s incredible efforts to correct honest mistakes.

Ethical content distribution

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. —Warren Buffet, American business magnate

Digital marketing offers many ways to accrue and leverage people’s contact information. You could host a webinar, attend a conference or offer gated content. But no matter how you get it, only use someone’s contact information for the reasons they provided it.

If they haven’t opted in for the information, don’t send it to them. You’ll only waste their time and make them think less of your brand. And they could pass that perception on to their friends and peers. And next thing you know, your company has an awful reputation.

“First, you’re invading the individual’s control over their own buying process. Then you’ve got a bad reputation on channels that you can’t control,” Mary said. “Come at this with a sense of empathy first. There are better ways to get people to sign up for your newsletter than buying lists or adding them without their permission.”

Annoying marketing methods could have immediate consequences at major B2B companies.

If your email address gets directed to the spam folder at a company like Honeywell, you may never get out.

“All of a sudden, they say, ‘I can’t talk to anybody at Honeywell anymore because my emails are getting bounced,’” Mary said. “And it’s like, ‘Yeah. Because you blasted them with emails and now their server has you on a block list.’”

The G76 process for ethical considerations

Never deceive others in business or in life. In 1995 I was deceived by four companies that are now closed. A company cannot go far by deceit. —Jack Ma, Chinese business magnate

There’s a lot to think about when addressing ethical concerns. That’s why we follow a list of considerations such as the impact on all stakeholders, legal considerations and, ultimately, if we should participate in the project.

Gorilla 76 scrutinizes ethical issues with every marketing strategy. Clients should do the same.

We often find an approach that meets business needs and ethical policies. If it violates our obligation to ethical marketing, we’ll walk away from the project.

Let’s walk through another example together.

The tobacco case study

In another ethical conundrum, one of our clients wanted to highlight a promotion that was intended to skirt laws against tobacco coupons. Rose didn’t feel right about the strategy.

Marketing around harmful products like tobacco can be tricky enough, but Rose had other concerns. The client could gain a reputation for dubious business practices. They wanted to foster their image as a trustworthy company, and this didn’t fit the bill.

“The client wanted to illustrate how they exploited a loophole in federal regulations to deliver business results for a tobacco company,” Rose said. “They already had so little market space, we were afraid if they highlighted this tobacco project, it could turn off other prospective clients. And tobacco is not a growing market either.”

Rose brought her concerns to the client. It took a lot of back and forth. But they decided to develop the case study on a similar project for a different company.

Considering all the angles

Here are the guiding questions that G76 uses to interrogate ethical issues:

  • Are there deceptive and/or otherwise untrue elements of this marketing strategy, including untold truths?
  • Does anything about this marketing strategy/product/service conflict with Gorilla 76’s code of ethics?
  • Who are the immediate stakeholders of this product, service and/or marketing strategy?
  • Who are the more remote stakeholders and how much may they be impacted?
  • How vulnerable are the impacted populations to harm?
    • Ex: Impoverished communities are more likely to experience long-lasting negative consequences as compared to affluent communities.
  • How vital are tobacco products to the overall function to the wider economy?
    • Ex: Steel, oil and electricity are essential components of a functioning economy, whereas it is much more difficult to argue that we need cigarettes to function as a society.
  • What is this industry’s overall effect on and responsibilities to the wider economy?
    • Ex: Does the tobacco industry have an overall positive or negative impact on the function of our society and economy?
  • Are tobacco products harmful?
  • Are tobacco products subject to government regulation?
    • Is there potential for the government to impose regulations if problematic issues related to this product/service/strategy go unchecked?
  • How may this product/service/strategy affect stakeholders and the wider economy in unintended ways?
    • Ex: The more cigarette smokers in a population, the more state-funded healthcare expenses are accrued for medical coverage.
  • What was the intention of this marketing strategy/product/service?
  • What are the most likely outcomes to this strategy/product/service?
  • What are the most severe potential negative outcomes of this strategy/product/service?
  • What are the established cultural perceptions and norms regarding this kind of product/service/strategy among the stakeholders and wider society?
  • How will this strategy/product/service likely affect the public image, stakeholder perceptions and brand positioning of our agency and the client?
  • Should we participate in this project?

All these questions aren’t applicable in every case but take the time to consider every angle.

Take the truth to your market

“There is one and only one social responsibility of business–to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” —Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize economist

We all benefit when B2B marketers foster an honest and transparent buying process. But it’s easier said than done. Especially for small businesses with limited experience in content distribution.

Sometimes, you need a guide to help navigate all the ethical problems that can befall B2B brands with the even purest intentions.

Reach out to us at Gorilla 76 when you need help. We’ve worked with dozens of B2B companies and know the common pitfalls.

Let’s put your content marketing into perspective, strategically and ethically.

How industrial companies must think about digital marketing in 2023

We live in two worlds: the physical and the digital.

In the digital world, we spend more time in some spaces than others:

👉 Gaming
👉 Streaming services
👉 Social media, namely Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram
(see Hootsuite’s Global State of Digital if you disagree)
👉 Online communities, think Reddit, Quora, Slack, podcasts, etc.
👉 Google for one-off information
(66% of Google searches result in zero clicks – meaning they get all the info they need on the SERP)
👉 Work apps, like Google, Microsoft Office, Teams, email, etc.

First, what are the common threads?

👉 Entertainment

People use social media, gaming and streaming services for primarily this reason.

👉 Education

People use social media, online communities and Google for this purpose.

👉 Engagement (community)

People use gaming, communities and social media as their go-to engagement channels.

👉 Utility

I can’t do my job without work apps or I need to get on Amazon to buy diapers.

Second, what’s the intent?

Said another way, what is this person trying to get out of being inside this channel?

👉 Passive consumption

A person watches videos or movies, scrolls social feeds or peruses community threads.

👉 Active consumption

A person needs information on a topic, wants to buy something or is playing a video game.

In passive consumption, the person wants to be entertained and educated.

They may want to engage, but after having passively consumed content.

For example, I’m perusing Reddit and find a good thread I want to participate in, so I add my two cents. My initial intent was passive, but now I’ve become active.

In active consumption, a person wants to engage or get something out of a specific need.

Now, as a B2B marketer, how does your company fit inside this landscape?

How are you taking advantage of where your buyers not only spend their time online, but also *how* they’re consuming content?

Most B2B companies we work with are not doing much in the digital world where people are spending most of their time.

Read that last sentence one more time. It’s worth it.

In the digital world, most B2B companies:

  • Create content for their website
  • Repost content from the website on their company social media pages
  • Use Google Ads to generate leads
  • Blast their email list with product promos

First, consider your website. It’s not that you shouldn’t care about your it. Your website is your greatest marketing conversion asset going into 2023. But, your website should not be the main arena where your content is created. It should be secondary to the channels where people are spending most of their time in the digital world.

Let’s do an exercise.

Go into Google Analytics and look up the average time spent on your website.

One minute? Two? Sheesh, maybe five to seven minutes?!

Now, take a step back.

The average U.S. adult spends six to eight HOURS online every day.

And they’re on your website for a minute or two. Like, in their whole life. Not every day.

Now, consider your company’s social media use. Going back to why people spend more time in certain digital spaces than others: For social media, it’s entertainment, education and community. Furthermore, social media is primarily a passive consumption channel. This means you need to have a GREAT reason why someone should stop scrolling through puppy videos, their friend’s vacation pictures or their community’s job updates to actually STOP scrolling, PAUSE to consider if the content is worth reading and then CONSUME it.

I know of very few companies who are doing this. Be honest about whether your company’s social media use fits into the way people want to consume content in the channels they’re in.

Finally, let’s take a look at Google Ads.

Go into Search Console.

For the majority of B2B companies, the top one to three results is the company name.

This means, most people are not finding you in Google by searching [thing your company does].

They’ve likely already heard about you through word of mouth (by far the most common thread for B2B industrial companies we work with) and went to your website to get more information or convert on a form.

So, why are you bidding on keywords like [thing your company does], if no one is finding you this way now? The most reasonable justification is: But, we want them to find us by searching thing your company does.

Fair.

Let’s go through another scenario.

I need a new CRM provider for our company. I already know three to five options because I heard about them on a marketing podcast, people in my network use them or they do great content marketing and I follow their activities.

Next, what am I going to do?

Likely, go to my network and online communities to see what others have to say.

Then, I’ll go to Google for basic information, like pricing and features. And finally, if I feel like it’s worthwhile, I’ll convert on a “Request a Demo” form.

“But Mary, we sell commodity products. Not big enterprise deals.”

Also fair.

So, you’re using Google to compete with likely five to 25 other companies who are bidding on the same commodity keywords you’re bidding on. Now, it’s a price and delivery game. Who can get it to me the fastest and the cheapest?

If that’s the game you want to play in 2023, by all means.

How can you shift your digital strategy?

If you want to win in the digital world today, you need to critically think about where your buyers are spending time online AND what they hope to get out of those channels.

If you’re truly not sure where your buyers spend time, ask them. Seriously. Call up five to 10 customers in the next few weeks and ask them the following questions:

👉 How does our product fit into your day-to-day?

👉 What problems does it solve?

👉 When you’re in the market for a similar product, how are you researching options? If they say “Google,” probe a bit and ask what keywords they’re using or if they already know providers who sell that product.

To shift your digital marketing strategy in 2023, you need to ask yourself the following questions about your buyers:

👉 Where are they consuming?
The channels

👉 How are they consuming content?
Passive or active

Now: How do you respond? Will you continue to do things your way because it’s the way it’s always been done?

Or, will you take the leap and shift your strategy to market and sell your product the way buyers want to buy.

Should I hire an agency or an internal marketing team?

Marketing is a thorn in your side. I get it.

It’s expensive. It’s risky. It’s filled with ambiguous words like “positioning,” “messaging,” and “brand.”

And at the end of the day, you could spend thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars on “marketing” that turned up nothing but a few flowery statements and a tolerable, albeit unexceptional website.

But here you are. It’s 2022. Your website is unassuming, and your social media presence is minimal. You can’t stomach the thought of spending another $50K on a trade show exhibit, and you keep hearing about how other companies use marketing to grow the business.

What gives?!

You’re not alone. And if you’re truly ready to start using marketing as your business growth lever, this article is for you.

First and foremost, when it comes to marketing, there’s only one person you need to channel: Jerry Maguire.

You know where I’m going with this: “Show me the money!”

 

Great marketing costs money. So, if you are not ready to spend $120,000, minimum, per year,  you can’t afford great marketing… yet.

I can hear your protests already. You’re probably thinking something like:

“But Mary, I can hire a marketing specialist or manager for almost half that number.”

“Some of our sales reps don’t even make this much!”

“Agencies cost way less than this.”

All true. In marketing, as in most things, you get what you pay for. And these agencies or internal hires will turn up mediocre results.

You’re not reading this article for mediocre results.

So, let’s explore the marketing options at your disposal: building an internal marketing team or hiring an agency. Click below to choose your own adventure!

I want to build out an internal marketing team

Whether you have $120K to spend on marketing or $5M, you need to start with a marketing leader.

If you have $120K and not a penny more, read on.

You will pay them the entire $120,000 per year budget. He or she will report to the CEO or to your product team. Under no circumstances will you force this person to report to a sales leader. Sales and marketing should work together on the same playing field.

Whether it’s obvious or not, forcing a marketing leader to report to sales will result in marketing/sales misalignment.

To quote 3-time VP of Marketing, MJ Peters, “It’s much harder for someone who is not an exec (VP+) to be seen as a leader across the whole business. When the leader of the function isn’t seen as a leader of the business, it can impact how people view that function.”

Forcing a great marketer to report to sales places marketing beneath sales. A great marketer will see this and will not pursue a position with your company.

Preferably, this person should be the VP of marketing, though Head of marketing also works. Note: if you have a VP of sales, you should have a VP of marketing. Again, this goes back to how you want marketing to be positioned and viewed in your company. A business leader is someone on the executive team. If your marketing leader is not on the executive team, marketing will not be seen as a function necessary to the business.

As far as what they’ll do, temper your expectations. They have zero marketing budget, so any efforts for the first 12 months will likely be laying a foundation for future success.

So, how will you vet this person?

In the job description and interview process, you need to be upfront.

*Sample Job Description*

 

VP of marketing needed at midsize B2B manufacturing company

This will be our first time hiring a marketing leader. Sales have remained steady (or stagnated) for the past three years. We know we could be doing more with marketing, so we need an ambitious, driven leader to help us pave the way.

What we need

The VP of marketing will be responsible for creating and executing a go-to-market framework for our product line that is scalable and measurable.

We need someone who can work collaboratively with our sales and product engineering teams to find opportunities for growth.

Revenue growth is your north star metric. If business grows, your team grows.

Your experience:

  • We prefer someone with 3+ years of experience in a product marketing role
  • OR the equivalent experience in helping grow a brand through marketing
  • Experience in digital marketing and advertising is a must

*End of sample job description*

“But it’s so short?”

“We need someone with more experience.”

“What about their schooling?”

Nope. None of that. Open the door for folks who want to seize this opportunity. A very good, resourceful and ambitious marketer will see this job description, and it will make their heart race. That’s who you’re looking for.

In the interview process

Ask them go-to-market strategy questions.

  • How have they built a product marketing process or framework?
    • Red flag answer: “I haven’t.” Or, they can’t articulate it well.
  • What would the process look like for your product?
    • Red flag answer: anything incoherent or that does not match your product category. If you sell a commodity product, for example, mentioning trade shows, podcasts or high-lift efforts won’t make sense initially. If you sell a high price tag, specialty product that requires a lot of customer education, then mentioning Google Ads or SEO won’t work in the short term.
  • What is their marketing philosophy?
    • Make sure you have yours first. If there is a large gap between the two or you don’t agree, then this probably is not a good fit.
  • How do they measure results?
    • Red flag response: any measurement that does not tie back to business results, i.e. website traffic, follower count, video views, etc.
  • Where do they see the greatest opportunity for brands in your category right now?
    • Red flag response: they say nothing, or their suggestion doesn’t make sense. If they’re serious about this position, they’ve thought of at least one potential growth channel for your company.
  • What are the biggest misses where companies are wasting marketing dollars?
    • Red flag response: they don’t know. A great marketing leader has A LOT of ideas here.
  • What would they do in the first 30, 60, 90 days?
    • Red flag response: they aren’t sure or they don’t mention customer research.

You’ll soon find out why this person is worth the $120K.

After hiring

Your new VP of marketing will hit the ground running.

They’ll start by building relationships with sales, product development and customer success while also conducting customer research. They will use insights from this to build a framework for how to reach your customers with the right messaging and how to measure results.

Within 18 months, you’ll be raising marketing budget and your new hire’s pay significantly. Then you can buy me a drink. I prefer red wine.

I have between $120-200K.

This is a fun budget. Hire a marketing leader for $120-150K and give her or him the remaining budget (if there is any). A little extra budget can go a long way, if you hired a good, scrappy marketing leader.

They’ll likely hire one or two freelancers and get your website up to par. The website is the most under-utilized, low-hanging fruit for most industrial companies. A great marketing leader will realize the potential impact here.

Read the above section for hiring tips, and let your new VP of marketing know they have some extra budget to play with.

I have more than $200K

First, you’ll hire a VP of marketing for $120-150K. If you have $225K or less total marketing budget, give the rest to your new VP. They’ll know what to do.

If you have more than $300K, you likely have room to hire both a VP of marketing and another marketer or agency. I would let the new VP select the kind of internal or agency support they need depending on the go-to-market framework they develop.

All in all, the secret to great marketing is to trust the leader you hire.

I want to hire an agency

This may be the best option if you’re a marketing leader looking to supplement your current program or if you’re a small company looking to test drive a marketing framework.

When vetting agencies, look for the following positive signals:

Positive signal #1: They work your niche.

If you’re a SaaS company, hire a SaaS agency. If you’re an industrial company, hire an industrial agency. There is no bigger red flag than an agency who works with clients from asynchronous markets. They are not an agency, they are a vendor. Big difference.

Positive signal #2: They want to dig into or help you build a CRM.

Bonus points if they ask to audit your CRM before engaging with you.

Positive signals #3: They want to know about your business fundamentals that tie back to marketing.

  • Positioning: What do you do, who do you help and why are you the best option?
  • Messaging: What content do you have now?
  • Segmentation: Who are your best fit customers? They should ask about both company contacts and company firmographics:
    • What are the job titles?
    • What industries are they in?
    • How big are these companies?
  • Targeting: How are you reaching your best fit customers?

Positive signal #4: They want to know how you’ve done marketing in the past and how it performs.

Bonus points if they ask clarifying questions or offer other ways of doing said marketing tactic. It’ll be a red flag if they criticize or put down your past marketing efforts.

Positive signal #5: The plan or proposal they send is scalable.

Your goal with any agency should be to create a mutually beneficial relationship, rather than using them as a vendor for a one-off campaign or project.

If you find an agency like this (Gorilla 76 is one), you can pass off repeatable tasks like campaign management, CRM reports and content creation while you (the marketing or business leader) focus on strategy and future opportunities.

A full-service agency like this will be minimum $120,000 per year. Our average plan is closer to $200,000 per year, including media fees.

If you eventually want to create an in-house marketing team, this agency should be able to help point you in the right direction.

I really don’t have $120K, but I want to invest in marketing. HELP!

Have no fear! While you may not be able to invest in a full-stack marketing program, you can get started building a solid marketing foundation.

Since this budget is too small to hire a quality internal marketing leader, you’ll need to hire an agency or a consultant.

They should help you with the following, depending on your needs:

  • Positioning
  • Messaging
  • Content creation
  • Content distribution

Remember, your main goal should be to create a marketing framework that is scalable and measurable. This will give you the positive signals you need to get an increase in your marketing budget.

Not to toot our horn too much, but Gorilla 76 can also help with this.

One final thought on a smaller budget: curb your expectations. For the first 12-24 months, you will create the foundation for measurable, repeatable results from marketing efforts. After this, you should see increases in pipeline and/or revenue.

Now what?

If you’ve read this whole article, you know what you need to do. You’ve got one of two options:

  1. Doctor up my job posting and tailor it to your company. Send it to a job board or recruiter and wait for your applicants. (Don’t forget about that glass of wine you owe me.)
  2. Reach out to Gorilla 76 here. If we can’t help you, we’ll refer you to someone or an agency who can.

PODCAST: How to Craft Messaging that Resonates with the Right Customers w/ Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 111

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Over the years, I’ve talked to a lot of manufacturers as a marketing advisor. When I ask them what their ideal customer looks like, I usually get a response saying that they deal with many types of customers in many different industries.

While there’s nothing wrong with targeting different customers, channeling your marketing energy into lanes where you have the best chances of winning will assure you don’t spread yourself too thin.

Join us as we discuss:

  • Making intentional decisions about which audience segments to focus on
  • Identifying the buying process influencers and what matters most to them
  • Frameworks for crafting a customer-centric brand narrative
  • Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Back to the Future: The Manufacturing Edition w/ Marty Groover

Marty Groover on The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 104

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Marty Groover, Partner and CTO at C5MI, spent over two decades as a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy. He didn’t know it at the time, but this time in the Navy helped him see into the future – of manufacturing. 

Marty offers insight into the unmatched benefits of using live data to enhance your processes, product and bottom line, and how pairing people processes with technology will position you to lead the fourth industrial revolution. 

Join us as we discuss:

  • What the manufacturing sector can learn from the retail industry
  • How to build operating systems that are flexible and future-proof
  • Why leading with technology has its limitations

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Empowering Workers and Improving Workflow Through Video Data w/ Dr. Prasad Akella

Dr. Prasad Akella on The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 103

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

People often worry that technology and automation will replace human workers. 

But what if the most powerful path forward is empowering workers with technology for better effectiveness and efficiency, instead of replacing them?

In this episode, Dr. Prasad Akella, the Founder and CEO of Drishti, shares his view on the future of manufacturing. A future where video data not only improves the quality of a product, but also empowers workers on the plant floor and strengthens employee retention.

Join us as we discuss:

  •  How technology empowers humans to be more effective
  •  What using data can do for your productivity
  •  Why using technology leads to better employee retention

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Connecting Physical and Digital Worlds Through Trade Shows w/ Jake Hall

Jake Hall on The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 102

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Are trade shows worth it? That seems to be a divisive question these days. But here’s the truth: Like with many forms of marketing or sales activities, it comes down to execution.

Today’s guest, Jake Hall, Keynote Speaker and Content Creator of The Manufacturing Millennial, details how to connect the physical world of a trade show with the digital world that exists before, during and after that event. 

Join us as we discuss:

  • How to create value and content from trade shows
  • How building relationships with other companies strengthens your marketing
  • The importance of developing personal brands

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Revitalize Manufacturing Through Employee Wellness w/ Jason Azevedo

Jason Azevedo on The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 101

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Our workforce has changed drastically over the decades. The highly desirable and stable manufacturing industry of the past has struggled to retain workers in our modern times. But there is a way to revitalize the manufacturing industry in the US to keep up with the manufacturing powerhouses around the world. 

Today’s guest, Jason Azevedo, Chief Strategy Officer at MRCA, shares his views on the importance of investing in your workforce, how automation keeps workers employed, and what manufacturing companies can do to build stronger communities. 

Join us as we discuss:

  • What revitalizing manufacturing looks like today
  • Why employee health and wellness is most important
  • How automation and robotics benefit the worker
  • How to empower smaller communities through manufacturing
  • How to make your company desirable to buyers 

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

5 reasons marketing results require time and patience

Here’s a hard truth for most B2B manufacturers to accept:

Marketing programs (especially new ones) require both time and patience to produce results.

If you need a tactical way to generate revenue over the next three or six months, a new marketing program likely isn’t the answer. Although in many cases you’ll find some low-hanging fruit, largely speaking, results will materialize over a longer timeline.

Shortly, we’ll look at five reasons why this is the case.

But first, let’s establish what marketing “results” should mean to you in the first place.

marketing roi curve

Our definition of “results”

Most companies mistake metrics like impressions, website traffic and leads as marketing results. But these are only key performance indicators (KPIs). They’re signals that you’re on (or not on) the right path toward a meaningful business outcome.

And that business outcome (or result) you should be seeking is:

Marketing-sourced pipeline

Said differently, we’re talking about quoted opportunities with the right companies that have been facilitated through your marketing initiative.

Five reasons results require time and patience

With this definition established, let’s look at five reasons these results take time to materialize:

1. Marketing programs require foundational work

Very rarely have we engaged with a new client who had all the key foundational pieces in place to succeed right out of the gate. Those key pieces include:

  1. Focused, on-point messaging that will resonate with the engineers, technical professionals or other most important buying process influencers inside of the exact types of companies from the right industries in the right geographies of the right sizes that they want to reach
  2. A website that’s optimized to convert those exact people into opportunities because it’s equipped with that on-point messaging and supplemented by thought leadership content, product information and social proof that they’ve helped others like those target prospects realize success
  3. A technology stack including a CRM and marketing automation system that talk to each other and integrate with their websites to help them segment their leads based on engagement and signals of buying intent (and to allow for reporting across the entire marketing and sales funnel so they can make the right continuous improvement decisions)
  4. A plan for what content they need to create and distribute to those right people from those right companies to earn enough attention and build enough trust to open up sales conversations

All of these are key foundational elements for driving success through marketing. And while they don’t need to be perfected during months one to three, you’ll struggle to realize any significant impact if they’re neglected.

2. Most of your audience is not buying right now

The vast majority of your total addressable market is not actively in buying mode for the thing you sell at this moment in time. In fact, probably only 1-5% are actively seeking a solution today (or even this week).

most of your audience

Bit by bit, much of that remaining 95-99% will enter a buy cycle. Some next week. Some next month. Some next year. Some in three years. But that will happen on their terms – not yours. So the bottom line is this:

To assume that your messaging will persuade them to inquire about a product or service they don’t need right now is unrealistic.

This is why proactively working to generate awareness and establish your business as the expert in your space is so important in the meantime. If you can do this effectively now, then your prospects will already know you and trust you enough to come to you first when they’re ready for a sales conversation.

3. Earning someone’s attention and trust is not easy

Think about this from the standpoint of your personal or professional life. When you have an important decision to make, you don’t want to get it wrong. The bigger that decision, the more true that statement becomes. So if one of marketing’s primary functions is to build attention and trust, realize that this doesn’t happen with a snap of a finger.

If there were an easy button, everyone would push it.

Once your foundation is established, you’ll be ready to start proactively running campaigns to reach a tightly-targeted audience. But in very few cases will one, two or even three touchpoints with your brand be enough to produce a sales opportunity (or maybe even a lead). Persistence is key.

4. Marketing results will not outpace your average sales cycle length

If your average sales cycle from first touch with a prospect to purchase order is six months, then it should go without saying that marketing will not produce revenue in less than six months.

5. Marketing is not an alternative way to do sales prospecting

Many companies look at marketing as just another way to call on prospects and shove “we’re the best, buy from us now” messaging in their faces, hoping that with enough volume, some will bite.

But marketing and sales are very different things.

Marketing is what happens well before a sales conversation ever takes place – to create awareness and build trust at scale in front of a tightly defined group of buying process influencers from companies that fit your ideal customer profile.

When executed effectively, marketing not only creates more sales opportunities, but better ones, where prospects come educated and informed, already seeing your business as the expert advisor in their space. And for many of the reasons we’ve already discussed, this is a process, not an activity to knock out this afternoon.

So when can you expect to see results?

Remember that the definition of “results” that we established is marketing-sourced pipeline.

Although multiple variables will of course be at play here, I won’t leave you unsatisfied with an “it depends” answer. So generally speaking, here you go:

Six to twelve months

marketing results timeline

Here’s a typical timeline for rolling out a new marketing program, followed by some additional context:

  • Months 1-3: Foundational work: Customer interviews, website optimization, technology stack configuration and deployment (CRM and marketing automation), positioning, content strategy
  • Months 4-6: Content creation, campaign launch (capture existing demand and begin creating demand among the rest of your audience)
  • Months 7 and beyond: Campaign continuation, reporting, refinement and optimization

During months 1-3…

You should expect zero results.

Here you’re doing the necessary foundational work here to set yourself up for success. Skip over this and you’ll never realize any significant impact from everything that follows.

During months 4-6…

You’ll watch key marketing KPIs start moving in the right direction.

KPIs are very important. But they should never be confused with business outcomes. Instead, KPIs serve as barometers to tell you if you’re moving in the right direction or not:

  • Is visibility growing in front of the right people from the right companies?
  • Is engagement with your content from those people on the rise?
  • Are qualified inquiries on your website beginning to slowly trickle in (especially on the back end of this period)?

Following month six…

You should begin seeing business outcomes take shape.

Although many variables will affect the velocity and level of results you achieve (sales cycle length, complexity of your product/service, size of your market, saturation of your competition, etc), you should begin to see marketing sourced-pipeline (quoted right-fit opportunities) build from this point on.

So there it is

For most traditionally sales-driven B2B manufacturers, a modern marketing program is a very new thing. And if you don’t enter with realistic expectations, you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment over the first year.

Ultimately, you’ll need to decide for yourself whether the required level of patience will be acceptable to the key stakeholders inside of your organization. If it’s not, then we recommend redirecting your efforts back into a short-term sales program and worry less about the big picture for now.

What is in a voice: Consistent, distinct brand design

This is the final installment in a four-part series on brand voice in the written word, audio, video and design.

In our first series edition, we focused on developing and implementing brand voice in the literary, written sense. Our second edition considered how to promote the actual voices of your team members to further strengthen brand messaging. Then we analyzed how to instill that voice in your video style.

Now, let’s instill your brand voice in web design and other promotional materials.

Before we look at the big picture, let’s start with basic elements like color and fonts. Then we’ll move into elements like special icons, graphic design and artistic layouts.

Above all, consistency is your priority. It can be difficult to achieve on a company-wide level. But once you get it right, the benefits build upon themselves.

“The more people see it, the more effective it will be,” said Randall Zaitz, G76 thinker & digital creative director. “It’ll make this immediate connection in their head without them even really thinking about it.”

Design style starting points

You must create, share and enforce brand design guidelines to achieve consistency.

Brand guidelines should include company colors, fonts, graphics and other defining characteristics.

These rules are especially critical to outsourcing design work to a third party. Customers should see your page and know it’s yours right away, no matter who built it.

First, dictate your brand’s colors and fonts.

They may seem like simple decisions. But when done right, color and font selection pay dividends for years to come.

Company color palette

A consistent hue is an evergreen PR campaign.

John Deere Green, Caterpillar Yellow, UPS Brown.

Customers around the world know them when they see them. They bring to mind how these companies impact their lives. These colors represent services, values and histories.

 

Randall recommends limiting your brand colors to three. Too many colors will add visual noise and make it more difficult to maintain consistency.

Choose a primary brand color to feature in your logo and layouts. Then pick two or three complementary colors to fill out your design. Randall favors a simple yet versatile palette.

Set guidelines for how much of each color should appear on the page. For example, set your primary color to make up 70% of the color on every page. Or reserve the primary color for highlights that pop.

Color psychology

People associate colors with emotions and attitudes. But these associations aren’t consistent across cultures and industries.

Consider what a color means to your target audience.

“Broad generalizations about which emotions that colors invoke aren’t universal,” Randall said. “Blue isn’t always sad, and red isn’t always angry.”

Many Americans think of red as the color of rage and war, while some Japanese traditions understand it to mean joy and celebration.

Then there are brands that redefined what their colors represent in popular culture.


John Deere’s farming brand works well with green, the color of many plants. But they’ve done a lot with this exact hue since the company’s inception. Today, that shade of green means one thing to people on every continent.

Boo to business blue

Avoid shades of blue that are all too common across B2B companies.

Industry wisdom indicates that blue is the safest, most reliable color you can pick. Perhaps that’s why you shouldn’t.

“Blue is unoffensive,” Randall said. “People associate it with corporations because so many of them have blue as their color. It doesn’t stand out. You probably shouldn’t make blue your brand color, because literally everyone else is.”

Make a statement in your space with a unique color like purple. It’s pleasant and versatile, evoking authority as well as tranquility.

Brand fonts

Legibility is a font’s most important quality. Don’t get carried away with the ornate.

You need no more than two fonts across all your company messaging materials.

Select one for your headlines and another for body copy.

“You’re going to want to pick a font that is reflective of the tone and voice that you’ve developed,” Randall said. “If your voice is tough but fun, you would want to pair two fonts that match those characteristics. Or find a font that marries those two things together.”

If you’re willing to invest in distinction, hire a digital foundry to develop a font that’s completely your own.

Otherwise, you can find free or reasonably priced fonts that fit your brand. Google Fonts is a good resource for free options, and Adobe Fonts has premade selections that won’t break the bank.

Common fonts have their benefits. A well-known font like Helvetica — the font used on street signs —offers a sense of familiarity. That can come in handy for a new player on the market.

But you’ll need to distinguish yourself by using it in a way that is completely yours. If you don’t, your brand won’t stand out from the rest of the market.

Geometric vs. humanist fonts

Start by deciding between geometric and humanist fonts.

Geometric fonts contain perfect circles and squares, reflecting precision and professionalism. Their ranks include Gotham and Avenir.

“Geometric fonts generally look a little tougher,” Randall said. “They have sharp corners and tight, even proportions. They always look really balanced, but they kind of lack some of that familiar handwritten flair. It makes them harder to read in body copy.”

Gorilla 76 uses a common geometric font that fits our crisp style. It’s called Source Sans Pro. You see it on a lot of websites. But our bold colors, shapes and illustrations maintain a distinct appearance.

Humanist fonts carry the weight of history. These old-style fonts are inspired by calligraphy and pen strokes. Among them are Tahoma, Verdana and Calibri.

Humanist fonts often come with their own personality and character. They’re familiar, traditional appearance also makes them easily legible.

If you go this route, Randall recommends choosing a big, bold font for headlines, then using a lighter humanist font to make the body copy stand out.

Graphic design and layouts

Now that you’ve chosen colors and fonts, it’s time to put a high-conversion page together.

As always, ease of use is your priority. Don’t let your style hinder readability and navigability.

“Simple is better,” Randall said. “Don’t make your visitor think too much. The content is the hero of the page, not the design.”

Randall recommends segmenting your layout into bite-size chunks. This allows visitors to quickly scan a page and determine if they’re in the right place. Layouts with a lot of dense text often cause readers to tune out before they pick up on your voice in the content.

Every style choice should have a purpose, especially your images. They should reinforce the written content and brand voice.

Never fill space with cheesy stock imagery that loosely relates to your company. Show your real team members at work, helping customers, doing what they love.

“Images for the sake of having images just eats up precious bandwidth (your site speed) and space (it blocks the actual content),” Randall said. “Always have a why behind each design decision. Why did you use that color in that specific way? Why is that graphic element there? Why that specific photograph?”

Gorilla 76 has worked with several B2B companies to refresh their webpage design.

Let’s look at two of Randall’s favorites.

The Korte Company

The Korte Company maintains a consistent style throughout its web and print materials.

Company Homepage

In previous installments, we personified this brand style as “The Korte Man”.

He represents the construction company’s valued qualities — grit, skill and intellect.

Customers see the best parts of themselves in The Korte Man. If they can’t be him, they want to work with him.

“The Korte Man is a tough guy who knows how to do technical things,” Randall said. “He’s like Neil Armstrong. He’s the star quarterback who can program a computer.”

Randall used minimalistic yet refined web design elements to reflect this brand character.

He took business blue and made it into a dark, desaturated midnight hue. This contrasts well with a bright construction site yellow for the highlights.

“The yellow can represent a site map, caution tape or even the reflective stripes on safety vests,” Randall said. “When you’re making design decisions, even if it’s really subtle, there should be meaning behind it. People pick up on that.”

Yellow represents the company’s humble roots as a small construction contractor. The deep blue represents its growth into a major Design-Build company with a depth of expertise.

Randall used the bright yellow to outline The Korte Company’s heavy headlines and break up the dark space. This contrast enhances the sense of depth, making it feel like the highlights hover over the page.

CK Power

G76 won an award for CK Power’s web design by making a little color have a big impact.

CK Power homepage

When we came aboard, the company color palette was generic red, white and black. This scheme is the second most common after business blue hues. But it’s still effective if used with discretion.

CK Power was using heavy-handed colors and very little white space. The bold scheme matched the generator manufacturer’s tough and ready company culture. But these are electrical engineers, not cowboys. They needed something to bring in that hard science element.

Randall repurposed the red and black to represent positive and negative battery terminals. That’s something generator customers could relate to.

“Those are the colors that you’re going to see a lot in electrical diagrams,” Randall said.

Randall removed, reshaped and repositioned the color, adding white space until he shaped the site into something familiar and visually appealing.

“That made the red pop,” he said. “It takes on more meaning when you use it sparingly. Color is kind of like the seasoning in cooking. It’s very easy to overseason a dish.”

Ready to give your brand a voice?

This is the end of our four-part series on implementing brand voice throughout your marketing materials and company messaging. We hope it’s helped spark new ideas to enhance your outreach strategies.

Could you still use some vocal training?

Reach out to Gorilla 76 for guidance. We’ll work together to establish a consistent brand voice and build a connection with customers.

It’ll pay off for years to come.

PODCAST: 100 Weeks of Podcasting: The Business Impact w/ Joe Sullivan

100 weeks of podcasting

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 100

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

On this milestone 100th episode, the hosting tables are turned. Joe Sullivan is interviewed by Logan Lyles of Sweet Fish Media about his learnings from 100 consecutive weeks of podcasting and six ways it’s impacted his business. 

Joe Sullivan, Founder of Gorilla 76, opens up about why he originally wanted to start a podcast and how he made the transition from creating mostly written content to fueling an entire content program. Joe reflects on the six most impactful outcomes, and shares his advice for overcoming imposter syndrome, getting started, and building meaningful business relationships.  

Join us as we discuss:

  • How to create and repurpose content with consistency
  • The meaningful path toward thought leadership
  • How to thoughtfully humanize your brand
  • How to measure the impact of your podcast

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Changing Lives While Growing Profits by Hiring Disabled Workers w/ Tony Lopez

Hiring disabled workers in manufacturing

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 96

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Over 20% of the US population qualifies as having some type of disability, yet disabled people are one of the largest disenfranchised populations in the country.

Today’s guest, Tony Lopez, Vice President, Manufacturing & Logistics Services, Pride Industries, provides insight about delivering business excellence with a positive social impact.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The hiring and employment hurdles that face the disabled population
  • How education bridges the gap between employers and the disabled workforce
  • What the benefits are to hiring disabled workers

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What is in a voice: Create a consistent company voice in videos

This is the third in a four-part series on brand voice in the written word, audio, video and design.

In our first series edition, we focused on voice in the literary, written sense. And in the second edition, we considered how to promote the actual voices of your team members to further strengthen brand messaging.

Now that you’ve found your company voice and learned to include those of your team members in the chorus, it’s time to put a face on it.

The power of video

Video is some of the most effective content you can make.

From social media platforms to human consumption habits, there are a lot of incentives for video content. Video content often garners more attention on social media and increases your search engine rankings.

It allows you to introduce visual and musical elements to your brand character. No other medium provides textual, visual and audible elements in one package.

It also pairs well with written or graphic content on the same webpage provided it maintains a consistent tone and message.

Brand films: Company voice in video

There are elements of brand voice in every aspect of video.
Videographers use a company’s voice (they probably call it “style”) to influence many technical and stylistic decisions.

Brand films are specifically made to influence how the audience perceives and personifies your company. These often live on company homepages and serve as ready-made assets for other promotions.

But you can’t go into a brand film project lightly. The details matter, from interview questions to backing music.

Start with a goal and outline

It all starts with establishing a clear goal.

Who is the audience you’re trying to reach? What do you want them to take away from the video?

“Focus your outline on the goal of the video,” Gorilla 76 Videographer Nick Tacony said. “Is this to educate people, or is this to appeal to them emotionally and give them a certain feeling about working with this company? Once you understand the goals, you’ll know whether you should film the flowers or the concrete.”

“Once you understand the goals, you’ll know whether you should film the flowers or the concrete.”

When your goal is to inform, you prioritize relaying information as clearly and simply as possible, much as you would with a blog post. Brand films have the added difficulty of providing the desired perception of your company, so don’t forget to include emotional cues.

Based on your goal, decide if the information is best provided to the audience via voiceover or through a member of your team.

Kurt Russell Call Me Snake GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Successful brand films often include the voices and faces of real people your audience might meet and work with, but a little voiceover work can help add a professional touch.

Nick said it’s important for your outline to include any information you want to communicate to the viewer, technical or emotional.

“If it’s important to the idea that you’re communicating, put it in there,” Nick said. “Just remember the goal of that outline is to be a lean, easy-to-read document that gives the reader a full idea of what will be in the brand film and how it will flow.”

Nick provided this example:
Here we will emphasize how much we care about our customers. We’ll lean into the emotions that result from kindness and empathy and build a strong sense of trust for the viewer.

  1. High-level view of “Steps of Service” and their importance
  2. Hear from a service team member about how they view their responsibilities to customers
    1. Highlight – More than a job, it’s a calling
    2. Customer-first focus
    3. Pride in our role
  3. Example of service – Work example from 2007

Now you’re ready to compile a list of interview questions or draft a script for your voice talent.

Just leave room to adjust as the right path presents itself.

“It’s kind of cliche, but there’s an old film saying that applies: ‘A film is written three times, first with the script, then when you shoot it, and third when you edit it.’” Nick said.

Shoot day: Lights, camera, action

Best practices for SME interviews

Let’s get someone in front of that camera.

The SME could be a member of your team, a customer or third-party expert. Whoever it is, they need to be comfortable and authentic.

Don’t have them recite a strict script on camera. Give them a topic they know well and let them talk about it.

Nick doesn’t even let the subject see the interview questions before filming. He’s made that mistake before.

“We had some missteps leading up to that interview,” he said. “We gave the subject our questions, not knowing that he would completely over-prepare it and write his answers out.”

During the interview, the SME spent more time trying to remember the answers rather than simply talking about a subject he knew very well.

For brand films, you’re trying to capture that perfect combination of what is being said, as well as how they said it and that look in their eye that tells the audience they meant every word. You’re less likely to get that from somebody struggling to remember their lines.

But even being yourself can be difficult when the camera is pointed at you. Don’t be afraid to take a break, talk about something else for a while and then reword the question. If necessary, give the SME multiple attempts to get comfortable and offer a better answer. Remember, what you shot is what you’ve got, so be thorough during the interview process to ensure you get everything you’ll need before calling it a wrap.

Setting

Setting is a big part of first impressions. Before the audience hears the SME speak, they will notice where they’re sitting.

Find a comfortable place for your SME that represents their value to the company.

“The big thing is to try to put them in environments that are real and interesting to what they do,” Nick said.

If you’re interviewing a construction site supervisor, you’re going to have different challenges than interviewing someone who works at an office computer.

While you can control an office setting, it can be indistinct and dull. An active warehouse has plenty to look at, but good luck with lighting and audio.

Noisy environments are hard to work around, so favor a quiet environment over all else. If the interview setting is dull, you can add more action with b-roll footage of the more exciting work environment.

Lighting

There’s nothing wrong with the standard three- or five-light setup, but a little mood lighting reinforces your brand, the theme of your content and/or personality of the SME.

Create a calming atmosphere with nice even lighting. For a more dramatic vibe, try high contrast and shadows.

Black And White Dark GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

If you want to portray your company as a comfortable and friendly place to do business, use a nice warm light. But go with cooler tones when you want to reflect precision and professionalism.

B-roll footage and audio

The best b-roll builds upon the narrative of the video. It’s all about finding action that reflects the SME, subject matter and flavor of your brand.
If you’re talking about how well your team works together, we need to see what that looks like.

Nick recommends always shooting b-roll in sequence — wide, medium, close.
Start with a wide shot that sets the scene and gives the viewer a sense of place and context.

Show Down Clint Eastwood GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Then move in a bit closer and give them a good look at the subject.

Show Down Clint Eastwood GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Finally, get in close for a detail shot of meaningful action the audience might not have noticed.

Stare Down Clint Eastwood GIF by RJFilmSchool - Find & Share on GIPHY

“Let’s say we want to film a person operating a drill-press,” Nick said. “I would get a wide shot of the operator and the press in the shop, ideally with them laying a piece of metal on the press. We’d see them, the machine and the shop around them. Then I’d get a medium shot of them positioning the metal on the press. I’d follow that up with a close-up of the operator’s face, to show their focus, and finally an extreme close-up of the bit carving out the metal.”

Voiceovers

If you want a polished voice to speak over your visual elements, then go with a professional voiceover service.

Nick said a professional voiceover offers the most control. You decide what and how they say everything.

Matt Berry Yeeeeeeeeeees GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

But you’ll have to be selective to remain authentic. Find a voice that fits with your company’s brand character.

“It’s a blend of tones in a voice — like warm/clinical confidence/casual, bubbly or serious — and the way the artist reads the line,” Nick said. “Your own personal tone and vocal quality will likely change between how you speak to your boss vs your spouse. A good voice actor will be able to find the distinction and deliver what you’re asking. Your job with VO talent is to communicate what you’re looking for.

Best practices for video editing

It’s important to be kind to everyone in your video in your edits without falsely portraying them. This is much like how you should portray your company throughout the video — honestly and authentically.

“A senior editor I used to work with gave me some really great advice on editing interviews,” Nick said. “He told me ‘Our job is to help them say what they’re trying to say.” Meaning you can cut up a sound bite, remove the “ums” and even whole sentences, you can change the order and take a word from later on in the interview, all that’s fine as long as you’re helping them with their actual message in the context of the video. And when you spend hours with the same interview footage, you’ll definitely understand what they’re trying to say.”

Selecting backing music

Music is often the most efficient and effective way to introduce emotion.
It only takes a few moments to set a viewer’s expectations. If someone hears hard and fast music, they’ll expect footage that is equally exciting.

Excited School Of Rock GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

That’s why not every manufacturer needs a hard rock anthem as their backing music. If you have a highly refined production process, perhaps a more sophisticated sound will serve you better.

Think about how your best customers feel about your company. What style of music fits with these feelings?

Here are some things to consider:

  • What do customers value about the way you do business?
  • Are there any genres associated with your industry and/or region
  • Which genres would your customers relate to?

If a genre checks all these boxes, that’s probably the one to go with.
Nick went through this process to create a brand video for an industrial oven manufacturer located in Chattanooga, TN.

“We have an opportunity to emotionally impact somebody,” Nick said. “In that piece, we wanted them to feel excited like we’re getting to work. I looked for a long time and found a driving song. Then paired the song with visuals of handheld camera stuff. It’s like you’re on a shop floor on the ground, looking up at a guy who’s half a story up tack welding on top of this giant oven.”

Show your stuff

When all is said and edited, you’ll have a brand film you can be proud of and your audience will relate to.

Match the style with that of your brand voice, and your video will work well alongside written content and your team’s public interactions.

Check out our Gorilla 76 brand film if you’d like to see a solid final product at work.

And turn to the Gorilla 76 learning center for more information about making a positive impression on your audience.

But there’s something else that helps form this impression — webpage design and layout.

In our final installment of this series, we’ll cover strategies for reflecting brand voice within the structure and design of your web pages to complement the words and videos on them.

PODCAST: The Intersection of Engineering and Content Marketing w/ Chris Grainger

Chris Grainger The Manufacturing Executive Podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 93

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

What if your engineering bonuses were tied to blog post writing? 

Today’s guest, Chris Grainger, Podcast Host and Engineering and Services Manager, Electrical Equipment Company (EECO) believes that content marketing is so important he gives bonuses based on how many blog posts and how- to videos each employee produces. Chris is passionate about content marketing because he knows that it works. 

Join us as we discuss:

  • How to get your employees involved in content marketing 
  • The benefits of podcasting as a medium in the manufacturing sector
  • The long game of content marketing and the snowball effect

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Why Influence Matters In Manufacturing w/ Eddie Saunders

Eddie Saunders The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 92

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

When most people hear “influencer,” it might conjure up images of YouTube icons and Reality TV stars…

Influencers don’t matter in manufacturing, right?

Well, today’s guest, Eddie Saunders, General of Demand Generation at Flex Machine Tools, thinks that statement couldn’t be any more wrong. He joins the show to share the secrets to shoring up your influencer strategies 

Join us as we discuss:

  • Why influencers still matter in manufacturing
  • How to pick an influencer to work with
  • Why there is power in empathy and vulnerability

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What is in a voice: Share your teams’ real voices

This is the second in a four-part series on brand voice in the written word, audio, video and design.

In our first series edition, we focused on voice in the literary, written sense. Now we get literal, exploring the physical voice.

Building a consistent brand voice in your written content is just one part of positioning. Broaden and humanize your brand identity by promoting the physical voices of the people who make up a company.

Your team members’ speaking voices, with all the individual quirks, help foster a special connection with the listener and make messaging more impactful.

Leaders use their voices to personify company missions and values. The rest of the team members use their voices to exhibit company culture.

Be consistent, be yourself

Unlike the written word, there’s no literary veil to hide behind when you’re talking directly to the audience. They are listening to you, a real person, with all your attributes and flaws. And that’s OK.

Company leaders set the company’s mission, goals and ethical standards. That puts them in a good position to establish brand voice, especially for smaller companies. Think of Ralph Korte from our first edition of the series. His personality still permeates the company’s content. While he’s no longer leading the company, his voice remains a consistent thread for the audience to grasp.

“[Brand voice] is the filter, the point of view, the tone with which companies communicate their ideas,” said Grace Wright, a G76 strategist. “And I think voice is really important, because the same idea communicated differently might not resonate with a particular audience.”

 

Example: Gorilla Joe

Gorilla 76’s co-founder Joe Sullivan has represented the agency as a thought leader in many forms, most prominently as the host of “The Manufacturing Executive” podcast. 

He’s interviewed manufacturing CEOs and marketing experts as well as spoken as a marketing expert in his own right. He served as a moderator and subject matter expert on Clubhouse and created dozens of audio and video pieces for the agency’s YouTube channel.

Joe and fellow co-founder Jon Franko knew a marketing agency for small- and mid-size manufacturers needed a relatable, conversational voice in its content.

 

Whether on a podcast or sales meeting, Joe speaks as if he were having a conversation with a friend over lunch.

Being conversational is key to humanizing the brand. “People want to work with real people that they like and they feel comfortable with, so just bringing that into a natural conversation, I think, has a huge benefit,” Joe said.

Tips for the boss

Joe has a couple of tips for company owners when they’re thinking about how to better present themselves to the public, whether it’s in a podcast or in-person conversation.

 

Speak naturally, but toward your target audience. A private equity firm will sound different than someone selling spiked lemonade, but balance is key. We’re all human, and even the most serious CEOs would rather work with someone they like.

“Think about what it would be like if you were sitting in a room with a customer,” Joe said. “What would that conversation be like?”

Maintaining a consistent tone in content like the podcast and G76 newsletters builds a stronger overall connection with regular audience members and gives them a better sense of what it will be like to work with the team. With those impressions in place, you’ll be top of mind when people are ready to buy.

In the past couple of years, potential clients have approached Joe feeling like they already knew him, because they’ve heard him work through relevant issues with his podcasts guests and understand how his personality and ideas will impact their business relationship.

“It’s like the beginning of the sales process was over before I’ve even met them,” Joe said. “They’ve told me, ‘I’ve been reading your newsletter for two years, and we know that you’re the company that we need to work with, and the time’s right now, so let’s talk.’ And they’re not even vetting anybody else, so that’s huge.”

Spread across mediums and platforms

Joe cross-pollinates content from the podcast on LinkedIn and other platforms, where he can expand upon his initial ideas and build stronger connections with a wider audience. 

“There’s a difference between reading words on a page and hearing someone’s voice, and even better, seeing their face and hearing their voice, which is why I always record video for all of my podcasts episodes.”

 

Joe gets content ideas from real-life conversations with clients. A beneficial discussion can be the inspiration for a blog or podcast. He also analyzes the blog posts that resonate on social media to generate content on other platforms.

Great voices share audiences

Bringing other expert voices onto the podcast offers Joe credibility with new people. 

Two subject-matter experts with shared interests can easily share their audiences as well. For example, The Manufacturing Executive got a huge boost from the content marketing extraordinaire, Mike Weinberg.

“He’s sharing these little clips from the podcast and just getting 10x the exposure than I would,” Joe said. “He’s tagging other best-selling authors on there, and they’re sharing it, so it’s a crazy snowball effect of visibility and credibility when you position yourself beside someone who truly is a thought leader.”

Along with sharing their perspective, ownership should highlight the thoughts and talents of their team members. They are very much a part of how the client benefits from the company’s services.

Trust your team

Set your company apart with something already in house: the thought leadership of expert team members. You hired them for a reason. Let your audience know.

“At a company like ours, we’ve got a variety of different marketing-related skill sets, deep areas of expertise, and frankly, any given person is better at their particular craft than I would be,” Joe said.

 

But how can companies know team members will effectively represent the company without a pre-approved script?

 Hire people that fit the company’s values, mission and practices.

Don’t seek uniformity, because that will limit your company’s creative abilities. Find people who fit your values and mission, while providing the array of perspectives and ideas that your company needs to succeed. When their voices naturally align with that of the brand, a company can build a harmonic chorus rather than sing solo.

“When you bring all of those people together, they truly speak to who a company is,” said Sultana Mangel, our client success director and fellow guest on “The Manufacturing Executive.”

Tips for the team

Business owners shape their company’s voice. Employees use their own voices to build harmony.

So how do team members create consonance without losing their individuality?

Embody your values and strengths

Maintain the client’s/audience’s confidence in company values and capabilities, but not at the expense of your personality. Nobody interfaces with the hive mind, they interact with individuals.

Toby WallToby Wall is Gorilla 76’s content director and a prior guest on “The Manufacturing Executive”. He said there are four pillars of marketing success: demonstrated expertise, thought leadership, proof of work and establishing a personal connection with the audience.

“If you can do all of those things together, you are going to win,” Toby said.

 

Many manufacturing companies leave personality out of the equation, to their detriment. Industrial manufacturers often take a by-the-numbers approach. But target audiences like engineers are more than bipedal calculators, and you should be, too.

“We may think there is no room for emotion, there’s no room for empathy, there’s no room for building rapport in the way that only [being] yourself can do, and so, in my mind, we should not take that part away,” Toby said. “Clients benefit from that and appreciate knowing not only are these people competent … but gosh darn it, they’re nice people. Some people may think it should take a back seat, but that nice people part is critical, and the best way to have that come across is when we are ourselves.”

That doesn’t let employees completely off the hook. They’ve still got to be mindful about how their words and actions impact perceptions of the company.

Everyone’s a role player

Employees should focus on filtering, not copying, the company voice that already resonates with the audience. 

“There has to be a match there, especially for a professional services company, or it just doesn’t work,” Grace said. 

As a client success director, Sultana wants to highlight her positive attributes as company assets. For instance, she wants her empathy and patience to shine through.

“One really important part of my personality that I hope comes across when I’m speaking with clients or even team members is my ability to put people at ease [even when things don’t go according to plan],” she said.

While individuality is an asset, it shouldn’t hinder consistent messaging. 

 

Simple best practices

While we just spent a lot of time talking about the unique benefits of the individual voice, there are some simple best practices that will make anyone’s voice more effective.

Pace

Pacing does much of the same work as the rhythm of writing from our first installment. It can be even more important in this case, because you only have one chance to be understood.

Inexperienced people tend to talk too fast, but be careful not to overcompensate and speak unnaturally slowly. It helps to think about maintaining a regular breathing rhythm, just make sure you’re not breathing into the microphone too hard if that’s a part of the equation.

Volume

The audience will lose trust in what you’re saying if they can’t trust your volume. 

Your volume should indicate how important or exciting what you’re saying is. When you’re loud, what you are talking about should be exciting on its own merits. When you whisper, it indicates something secretive and suspenseful, so don’t disappoint.

Inflection

The way you say something means just as much as what you say. 

Professional voice actors are masters of fabricated inflection, but leave that to the professionals. For our purposes, be honest while measured.

Unnatural or repetitive inflection can undermine everything you want your voice to accomplish. On the flip side, a mundane, emotionless voice never draws attention and deprives the audience of the emotional context that can make the spoken word more powerful than the written. 

At the end of the day, just remember that your first priority is to have a healthy conversation, so speak naturally and you’ll cover most of the bases.

Voice is everything, literally

Creating and implementing brand voice in your content is only a part of the positioning process. It continues every time a representative speaks to your audience on behalf of the company, whether while working with a client or hosting a live webinar. 

Enhance your brand connection by allowing your audience to hear from the leaders and team members who do the work that makes a company valuable. Get the word-of-mouth process started straight from the source. Put yourself in front of the audience with a podcast, social media videos and/or other ways to allow your audience to hear what you have to say. 

And if you need some help, Gorilla 76 can help get you started with consultation services and more to fight the right messaging platform for your operation and audience.

Your audience builds their perception of your brand character based on your website design and video production. Stay on the lookout for our third and fourth installments of the voice series, which will highlight video tips from Nick Tacony and design from Randall Zaitz, respectively.

 

PODCAST: Why Sticky Notes and Spreadsheets are not a CRM

Ron Pretzie Andy Keehn Dave Sheer The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 91

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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How do you convince both reps and execs in manufacturing that the CRM is not a deterrent but a path to next-level improvement?

In this episode, I talked about how to overcome challenges to adopting a CRM with these three standout guests:

Join us as we discuss:

  • What a great CRM can really do for a business
  • Why reps are reluctant and how to persuade them
  • Pitching a CRM to the C-Suite
  • Practical tips for getting started

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Strategic Sourcing During Volatile Times w/ Jim Pratt

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 90

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Underlying supply chain problems, only exacerbated by pandemic disruption, have plagued every industry the past few years.

But our guest today thinks we may be seeing the light at the end of a long tunnel.

And now is the perfect time to shore up weaknesses exposed by the demand spike.

Jim Pratt is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Forsyth Advisors, and an expert at solving sourcing problems and creating operational strategies that work.

Join us as we discuss:

  • Lingering supply chain challenges
  • Finding opportunities for savings, automation, and streamlining
  • Networking to find alternate sourcing
  • The new normal

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: The Digital Warehouse: A Look Inside Additive Manufacturing w/ Melanie Lang

melanie lang the manufacturing executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 89

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Additive manufacturing technologies are rapidly disrupting traditional practices. 

The adoption rate is increasing, leading to exciting advancements in performance, GTM, and repair applications. 

Melanie Lang is the Co-Founder and CEO of FormAlloy and the Women in 3D Printing San Diego Ambassador, and she serves on the Executive Committee of America Makes.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The flexible tech behind directed energy deposition
  • The right and wrong time for additive manufacturing 
  • Determining the right toolbox for your needs 
  • How 3D printing is the fourth transportation modality
  • Her advice for manufacturing leaders

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: How Next-Gen Robots Are Revolutionizing Manufacturing w/ Nan Li

nan-li-the-manufacturing-executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 88

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Welcome to a new era of robotics.

Robots of the past were defined by their tasks. They went through pre-planned motions and they weren’t able to adapt to changes in their environment.

Today’s next-gen robots, however, are hyper-intelligent, able to differentiate between people and objects, and adjust to changes in real time.

Nan Li, Managing Director at Obvious Ventures, has spent a lot of his career watching the evolution of robotics, and in this episode, he explains what this new era of robots means for the manufacturing industry.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The differences between the robots of yesterday and the robots of today
  • What autonomous vehicles have to do with advances in robotics
  • How robot systems are becoming more financially accessible

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: The Coming of the All-Electric Society w/ Jack Nehlig

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 87

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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The biggest obstacle to renewables is a lack of knowledge on the subject.

But once everyone knows the money they can save while helping the environment…

We’ll be living in an all electric-society.

Today’s guest, Jack Nehlig, President at Phoenix Contact USA, joins the show to discuss these benefits and what the all-electric society means for manufacturing.

Join us as we discuss:

  • What people need to know about renewables
  • The trends in autonomous vehicles
  • How anyone can take advantage of the latest advancements in robotics

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: The New ROI of Automation w/ Scot Lindemann

Scot Lindemann The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 86

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Too often, we’re having the wrong conversation about automation ROI.

In a time when simply finding labor is the biggest challenge many manufacturers face, the ROI conversation around automation is now about much more than replacing labor costs.

So says today’s guest, Scot Lindemann, CEO at Mission Design & Automation, who joins the show to explain how to make the conversation around automation a more fruitful one for everybody.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The unseen returns of automation 
  • Why automation is a journey of continuous improvement, not a destination
  • Scot’s take on the current state of labor in manufacturing 

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: How Colocating R&D Drives Manufacturing Innovation w/ Martin DeBono

Martin DeBono The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 85

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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It’s no secret why so many companies have sent their manufacturing overseas: It’s to save money.

But are you really saving when the hassle costs you your ability to innovate quickly?

Today’s guest, Martin DeBono, President at GAF Energy, joins the show to share his insights on how colocating R&D domestically can ultimately save you by helping you get innovative products to market faster than your competitors.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The difficulties with overseas manufacturing
  • Why reshoring (and specifically, colocating R&D domestically) can help address both the supply chain challenges and the labor shortage
  • How Martin is putting his advice into practice

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player. 

Case study: driving $9M in pipeline for an industrial oven manufacturer

About the client and why they came to us

Davron Technologies is an engineering-heavy manufacturer of industrial ovens based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They approached us in 2020 to help them grow faster through new customer acquisition.

Challenges to overcome

Davron’s leadership made it very clear in our early conversations that they needed marketing to be a vehicle for new customer growth.

They knew they had a unique product and compelling value proposition but were missing untapped market share, particularly in some key industry verticals.

They were seeking a marketing partner that would put in the work to understand their audience and then design and implement a strategy to reach and engage those future customers.

Our solution

We started by taking Davron through our Road Map process to learn as much as we could about their product lines, customers and competitive space and to design a revenue-focused marketing plan that would help them meet their new customer acquisition targets.

We then followed with implementation, which included the following:

Content strategy and creation

We’ve led Davron through an aggressive (and now ongoing) content push from day one to populate their brand new Resource Center.

All along the way, our content team has helped Davron lean into the deep expertise of their engineers and technical experts to create a variety of written thought leadership content and case studies (see the “Articles” and “Case studies” tabs in Davron’s Resource Center).

These content creation efforts are ongoing, helping Davron position themselves as the industry leader in custom-engineered industrial ovens and thermal processing solutions.

Lead generation and demand generation

We’ve helped Davron solidify their position in search engines to drive the right traffic organically.

But simultaneously, we’ve used paid media to manage targeted lead generation and demand generation campaigns to reach specific job roles from specific types of companies in specific industry verticals with messaging and content crafted precisely for them.

Results to date

Speaking to the first year of our engagement (2020), Operations Engineer Aaron Speicher said:

“Results-wise, we generally get one to two customers a year if we we’re lucky. With Gorilla after the first 12 months, we were at eight new customers. Our expectations were exceeded by Gorilla.”

We followed in year two (2021), by helping Davron grow top-line revenue by 20%, generating $9M in pipeline sourced directly through marketing activity.

“I know we are in a partnership now. It’s like a branch of our business that’s helping us grow our revenue.” – Aaron Speicher

PODCAST: 8 Ways Manufacturers Can Nail Their Marketing In 2022 w/ Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 84

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Manufacturers aren’t typically marketing-driven companies. But they should be. Because their existing customer bases and referrals aren’t enough to cut it anymore.

In this solo episode, I cover the following eight guiding principles for manufacturing marketing in 2022:

  1. The power shift from seller to buyer
  2. Understanding who makes up the buying committee
  3. Creating value to gain attention and trust
  4. Turning the knowledge of your industry experts into marketing assets
  5. Capturing demand where it already exists
  6. Creating demand in the rest of your audience 
  7. Communicating regularly with your sales teams
  8. Measuring results

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player. 

EXAMPLE: Expert video content at work for a real manufacturer

The best content comes from the brains of your company’s experts

Case in point: Devin Adams, sales engineer at Multi-Tek, Inc.

What I love about this video is that Devin is using his deep technical expertise to teach.

In this case, Devin’s helping future customers learn what they need to understand and about cables — from temperature to flexibility to electrical ratings to physical construction — as they investigate their options.

Take note, manufacturers.

If you want to earn the attention and trust of your prospects, talk less about how great you are and focus on being the best resource in your space — just like Devin and Multi-Tek are doing here.

Give your audience a reason to believe you and they’ll ask you for your product pitch.

PODCAST: Go Where Your Audience Is (Which May Be TikTok) w/ Todd Clouser

Todd Clouser The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 83

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Tell me a platform where you can post 15 times and have 40,000 followers.

Today’s guest throws out a TikTok in five minutes before breakfast every morning — and has incontrovertible proof that it absolutely drove 100% of the preorders for a new product.

In this episode, I interview Todd Clouser, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Refine Labs, about the power of TikTok marketing in the trades.

Join us as we discuss:

  • The potential for TikTok videos to educate students and new tradespeople
  • Stunning stats and anecdotes of Todd’s TikTok success
  • How to cultivate relationships with TikTok influencers
  • Advice for getting started on TikTok

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player. 

PODCAST: It’s Time to Get Serious About Ethics & Compliance w/ Emily Miner

Emily Miner The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 82

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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When it comes to improving your company’s ethics and compliance…

Any changes you make will only be as good as the culture supporting them. 

And today’s guest, Emily Miner, Senior Advisor in LRN’s Ethics & Compliance Advisory Practice, joins the show to share the best ways to cultivate that culture.

We discuss:

  • The evolution of E&C
  • Why ethics and compliance and organizational culture are inextricably linked
  • The importance of understanding the differences in the experience of culture for various individuals across your company

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Subject matter interviews and the power of scale

These two things are true:

  1. Buyers of complex and costly industrial products or services rely on accurate information from people they trust to make business decisions.
  2. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

…and they guide the essence of subject matter interviews.

The engineers, executives and sales pros we talk to every day are the authorities in their fields. Their expertise is critical to any marketing program because their buyers need the facts and context they possess. You don’t invest in million-dollar machines on the advice of an endorsing celebrity who says it will make you seem cool. The bar is higher.

If you’re wondering if it’s worth all the time, effort and investment required to collect and package just a few moments of someone’s brainpower, realize what comes next: deployment to the audience. We want to put wheels and a big motor on that information; with the right distribution strategy, we add a GPS to it too. \

Imagine the value of this one conversation now multiplied thousands of times over. They may have said it only once, but the message is repeated thousands of times over.

That’s scale, and it’s so worth the investment.

What happens when subject matter interviews go off the rails?

It is no freakin’ fun, I can tell you that.

It’s also inevitable. If you’re a content creator who conducts subject matter interviews, it will happen — if it hasn’t already.

And most of the time, this is the form it takes: Those interview questions you took great pains to craft come apart at the seams because what you’re asking, it turns out, is not relevant.

Preparation is the antidote

Back in her writing days, Grace Wright had it happen enough to know that there’s no substitute for good preparation.

As long as it is crystal clear in your mind what an interview must reveal, the questions don’t matter and the conversation can be salvaged. Tell your subject: “Here’s what happened. My interview questions aren’t going to work. But here’s what I need to know. Can we talk it through together?”

Most of the time, they’re happy to help. In fact, these conversations end up being some of the best ones we have owing to how organic they are.

Do a little dissecting

When you realize your interview questions aren’t going to work, it can be a moment of panic.

I tamp down that panic with a show of transparency: “I’m afraid my questions aren’t going to work for this,” I tell my subjects. “But here’s what I was going to ask. Can you tell me where I’ve gone wrong?”

This serves two purposes.

First, it’s live feedback from someone we ordinarily do not get it from.

Second, these in situ dissections have a way of revealing the answers I had hoped to get anyway.

So, if it happens to you, know that not all is lost. Be prepared, know the strategy and level with your subject if something’s off.

How to write subject matter interview questions

If you’re tasked with conducting a subject matter interview, crafting a list of interview questions might seem straightforward.

Until you sit down to write them.

It’s sneakily hard to do because so much is riding on this 30- or 60-minute conversation. That’s why I consider crafting interview questions a sacred act. It’s one my my favorite things to do on the job.

Keys to writing good interview questions

1. Write them like you’d say them. This is a conversation, not a coroner’s inquiry. Tone and pace matter almost as much as the words we use when we ask questions. The difference between a question that sounds genuinely asked and one that sounds read from a list is jarring.

2. Answer your own questions. “First thought best thought?” It worked for Jack Kerouac but doesn’t hold up here. Take a second (and third, and fourth) look at the questions in your list. If you’re asking about basic facts or more rudimentary concepts, see if you can get those answers on your own. I’ve found that doing this allows me to ask higher-order questions. It ensures you’re using your subject’s time to its highest purpose, and it’ll show up in the caliber of content you create.

3. Don’t “go down the list.” Good conversations live and breathe and move, and not always predictably. For that reason, interview question lists must not be treated like checklists. Be careful not make each question too dependent on those prior. Take a breath, read the questions with new eyes and ask yourself if you’re painting yourself deeper into a corner with every one you draft.

After all, if having a good conversation requires bouncing all over the sheet — or inventing totally new questions on the fly — then so be it. As with #1 above, good interviews have momentum. Don’t do anything to kill it.

An oldie but goodie

Similar concepts are covered in our content research and interview playbook. It’s a few years old, but it still holds up and will take maybe a minute to read. Check it out!

You’re doing content right when your sales team wants to use it

Hot take: The marketing vs. sales rivalry is 100% pointless.

It’s so much better when the functions sustain a feedback loop that helps each perform its role.

Here’s what that looks like: Marketing uses the ground truth that sales collects to create more relevant, resonant messaging. Sales enlists marketing’s help to develop messaging that plugs knowledge gaps and answers questions they observe in their daily interactions.

The feedback loop closes more deals!

Senior strategist Grace Wright says it bluntly and well in the video above. “Marketing content isn’t just marketing content. It shouldn’t just go to the website to die.”

Organizations should strive to get more out of it than that.

Any chance we get to talk with our clients’ sales people, we jump at it. In addition to collecting that ground truth I mentioned, it’s also the chance to refine content strategy so it can produce other yields.

Ask: “How are you using the content we’ve made?” If they’re using it, how so?

The holy grail is a sales person relying on marketing content to do their talking for them while accelerating someone through the buying process. If that’s happening, it’s a sign you’re right on the money in terms of demonstrating an understanding of your audience’s pains, goals and questions.

(That understanding is best developed based on frequent interviews with subject matter experts — the whole point of this video series.)

Of course, it takes work to get there. The question is not always simply how are you using this?

Other questions to consider: “Does this messaging feel on-track to you? If it doesn’t, what are we missing? What questions do you keep hearing repeated? What can we make so that you can respond to all those repeat queries with an emailed link instead of the same 30-minute call again and again?”

That’s the feedback loop in action. Keep it fed and watered, and it sustains itself.

And about that dumb little rivalry?

What rivalry?

PODCAST: Going Global: How to Expand Your Reach & Revenue Internationally w/ Wendy Pease

Wendy Pease The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 86

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Companies that go international are 20% more profitable on average.

For most manufacturers, the only thing stopping them from reaping the rewards of going global is the fear of the unknown.

But with a little guidance, you can make sure your international ambitions don’t get lost in translation.

And there is no better guide than today’s guest, Wendy Pease, Owner of Rapport International, who joins the show to share her tips for going global.

Join us as we discuss:

  • How to decide where to do business internationally
  • The steps to break into a market in another region
  • The value of professional translation — domestically and abroad

Be sure to check out these resources:

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: How to Consumerize the Industrial Supply Chain w/ Todd Leebow

Todd Leebow The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 80

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Consumers adopt technology faster and adapt their behavior more readily than businesses do. How can we bring those positive consumer traits into manufacturing?

In this episode, I interview Todd Leebow, President/CEO at Majestic Steel USA, about consumerizing the industrial supply chain.

Join us as we discuss:

  • Traits of consumers that manufacturing should adopt
  • Why convention is the antithesis of innovation
  • What changes when we recognize that manufacturing is technology
  • Supply chain opportunities exposed by COVID

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Maximizing your content marketing return on effort

How to test what resonates and double down

I’ve always been a big fan of repurposing content in different places.

If you wrote it for your website, why not break it down into smaller content for LinkedIn, your newsletter, etc?

But over the past year or two, I’ve reversed the order of content creation for any of these given channels. Here’s what I mean and why…

What I used to do:

  • Write a long blog post (5-8 hour commitment) that might have four subsections
  • Turn each of those four subsections into short-form LinkedIn posts
  • Summarize the blog post and turn it into an email newsletter (and then say “click here to read the full post on our website”)

There are certainly efficiencies here and I don’t discourage the approach. But I’ve learned that there’s a better way to do it.

What I do now instead:

  • Write lots of short-form LinkedIn posts (30-minute commitments each)
  • Observe which ones get significant engagement (comments, likes, reshares, etc.)
  • Turn those into deeper pieces of content for other media (like long-form blog posts, videos or podcast episodes)
  • Use those LinkedIn posts (almost verbatim) as my newsletter content

In the end, the volume of content I’ve created isn’t all that different. But my return on effort will improve significantly.

Let me offer three points to explain why:

1. Testing a variety of topics leads to better decisions

When I start with a long-form blog post, I’m likely investing 5-8 hours crafting something from scratch. I need a topic I’m confident about. Then I need to draft it, refine it, proof read it, optimize it and publish it.

Although plenty of these blog posts will perform well, inevitably some will also flop. And given the long-term nature of winning the SEO game, it’s also likely that many will never get the visibility they need to have an impact on my business.

Now let’s say I took that same 5-10 hours and instead wrote 10-16 short LinkedIn posts to publish over the next few weeks. Starting here lets me test a variety of topics and messaging to see which resonate with my audience. Then I can double down on the winners and invest more time into expanding on them.

Simultaneously, I’m steering away from spending my time with topics that will likely garner less interest.

2. Audience feedback strengthens the content

The likes, reshares and dialogue on my LinkedIn posts absolutely tell me what’s resonating.

But when smart people build on my posts with their comments or ask me questions that prompt me to go deeper, I’m also organically fleshing out the topic in a way that speaks directly to them.

3. I first meet my audience where they are

One of the biggest marketing revelations for me over the past few years is that that people want to consume content where they are. 

If you’re killing 10 minutes on LinkedIn between meetings or scrolling through your feed while you’re watching Monday Night Football, you’re probably not interested in clicking on a link someone posted, going to their website and reading their 1000-word blog post, right? At least not most of the time.

But short, text-based insights and 1-3 minute videos get consumed like crazy on LinkedIn.

So instead of putting my heavy lifting into the blog post (my platform), I’m first doing the hard work in the place where my audience is already consuming information.

If someone who fits our ideal customer profile engages with a video or written post right there on LinkedIn (or in an email or on Facebook or wherever), great! That’s amazing brand awareness. And it’s an opportunity to earn attention and build trust.

It doesn’t all have to happen on my website. Once I realized that, I started to reach a lot more of the right people.

Let’s end on a fun note

This exact article is an illustration of everything I’ve said above.

I’ll leave you with the actual LinkedIn post I originally published (see below), which collected 4800 views, 60+ likes and 20+ comments (some of which influenced what I wrote in this expanded version).

Side note:

I timed myself writing this blog post: 75 minutes start to finish. Not too shabby!

Your turn to go make it happen.

How (good) subject matter interviews build bridges

 

B2B industrial marketing programs depend on the knowledge our clients’ experts possess.

The technology required to automatically record everything in an engineer’s brain isn’t quite there yet, though, so we must mine for this information the old way: interviews.

Good strategy, good content, anything important in marketing — it starts with a conversation.

But even then, that’s only part of it. Because it isn’t just one conversation. It could be a handful. Dozens. Even hundreds.

And each one impacts real person-to-person connections. You can keep those impacts positive by considering the tactics below.

Logistical tips you should employ

If you’re going to make good content and intend to keep up the effort indefinitely, you’re going to need to interview experts. Follow these logistical tips to be sure you get the most value out of these conversations.

Be organized. Create a logical way to organize information. At Gorilla, we use Dropbox for ourselves and clients. As the volume of information you store grows, its search functionality becomes a massive time-saver. It’s also instrumental to our ability to maintain consistency in knowledge and quality even as personnel come and go.

Hit “record.” If you interview anyone, record it. Then, transcribe the recording. Transcription is helpful because (1) it makes interviews searchable, (2) it allows your future self or colleagues to read instead of listen, which is faster, and (3) it’s much easier to identify and grab testimonials or important quotes this way.

Take notes. And, save them to whatever information storage solution you choose. I treat my notes and my interview question list as the same thing, and it frees me to create a resource sheet where I record facts as I find them, link out to resources I encounter and sprinkle in questions when I believe an expert can fill in any gaps.

Why this legwork helps long-term

Obviously, collecting and managing information well helps build your knowledge and make it accessible to others.

But it also builds credibility. The ability to reference and apply prior-gathered information in an interview shows that you’re invested in a topic and want to grow in your understanding. It also lets you cut corners in a good way: A well-structured subject matter library gives you the chance to locate answers someone might already have given you. You avoid reinventing the wheel and ensure your subject matter interviews always stay productive. You create the impression in the minds of those you interview that you “get it.” You become a credible partner.

And when credibility is established, relationships flourish.

Subject matter interviews are a proving ground for assumptions

 

“I’m gonna make stuff up.” – Toby Wall, serious marketer

Don’t take my quote from the video out of context.

I’m the kind of learner who needs to poke and prod at a concept before I feel comfortable saying, “I get it.”

That’s why my subject matter interviews are rife with assumptions and hypotheticals and too many “what if” questions to count.

Interviewers: the audience’s surrogate

But this is far from a selfish learning exercise. Because surely some folks in the target audience of a content piece learn the same way I do. Surely they form assumptions the truth or falsehood of which strengthen their understanding of a topic.

When I put an educated assumption in front of an expert for them to affirm or shoot down, it’s as if I become every would-be buyer’s surrogate.

That’s pretty powerful.

But it also requires humility: I’m wrong in my assumptions at least as often as I’m right. If you’re an interviewer, don’t censor assumptions just because you fear being wrong. In this context, being wrong is great and should be cherished.

So, I’m gonna make stuff up.

After all, you know what happens when you assume?

You learn.

Simple ways to prep for subject matter interviews

Knowing all that rides on a subject matter interview, it’s common for marketers to suffer paralysis by analysis.

I need to be prepared. Have I read enough about this topic? Are my questions clear? What am I missing? Have I thought of everything?

With all these worries, it’s no wonder interviewers almost dread these conversations instead of look forward to them.

But it doesn’t need to be this stressful.

Why are you even having the conversation?

According to senior strategist Grace Wright, the first step in interview prep is awfully simple: Define the problem or question the conversation is meant to address.

If no problem or question can be articulated, cancel the call. Simple as that.

What’s the angle?

With the problem or question clearly defined, you should establish the angle. If defining the problem or question is “why,” then the angle is the “what” and “how.” It’s like taking the idea for a painting and turning it into a rough sketch.

That rough sketch can take the form of a content outline or a strategy brief; each is equally effective.

I think content outlines work better if you’re tackling “bigger” topics or are producing long-form written, video or audio content. Strategy briefs are just that — brief — and work well for smaller items like blog posts or case studies.

Prep better with these information sources

Here’s a no-nonsense rundown of great sources of information that’ll be helpful as you prepare.

  • Internet searches are everyone’s gateway, although they can be frustrating. If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the first page, go to the second. Then the third. Patience pays off.
  • Internal documents like sales decks, product specs, estimates, bids, drawings and even sales call recordings or transcripts.
  • Academic articles are easier to access than you think. Governments support troves of academic articles across their websites which are free to access. And if you have a library card, you probably have access to all manner of journals.
  • Court filings might seem like a weird source for information, but you’d be surprised at the amount you can learn just by reading why someone is suing someone else.
  • Wikipedia is unfairly saddled by the reputation our grade school teachers gave it. Its articles include linked citations, making it a superb venue for finding original sources.

Check in with yourself as you prepare

One of my favorite tactics during interview prep is to jot down what I do and don’t know.

Then, I zoom out from time to time to check in with myself. Am I finding answers to my questions? Are the answers spawning new questions? Do I see conflicting information across sources?

Be mindful and know that if you’re having a hard time during preparation, that in itself is a great question to ask your subject.

I’m not getting answers to these questions, or I’m seeing conflicting information. Why is that? What’s going on here? It could reveal important arguments or debates ongoing in an industry — and that’s content pay dirt as far as I’m concerned. And when your subject matter expert takes a bold stance on a matter of contention, it builds brand authority and fosters feelings of trust.

 

 

No room for vanity in subject matter interviews

One of the most common mistakes marketers make is treating subject matter interviews like a performance.

…as if we matter.

Well, we don’t.

And that’s a good thing! For you and for your marketing program. So…

Ask the stupid questions. Yes, there is such a thing as a dumb question. You must ask it anyway. (I even tell my subjects they’re about to hear a dumb question.) If you don’t, you risk missing out on key foundational knowledge. No shame! You’d be surprised at the rapport you can build by showing off your ignorance.

Stay in your lane. Your subject matter expert is smarter than you on the topic at hand. You don’t need to put yourself under pressure to seem like you’re on their level. You’re not. (Because they’re not on yours, either!) If you spend your energy fretting over how you’re perceived, you’re ignoring your primary duty: mining for information.

Know the “why.” You’ll be most successful when you’re clear why a conversation is happening in the first place. Senior Strategist Grace Wright recommends giving your interview subject a glimpse behind the curtain, too. This provides valuable framing your subject matter expert can use to package what they know in a way that you can use.

 

How to set the stage for productive subject matter interviews

I would argue that subject matter interviews are the essential way to understand any B2B industrial audience.

Independent research is great, but there’s no beating the information you get from a real person who speaks like your audience speaks, thinks how think and suffers the same problems they suffer.

But how do you make sure these conversations are productive?

It’s all about preparation. And, it’s all about throwing your preparation out the window.

Senior Strategist Grace Wright and I explain.

5 ways to make sure your subject matter interviews are productive

Send interview questions in advance. This journalism “no-no” is a content marketing “go for it.” It’ll help you know if you’re on the right track or off the mark. It can also help establish your credibility with an expert in advance. Finally, it can help your expert feel more comfortable if they’re not used to being interviewed.

Stay on your toes. Even if you send questions in advance, it’s no guarantee your subject has read them. Grace warns that you should always be ready to pivot if it turns out you swung and missed. The best antidote? Prepare. And when you’re done preparing, prepare some more.

Make room for nuance. I might ask only half the questions in an interview that I had prepared for. Why? Because complex topics contain lots of nuance. That’s why my question lists read more like a map with multiple viable routes. Good interview prep means knowing there are forks in the road — and being ready to go either way.

Listen and follow. The best subject matter interviews almost never follow the chronology an interviewer plans for. But sticking rigidly to the order your questions appear on a question list is a great way to throw yourself — and your subject — off the scent. Show some trust. Listen to your subject and follow where they lead you.

Keep your mission in mind. Subject matter interviews are means to an end but not an end in themselves. Grace says that the goal of a subject matter interview is to answer pressing questions or collect information that addresses pains or challenges you know your audience has.

Subject matter interviews build trust for better content

Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?

Turns out, Eminem’s aspiring rap career and collecting subject matter information from technical experts for marketing content have more in common than we thought.

If you’re going to create content that directly addresses pains, goals or questions in your target audience, the best source material you can get will come from subject matter experts.

But as Senior Strategist Grace Wright and Content Director Toby Wall explain, the quality of the information you get in a subject matter interview is directly tied to how much (or how little) your interview subject trusts you.

That first call is make-or-break. You only get one shot.

What it takes to build trust

It’s not enough to sound good on the phone. Grace says that building trust with these key sources of information requires doing the legwork necessary to speak their language and understand their world.

It’s an exercise in empathy you must undertake long before the interview is scheduled.

Toby’s advice: Put yourself in your interview subject’s shoes and consider the ways they are vulnerable.

When they feel secure, they give you the goods.

And when you’ve got the goods, your content will shine.

A few perfect leads beats a high volume of bad ones

Common sense will tell you that a lower volume of high-quality leads beats a higher volume of low-quality leads any day.

Not only does is waste your sales team’s time to sort through and call on tens (or hundreds) of unqualified, low-intent leads every week that marketing is sourcing for them, but it destroys any trust that sales would ever have in marketing.

The result:

Sales and marketing diverge into silos that will never be in alignment, working as a team to achieve meaningful, revenue-focused business outcomes.

Despite all this, very few manufacturing organizations are patient enough to do the marketing groundwork that will attract and engage the right people from the right companies (who actually have buying intent). So things play out exactly as described above.

Here’s the shift that has to happen

Marketing needs to stop doing lead generation for the sake of lead generation.

Marketing needs to instead shift its attention to:

  • Focusing on the right people from the right companies
  • Learning deeply what matters to these people (triggers that lead them into the buying processes, issues they’re trying to address, outcomes they’re trying to achieve, questions they’re trying to get answered)
  • Create amazing content that addresses those things
  • Proactively and consistently distribute that content in front of these exact people in places where they already consume information online
  • In the process of doing so, earn attention, build trust and open the door to sales conversations when these people enter a buy cycle

Why demand generation is more powerful than lead generation

The terms “lead generation” and “demand generation” are often used interchangeably. But these are very different things (where the former is actually a subset of the latter).

Let’s break down the difference.

Lead generation

In essence, lead generation is about collecting email addresses. You tell me what type of person from what type of company you want to reach. I’ll find you contact information, so you can cold call them and try to sell them something.

In the early to mid 2010s, companies adopted the practice of publishing “gated content” (white papers, e-books, etc. that live behind forms on their websites) and asking for visitors to exchange their email addresses in order to download them. They’d then follow with a sales pitch.

The problem here is that a majority of these individuals have zero intent to buy. Not only is this a waste of time for a manufacturer’s sales team, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the “lead” (note that “lead” is intentionally in quotation marks here!).

What’s changed over past five years is that now you can spend a few thousand dollars with Zoominfo or Uplead (among probably 100 other services) and download email addresses today for your entire audience. So if you insist on calling a list, save yourself the time and go do it that way.

Demand generation

Demand generation, on the other hand, is about creating an appetite for your product or service (or even your category).

Rather than blasting bottom-of-funnel “buy from me now” sales messaging at everyone in your audience, hoping a few land, you focus on generating awareness, building trust and educating the buying-process influencers from the right companies.

The goal? When these individuals enter a buy cycle (which you can’t control, by the way), the idea is that they’ll think of you first. And they’ll already have positive association with your brand.

In summary, while lead generation is about collecting email addresses, demand generation is about:

  • Building a respected, trusted brand via thought leadership content
  • Establishing a clear point of view and brand narrative
  • Winning the long game

Can you tell which one we like better?

Manufacturers need to get back to marketing fundamentals

Transport yourself back to 2005. Google Analytics was brand new and all of a sudden, poof! We could measure marketing results in a tangible way.

From 2005-2010, digital marketing analytics became commonplace.

But from there, in many ways, things devolved.

The expectation emerged that because you can measure everything, you therefore should measure everything.

And as a result, companies started making bad decisions because they were optimizing their marketing programs for leading metrics like traffic and leads instead of optimizing for meaningful business outcomes like pipeline and revenue.

It’s time to start layering common sense on top of marketing data. And it’s also time to get back to core marketing fundamentals:

  • Deeply understanding who your customer is (at both a company and human level)
  • Crafting your brand narrative, value proposition and supporting content around the things that matter to those exact people
  • Learning where those individuals consume information online
  • Delivering your message to them in those places

Content distribution: what it means and why it matters

Amazing content that doesn’t get consumed is meaningless.

One of the biggest missed opportunities for manufactures that have invested in a meaningful content program is the distribution of those assets.

Distribution is about learning where your buyers spend time and proactively reaching them there (rather than waiting for them to find you).

Think about it this way:

Google is an intent channel. People go there when they’re looking for a solution (they have intent to buy). And when they’re looking for something that you can provide, you of course want to give yourself the best chance of being discovered.

However…

A vast majority of your audience is not in buying mode at any given moment in time.

So between now and whenever they do enter a buy cycle, it’s your job to earn their trust and attention by creating value for them.

This is exactly where paid distribution of content in social media channels comes into play.

Whether on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or elsewhere, we can reach people with specific job titles from specific industries or even specific companies with specific interests.

Don’t get us wrong. We’re believers in SEO (search engine optimization) and Google Ads as well. But our objective is to reach the right people from the right companies before they ever go to Google to look for a solution in the first place.

How manufacturers can eliminate friction in the buying process

So often, companies will unintentionally put up walls that make it really challenging for their prospects to start a sales conversation.

Here are a few things that create friction:

Passive contact us buttons

So many manufacturers’ websites fail to call their visitors to action. They stick a passive “Contact Us” button in the top right corner of the website instead of placing “Request a Quote” buttons in context through their product pages.

Too many form fields

Do you really need to collect 18 data points from a website visitor through a form that takes them 10 minutes to fill out? Or can you just get their name, company name and contact info? They want to talk to you!

Too slow to reply to RFQ form submissions

Reply in minutes (or at the very least, hours). Not days. Your competitors have already won by then.

All of that considered, here are a few things that most manufacturers aren’t doing (but easily could) to eliminate buying-process friction:

Use a calendar booking app

Simple software applications like Calendly cost a few dollars per month and sync with your Outlook or G Suite calendar. Include a booking link on your website. Or send your prospect that link when you reply to the RFQ form submission.

Trial a live chat

Not an automated chatbot. Live chat. With a real person that has a heartbeat. It’s inexpensive. It’s easy. It’s human.

Talk about pricing:

We’ve covered this topic in depth in this video. In short, be as transparent and detailed as you possibly can about how you price your products or services.

At the very least, give a range and explain the differences between the high and low ends. Talk about a typical timeline to achieve positive ROI. Talk about total cost of ownership. If you don’t, someone else will. Control that narrative yourself.

Why manufacturers need to talk about pricing on their websites

Whether we like it or not, we’re all conditioned as consumers in this era to see pricing for anything we want to buy.

Yet in the B2B manufacturing world, companies constantly put up barriers that hide pricing information from future customers.

This happens for two reasons:

  1. Their products are big-ticket items with lots of potential configurations
  2. They don’t want their competitors to see their pricing and undercut them

We argue that these reasons are just excuses.

Consider this:

When you do list your pricing on your website, you invite a conversation with the prospect, you build trust and you set expectations.

When your don’t list your pricing, your buyers are just going elsewhere to figure it out anyway. And their first stop is probably your competitor’s site.

No matter what you sell – whether it’s a commodity or a big ticket, custom, complex solution, your prospects still care about the price. Price sensitivity will vary – I get it. But they still care.

So here are some ways to talk about pricing without physically listing $126,499.99:

1. Give a range

If your product usually costs between $50K and $150K, set those expectations. You’ll weed out price shoppers who will just waste your sales team’s time. And you’ll further qualify those who can actually afford your solution.

2. Explain the differences between the $50K and $150K version

Your answers to pricing questions probably often start with “Well, it depends.” So explain what changes as your buyer spends more.

3. Compare to the alternative

How’s your solution different from what your prospect is used to? When will he or she see a positive ROI? What’s the total cost of ownership (TCO)? Maybe they’ll pay 50% more for your product now, but it’ll last 10 years longer than your competitor’s.

Let’s stop beating around the bush and make it easy for our buyers to buy.

Stop talking about features and benefits (and start building brand equity)

Most of your audience is not in a buy cycle at this exact moment in time. They might be next week or next month or next year. But until then, they’re not interested in listening to you talk about the features and benefits of a product they don’t need right now.

So focus your marketing communications on what does matter to the right people from the companies that you need to reach and influence.

Then construct your brand narrative around that.

Think about:

  • How your team’s knowledge and expertise can help your current and future customers grow and succeed in their respective jobs
  • How you can shed a positive light on your industry or lift up your product category
  • How you can be the best guide and resource in your space

This is how you build a brand that people trust and respect. And it’s what sets the stage for those future customers to make you their first phone call when they do enter a buy cycle.

Case study: building a marketing program for a cable assembly manufacturer

About the client and why they came to us

Multi-Tek is an engineering-driven custom cable assembly manufacturer based in Portland, Oregon. They approached us in 2020 with three key goals they were looking to accomplish:

  1. Improve and scale their inbound pipeline of qualified, high-margin opportunities
  2. Diversify their customer base to be less dependent on a few flagship customers
  3. Implement their first true, sustainable marketing program

Challenges to overcome

Any new client engagement presents its challenges. In this case, we knew we were up against the following:

First, Multi-Tek looked like a generalist. No strategic brand narrative articulated who specifically they helped and how they created value for those companies. This undifferentiated messaging was failing to reach and capture the attention of the right people from the right companies, leaving Multi-Tek with a high volume of low-quality leads (most of which had little-to-no buying intent).

Second, Multi-Tek’s website was your classic brochure. Lots of “I, me, my, we, us, our”. Very little “you”.

We knew that in order to earn and sustain the attention and trust of their core audience, we had to flip that messaging on its head and speak to the buying triggers, problems, questions and goals of their audience.

Our solution

As we do for any client, we began by speaking directly to a handful of Multi-Tek’s customers to learn about their buying processes, how they evaluated solutions and partners, what mattered most to them in their jobs and so on.

Compiling our findings, we crafted positioning language (as represented on this Who We Help and How page) to guide their outward-facing communications. We then disseminated this customer-centric messaging throughout a total website relaunch that involved design, copywriting and development. Here’s a quick scroll through of some key pages:

 

While developing the new website, we guided Multi-Tek through the process of planning and implementing a thought leadership content program, entirely focused on the customer.

Part of this content implementation involved bringing a professional videographer on site and filming Multi-Tek’s subject matter experts teaching about the topics that matter most to their core audience.

Here’s one example from this set of these videos:

You can find a variety of both written and video content that we helped the client produce here in Multi-Tek’s learning center.

With a sharp brand narrative in place and a base of customer-centric, problem-solving, question-answering content now at our disposal, it was time to proactively go out and get in front of the right people from the right companies.

We had two jobs to do on this front:

  1. Capture demand where it already exists
  2. Generate demand in front of the rest of Multi-Tek’s total addressable market

Consider this key point:

A majority of any B2B manufacturer’s future customer base is not actively buying at any specific moment in time. They will be at some point. But that may not be for another week, month or year.

So among the small percentage of Multi-Tek’s audience who is currently in a buy cycle, we need them to discover our client and understand very clearly how Multi-Tek can help them get where they’re trying to go.

But simultaneously, among the vast majority of their audience who isn’t currently seeking a solution, we need Multi-Tek to establish themselves as the best resource possible by teaching, educating, creating value, and in the process of doing so, positioning themselves as the expert in their category. By doing this, Multi-Tek will be the obvious first phone call when those individuals do enter a buy cycle.

To address the first of those two jobs (capturing existing demand among active buyers), we focused on what we call “intent channels” like Google. People go to Google when they’re actively looking for a solution:

To address the latter (companies that fit Multi-Tek’s ideal customer profile, but aren’t necessarily in a buy cycle), we focused on targeting these individuals where they already spend time online and creating value for them there.

In this case, we learned that we could reach the Senior Mechanical Engineers, Design Engineers, Mechanical Design Engineers, Electro Mechanical Designers, etc inside of categories including Electrical Manufacturing, Industrial Automation and Machinery via paid demand generation campaigns on LinkedIn.

Here’s a screen shot of a customer audience we designed in LinkedIn Ad Manager:

linkedin custom audience build

Because these technical professionals carry the most influence in the buying process, we knew we had to reach them early – before they ever went to Google to look for a solution.

Here’s an example of content we deployed to reach these specific individuals.

We effectively told LinkedIn, “Show this content to people with these job titles from these types of companies in these geographic regions with these interests.”

Results to date

At the time of publishing this case study (late 2021), all signs are pointing in the right direction.

A few notable wins so far:

  • We’ve transformed the marketing mindset from low-intent lead generation to high-intent demand generation, focused on marketing-sourced pipeline
  • We’ve built a demand generation machine that helps Multi-Tek effectively track, measure, and optimize sales and marketing alignment for streamlined revenue operations
  • We’ve improved both month-over-month and quarter-over-quarter performance using data to guide what marketing levers to pull

There’s been a steady increase in our existing customer business, as well as getting enough qualified leads from Gorilla’s marketing efforts that I haven’t really had to spend a lot of time prospecting or looking for new business.” – John Ferguson

 

Quick take: Talk to your customers

Second-hand knowledge from sales isn’t enough. A checked box on a customer survey isn’t enough.

You need real-life conversations with your customers.

At least if you want to gain insights that will make a tangible impact on your marketing efforts.

Content Director Toby Wall and Senior Writer Mary Tomlinson share easy-to-implement tips gleaned from hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the years.

Make these conversations smoother (and more informative) by:

  • Getting background intel on their role. That way you won’t waste precious minutes confirming demographic details — and instead can hit the ground running with what matters to them.
  • Demonstrating empathy and giving credence to their pain points. When you give any interviewee space to talk about frustrations or sticking points in their role, you stand to gain a ton of great contextual information about their world.
  • Regularly summarizing your understanding of what they’re explaining to you. This isn’t about being right or wrong; this is about making sure you’re hearing them and learning more of the thinking behind their decision making.

Like anything worth doing, customer interviews aren’t the simplest marketing task to pull off. But just a few short, well-executed conversations can make a world of difference in your marketing strategy.

Make Content for Your Audience – Not for Google w/ Grace Wright & Aaron Weekes

Grace Wright Aaron Weekes The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 62

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

If your content strategy starts with whether there’s keyword search volume around your SEO terms, you’re starting at step five.

Here’s step one: conduct customer interviews to learn what they value and prioritize.

In this episode, I interview Gorilla 76’s own Grace Wright and Aaron Weekes, both Thinker and Strategist, about creating winning content that starts with customers, not keywords.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Making your customer’s success the object of your content
  • Getting the right messages to the right people
  • Providing one of these three qualities: best, first, or different
  • Starting your content strategy with the right questions (lots and lots of them)
  • Forecasting the future of SEO tactics

Grace Wright can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-wright-76940312a/ 

Aaron Weekes can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmichaelweekes/ 

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Deep dive: conducting customer research

Just as a house built on sand won’t stand the test of time, marketing conducted without insights from your customers won’t be nearly as impactful to your business’s brand perception, sales pipeline and, well, your bottom line.

In this discussion with Content Director Toby Wall and Senior Writer Mary Tomlinson, these two veterans share why customer research is critical to your marketing endeavors and the risks of not engaging with your buyers. (Can you imagine designing a new website without understanding your unique value proposition in the eyes of your customers?)

They also share time-tested tips on how to actually conduct research such as:

  • Starting the conversation in their world. Diving right into your product features and benefits is a good way to alienate the interviewee and make the interview about you — which isn’t your goal.
  • Routinely testing your assumptions. It doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong, but what does matter is you get to find out why.
  • Getting to the emotional crux of pain points. At the center of every business problem is a frustrated individual who wants something better for their company. This is your chance to hear those nuggets of insight.

You’ll walk away prepared to have meaningful conversations with your customers — and ready to build the foundation of your marketing plan.

Quick take: Dig deep during customer interviews

Supply chain issues. Engineering roadblocks. Unresponsive service.

At a 30,000-foot level, customer pain points tend to center around the same terms you’ve heard over and over again.

Customer interviews are a much-needed chance to dive deeper.

Content Director Toby Wall and Senior Writer Mary Tomlinson discuss how to dig deep in customer interviews and go beyond the buzzwords.

Ask for information like:

  • Real-life examples of this high-level problem
  • Context surrounding the problem — pressing deadlines, production demands, changes in personnel, the whole nine yards
  • Rippling effects on the rest of the business so you understand not just the challenge, but what’s actually at stake

The benefits of gaining these insights and understanding the full scope of the problem? More impactful content that makes your potential customers say, “That sounds like me.”

PODCAST: Get Started w/ Data Collection & Robotics Today w/ Aaron Prather

Aaron Prather The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 61

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Data collection, automation, robotics — these are things reserved for the budgets of the biggest companies out there, right? 

Wrong. Anyone can do it with one simple trick:

Just get started.

That’s the simple advice shared by our latest guest, Aaron Prather, R&D evangelist for FedEx Express, who is deeply passionate about both topics — and if you don’t believe me, just check out his LinkedIn. 

In this episode, we discuss:

  • The benefits of data collection, automation and robotics for your business
  • Why you don’t need to fear robots stealing your jobs
  • Why success in either involves getting started and employee input

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

PODCAST: The NFL Draft, The NBA Draft and … The Manufacturing Skills Draft? w/ Dr. Jason Scales

Jason Scales The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 60

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

You’ve probably heard about the infamous skills gap in manufacturing — a problem only made worse by the pandemic. 

It has the potential to affect our lives in profound ways; even our national security is at stake.

And if we expect to solve it, we need to get creative — like, say, starting a nationally-televised Skills Draft?

That’s one of the creative solutions today’s guest, Dr. Jason Scales, Business Manager, Education at Lincoln Electric, proposes to avoid the coming skills depression.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Why COVID widened the skills gap
  • What a Skills Draft is and why it could change the national culture around high-skilled employment
  • What manufacturers should be doing to help today’s youth get excited for — and see a viable future in — the industry

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

PODCAST: Why We’re Proud to Be Manufacturers & Engineers w/ Tony Gunn

Tony Gunn The Manufacturing Executive Podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 59

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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At first, his entry into the manufacturing industry was out of a need for survival. 

But it quickly grew into a passion to encourage those who want to become a better version of themselves to embrace the hope, pride and success to be found in manufacturing.

In this episode, I interview Tony Gunn, general manager at MTDCNC Global and founder and CEO at Your Tea of Life, about his amazing career trajectory from being kicked out of three colleges to entrepreneurship.

In this episode we discuss:

  • How manufacturing equips us to create our own futures
  • Tony’s discovery of his passion for learning and creating
  • Why manufacturing is such a welcoming and uplifting career
  • 3 stories about struggle, success and advocacy

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Diversity in the Manufacturing Sector w/ Andrew Crowe and Justin Sherman

Andrew Crowe Justin Sherman

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 58

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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The manufacturing sector is desperate for more diversity in gender, generation, race, ability and other underrepresented populations.

Quite frankly, the situation is dire. Your business won’t survive unless you create a more diverse and inclusive culture, both organization- and industry-wide.

In this episode, I interview Andrew Crowe, founder of the Elevate Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Justin Sherman, founder at Equity Machine Works SPC, about attracting young, diverse talent in manufacturing. 

Here’s what Andrew, Justin and I talked about:

  • The extreme numbers that show the need for diversity in manufacturing
  • The strong connection between culture and diversity
  • Strategies to attract young folks to a manufacturing career
  • What leaders of diverse teams should and shouldn’t do
  • First steps in how to grow a more diverse team

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Add a Powerful Human Element with Video Messaging w/ Ethan Beute

Ethan Beute The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 57

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Video messaging is not just a new technology to learn, it’s a way to connect with human beings that aligns better with how people prefer to communicate these days. 

It allows you to lead with your very best asset — yourself. 

In situations where face-to-face sales meetings are not always possible, recording a video allows others to take in your message when it’s convenient for them, builds a feeling of psychological proximity, and offers more personalized interaction than a wall of text. 

On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, we connect with Ethan Beute — chief evangelist at BombBomb, author, and host of The Customer Experience Podcast — and discuss all the ways in which using video messaging in your business can increase trust, make complex issues more digestible, and boost customer relations with humanization.

Here’s a sneak peek:

  • Getting into the routine of utilizing video messaging helps you develop a healthy habit of gratitude
  • A video message is the modern day handwritten note when used as a thank you or encouragement message
  • The Video Adoption Guide is the fastest way for you and your team to get going (and keep going!) with personal video messages
  • Overcoming the initial technology barrier can be challenging, so begin with simple, heartfelt messages like thank you, congratulations, and job well done 
  • Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience, by Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

PODCAST: Mining Customer Insights From Search Data w/ Derek Mabie

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 56

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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You know you need clearer insight into your customer to build better products or deliver more valuable services. One way to get that insight is by listening to your sales and customer service teams. What are they hearing firsthand?

But there’s another source of insight that you might not have thought about — search data. What can you learn from the words your prospects and customers type into Google or YouTube before they decide what to buy?

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, Derek Mabie, former president and partner at Evolve Digital Labs and founder of ClickScore.io, talks about how real human beings search for and buy products online.

Here’s what Derek and I discussed:

  1. What you can learn from the search confessional
  2. Tools and tactics you can use to process search information
  3. How to marry qualitative and quantitative data to get fresh insights

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

PODCAST: Problem-Solving Digitization w/ Adam Keating

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 55

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Manufacturing got left behind as the software industry progressed rapidly over the years. It’s time to catch up, and innovators like Adam Keating make it possible.

As the co-founder & CEO at CoLab Software, Adam embraces the engineering approach of problem-solving. His team enables 2D and 3D CAD collaboration which has changed the game for manufacturing businesses, especially in the last 18 months.

What we talked about:

  • Adam’s Hyperloop adventures and the emergence of CoLab Software
  • Manufacturing is catching up on the 20 year lead held by the software industry
  • Examples of businesses that are thriving since embracing collaborative manufacturing technology
  • Digitization strategy for the sake of it vs. the intent to solve tangible problems

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

PODCAST: Restoring Dignity and Glory to Manufacturing w/ John Kramer and Marc Braun

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 54

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Would you rather focus on people or profitability in your business? 

You can’t have it all. 

But maybe you can…

Maybe people and profitability go hand in hand, and each makes the other stronger. 

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, I talk with John Kramer, chairman & CEO at Cambridge Air Solutions, and Marc Braun, president at Cambridge Air Solutions, about what it means to restore glory and dignity to manufacturing through both culture and business practices. 

We also talked about:

  • How to build a culture that celebrates people
  • How profitability fits in with a people-first culture 
  • How to adapt to crises in a way that cares for people and drives business forward

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Deep dive: how to define marketing success as a manufacturer

I’ve worked with enough B2B manufacturers over the last 10+ years to say with confidence that most don’t really know how they should define “success” in marketing.

I’m also confident that this uncertainty stems from the fact that most of these organizations — whether they’re OEMs, contract manufacturers or distributors — are largely sales-centric organizations that haven’t historically invested much (if anything at all!) in marketing.

In fact, to many in this camp,  the word “marketing” is synonymous with trade show support, print ads, brochures and making the website look nice. So the idea that marketing could produce any kind of meaningful business result isn’t even on their minds.

Taking it a step further, those who do attempt to measure marketing success are usually dialed in on the wrong things — mistaking KPIs like Google rankings, traffic and “leads” for business outcomes.

So let me make this simple for you:

Marketing success = marketing-sourced pipeline.

If marketing is not contributing to meaningful business outcomes, why are we doing it at all?

In this video, I take you through the following:

  • Why your North Star success metric should be marketing-sourced pipeline
  • How to use marketing KPIs like the ones mentioned above in the context of the bigger business outcomes you’re trying to achieve (instead of using them as the end-all-be-all)
  • Why trying to measure everything often forces companies to make bad long-term decisions
  • What you should be doing during the first year to set yourself up for a marketing program that will source pipeline over the long term

PODCAST: How Technology is Changing the Manufacturing Game w/ Dr. John Mitchell

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 53

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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There’s this perception that manufacturing jobs are dirty and dangerous. 

But in the modern era of manufacturing, that perception is changing as jobs are becoming more and more rooted in technology.

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, I talk with Dr. John Mitchell, president & CEO at IPC, about the move from “dirty and dangerous” manufacturing to high-tech manufacturing. 

We also talked about:

  • How IPC is using education to transform the negative manufacturing perception 
  • How manufacturers can realize the benefits of AI
  • What manufacturers need to be thinking about when it comes to scaling
  • What’s going on with semiconductors right now 

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Subscribe to The Manufacturing Executive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

PODCAST: Manufacturing’s Past, Present and Future w/ Jim Carr

Jim Carr The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 52

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Remember fax machines? They were going to revolutionize the way we did business. Then came dial-up modems and email. Now, our customer gives us a CAD file. We can create a tool path in a snap.

Like technology, organizational culture has completed several revolutions in a single lifetime. The speed of those revolutions is increasing, and manufacturing transforms every five years. 

What’s coming next?

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, Jim Carr, president at CARR Machine & Tool, Inc., talks about how manufacturing is evolving in both culture and technology.

Here’s what Jim and I discussed:

  1. Jim’s family history in the manufacturing space
  2. The effects of culture and technology changes on manufacturers
  3. How to get everybody in your company working toward the same goals

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Perspectives on Automation, AI & the Future w/ Andy Lonsberry

Andy Lonsberry The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 51

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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If the Wright brothers lived in the 21st century, they might be the Lonsberry boys. Andy Lonsberry earned his Ph.D. by researching machine learning and artificial intelligence for bipedal walking robots. His brother focused on biologically spiking recurrent neural networks.

Together, they dived deep into allowing nonlinear systems to learn how to improve themselves. Then these two Ohio boys and their autonomous robot traveled to the west coast in search of funding. The trio came home with $15 million.

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, Andy Lonsberry, founder and CEO at Path Robotics, an AI robotics software company, talks about how the midwest houses the future of robotics.

Here’s what Andy and I discussed:

  1. How Path Robotics got its start
  2. Uncovering automation talent in the midwest
  3. How machine learning and AI are starting to change the manufacturing game

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Bring 5 Million Manufacturing Jobs Back to the U.S. w/ Harry Moser

Harry Moser The Manufacturing Executive podast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 50

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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If we want to balance America’s $800 billion trade deficit, we need to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. — 5 million manufacturing jobs to be exact.

The ancillary benefits would be enormous. We’d reduce CO2 emissions 40%-50%, slash the budget deficit, improve unemployment, and bolster national defense.

What’s stopping us? 

In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, talks about his mission to bring 5 million manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. 

Here’s what Harry and I discussed:

  1. Why the U.S. needs its manufacturing jobs back
  2. What Harry’s Total Cost of Ownership calculator can tell executives about the benefits of reshoring
  3. How reshoring can help eliminate the trade deficit 

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Filling the Skills Gap One Student at a Time w/ Matt Guse

Matt Guse The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 49

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Baby boomers are retiring. Manufacturing is booming in 2021. And emerging generations aren’t considering careers in the field. 

There just aren’t enough people to do the jobs that need to be done.

How will manufacturers fill the skills gap boomers are leaving behind them?

In today’s episode, I talk with Matt Guse, president at MRS Machining Company, about an actual manufacturing operation happening within the walls of a Wisconsin high school.

Here’s what Matt and I discussed:

  1. How Matt launched, funded and supported his competition
  2. The benefits of inserting a manufacturing operation into a high school
  3. Why interest in manufacturing has declined among young people and how to change that trajectory

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Measuring Marketing Success in Manufacturing w/ Joe Sullivan

joe sullivan the manufacturing executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 48

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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How do you define marketing success? 

Many manufacturing organizations are sales-centric. They may not even support a marketing department beyond a content team. Consequently, they don’t measure marketing success. 

But if you’ve taken things a step further, you’ve probably discovered how convoluted a measurement system can be.

In today’s episode, I, Joe Sullivan, share my thoughts about how to straighten out your marketing success measurement system. 

I dive into topics such as:

  1. Defining your terms
  2. Which KPIs matter most
  3. The danger of growing near-sighted with your marketing

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Working On the Business, Not In the Business w/ Paul Van Metre

Paul Van Metre The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 47

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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A lot of companies are started by people who are experts in their craft, but are not great at building companies. 

But how do you learn to let go of the day-to-day? How do you, as a founder, learn to focus on developing repeatable and scalable business processes in order to grow and scale your business successfully? 

On this episode of the Manufacturing Executive, I sit down with Paul Van Metre. Paul is the co-founder of ProShop ERP, and our conversation on this episode centered all around:

  • Why focusing on repeatable and scalable processes is the ONLY thing that’s going to grow your business
  • Why you should be working ON the business, not IN the business
  • The process of evolving from a machine shop into a software business

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

How commanding the sales CRM unlocks your marketing strategy

One thing that’s given me a lot of mileage in my career is my ability to work out of CRMs.

For many industrial companies, this is still a massive struggle. I’ve seen and worked with too many companies that have whiffed on the transition from opaque information on Excel spreadsheets to clarity on their revenue operation.

It’s not really anybody’s fault. Tech companies dump extensive systems in your lap. You don’t know how to work it. You put your IT guy on the case. He can certainly work in and around the platform but isn’t always business-minded enough to know what he should be creating for you.

Your marketing is no different when it comes to CRMs. For industrial companies pouring money into a CRM for the first time, the ability to have clarity on the effectiveness of your marketing is a major advantage to making smart decisions.

But where do you start?

This is where marketers and executives in manufacturing fall woefully short. Focused a lot on the content or the campaign and less on the conversion paths and the sales funnel. If executives want to truly see how effective their marketing is, and if marketers ever want to progress out of the marketing manager position to the director or VP level, your game in a sales CRM will need to raise up.

Fortunately, I’m here to guide you on just this challenge. While everyone has a variety of names for this (marketing-sales alignment, revenue operations, sales enablement, etc.), what it boils down to is understanding the mechanics of your sales motion and how marketing contributes to it.

Understand that, and then you’re able to back out the data and create real goals and key performance indicators for yourself.

I usually break this down into three parts:

  • Conversion paths (literally, forms)
  • Reporting and dashboards
  • Sales opportunity mechanics

Mastering these will give you a substantial leg up on your peers most of the time. 

Conversion paths

As an executive, something to keep in mind as you scrutinize or ask questions about your marketing:

Not all form submissions are created equal. 

Why? Well, a quote request or contact us submission will always hold higher sales-intent value than an ebook form or webinar registration. 

Two of those forms show a willingness to talk to a member of your organization, the others are people trying to educate themselves — partially about you but partially about a topic they feel deficient in.

Have empathy for that.

I want to focus on the sales-intent conversions. Here is normally the motion I see companies go through:

Production manager completes a quote form, asking about how your solution might fit on their line. Marketing passes it off to your territory rep. Your territory rep is in Salina, Kansas all day doing an installation or a presentation. Internet connection is non-existent. He sees the request come through when he gets back to his hotel at 6 p.m. Fires off a well intentioned but late email some seven hours later. And the person forgot they even asked for a quote in the first place.

This is one of those friction-killing scenarios I’ve watched play out my entire career.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

As a marketer, you need to own this as well. You should not allow more than an hour to pass before a 1-to-1 follow-up on a high-intent conversion. Ideally, you would even use a calendar app to let a prospect book time with you to discuss their specific needs. 

calendar booking appThat’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, however. Consider how consultative your sales process is. The more consultative and customized, the better a fit you are for a calendar booking tool.

Here are the questions that need to be asked and answered in regards to conversion paths:

  • What happens after a person fills out the form? 
  • Who owns it?
  • What does follow-up look like?
  • What is the follow-up timeline?
  • What are next steps after follow-up?
  • What’s the criteria for moving them to sales-qualified?
  • When does a qualified lead become an opportunity?

Document this stuff for your marketing and sales team. This should be part of any service level agreement your revenue team makes. 

You should know who is getting assigned the lead and what they are supposed to be doing upon assignment.

Have command over this, because this has consequences down the line as you get into reporting. Each of these three steps are made to build upon one another. 

Reporting and dashboards

Too many marketers struggle with reporting, and largely it’s because they try to make a mountain out of molehill.

Go for simplicity in your reports and dashboards. You likely only need to show your executive team about four or five reports to demonstrate your impact on the business. The rest can be qualitative. After all, you’re telling the story of your marketing’s impact, not just the data.

With that said, understanding the reports your executive team is looking at from a revenue standpoint will be a massive help to help you align your marketing strategy to their overall goals.

It’s the same if you are an agency. Align to the revenue goal, and let the goal drive the strategy and then the tactics.

Dave Gerhardt calls this the GST Framework — goals, strategy, tactics.

If you have not operated out of a sales CRM before (a la SalesForce), here’s a few things you need to identify quickly and why:

  • What data is being collected on the executive dashboards? Why?
  • What does pipeline and closed won look like last month/quarter/year?
  • What is the marketing- and sales-sourced breakdown of said pipeline?
  • What does the close rate look like marketing- vs. sales-sourced? 
  • What does marketing-sourced pipeline look like split by conversion?
  • How many quote (or demo) requests have you gotten the last 12 months? How many turned to deals?
  • What is the breakdown of direct/organic/paid opportunities?

There’s a lot to unpack here so I’ll start high level and work down.

The data collection is important because it deserves scrutiny. You should also identify in this reporting what marketing filters your executive team uses (i.e., deal source, etc.).

Scrutinize this. If they’re only collecting, for instance, website leads when you could segment further, you should provide that feedback and do a review of that data to get more granular insights.

Pipeline is self-explanatory, but let me state you should look at pipeline in a variety of ways to serve as a baseline and to help set KPIs. You should be breaking out pipeline by month, quarter and year so you can see where the marketing-sourced pipeline has been and where you need to be.

One month’s prior data doesn’t tell the story. One quarter prior doesn’t either. Not even one year! In totality, they all give you a barometer of where you should be aiming based on your company’s desired growth rate.

I would look at a month back to see how it stacked up with the lag of marketing activities. A quarter’s worth of data will tell you how a campaign has or is performing (or multiple campaigns), and a year tells you how the program as a whole is doing. Divide that year up by 12 and by four see how it aligns to your last month and last quarter. This will give you a good idea of where you need to prioritize things.

Close rates are where expectation setting takes place. Again, this largely depends on your organization:

  • Are you distributor-focused?
  • Do you have inside sales?
  • Full-cycle sales?
  • Is full-cycle sales in-house or remote?

All of these will impact positively and negatively close rates, along with a variety of other factors, such as the criteria by which you log opportunities and progress them through the funnel.

Split close rates by marketing- and sales-sourced. This will tell you what expectation to set for your executive team. If you see a large disparity between marketing- and sales-sourced close rates, dig deeper to see why that is happening. Is it a lack of resources on your end? Poor campaign management? Poor sales motion follow up? Is your strategy all wrong? This is something there’s no magic potion for, but scrutinize, ask questions and try new things to get a lift.

I look at sales intent conversion over everything else. Demo requests, quote requests, free trials and even contact us forms to me all hold higher value over a content download or a webinar registration. And that’s because that person is raising their hand and wanting to be contacted by your sales team (or wanting to use your product).

So track these against non-intent conversions. This is a process called splitting the funnel, and it’s eye-opening to see how high intent leads progress versus low intent. Look at the high intent conversions and track them using a funnel dashboard to see how many of those form submissions became deals versus content downloads. 

You’ll probably see a multiple greater efficiency tracking those high intent conversions through. That will inform your efforts greatly moving forward and tell you where to prioritize. But it’s also a baseline to let you know how many of those high intent conversions you need to produce the revenue metrics you’re scored on.

For instance, if you produce 12 quote requests per month, take 25% into an opportunity, and close 40% of those opportunities, this is what you’ll need to produce to hit a marketing-sourced revenue goal of $1 million if your product on average is $75,000:

  • 12 quote requests per month = 144 per year
  • 25% on average to deal = 36 marketing-sourced deals per year
  • 40% on average close rate = 14 deals closed per year
  • $75k average deal amount = $1.05 million per year marketing-sourced revenue

Track this in your reports. Dashboard this. Make sure your executive team has visibility on it.

And for gosh sakes, manage up here. Have command over what’s happening and be able to explain courses of action for when things aren’t firing on all cylinders and ways to pour gas on it when it is.

Master your sales CRM, and you can master your marketing metrics.

Knowing the breakdown of direct vs. organic vs. paid is simply a way to look at where to place bets. It’s not a teller of the entire story, however. Paid ads — be it Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube — all influence revenue in direct and organic channels. It simply isn’t something that attribution can cleanly capture. 

My suggestion is to do a simple line chart showing the amount spent in paid ads with the amount of pipeline generated. There should be correlation there within six months. But clean attribution isn’t something I recommend striving for or you’ll be biased towards decisions that may not serve your interest long term. Pay per click and paid social are completely different animals in intent and execution. In truth, you need both and an organic content arm. 

Sales opportunity mechanics

You may be shocked to hear this, but not every company has a great grip on their sales process.

example sales motion after a quote request form

Most reps hate SalesForce. Most reps don’t update it. Most reps don’t know or care about why things need to be logged or documented the way they are.

But you don’t have to fall victim to that if you don’t want to.

I like to understand the mechanics of a sales opportunity because it helps me understand how to market to a prospect before they ever are in an opportunity in the first place.

What you want to understand more than anything is the following:

  • What does each deal stage represent in the sales process?
  • What are the exit criteria from one stage to the next?
  • How are stage progressions documented?

If you sell multiple products or have multiple product lines with distinct ideal customer profiles, getting this information at a more granular level is even more important.

exit criteria for deal stages

One thing I recommend doing here if you have time is looking at each stage of the deal by product group if necessary and clearly defining with your sales team what exactly moves a deal from one stage to the next.

If, for instance, they need BANT (budget, authority, need, timing) known before doing an in-person visit, then you can help to establish that in the quote process — either directly on the form or in between the quote request and quote submittal via a follow up to establish some of those key pieces of information.

You can also frankly allow for your content to educate a prospect so ensure that a majority of prospects who come through meet that BANT requirement. That would mean writing content around pricing if you don’t have a pricing page already, discussing lead times very clearly and crafting a “who we help and how” page that will help weed out bad fit clients.

All that makes sure your lead flow and that first sales motion is more productive than not.

Why knowing the sales CRM matters

This is all about commanding authority and building trust and relationships with your peers. It’s easy to make content, run campaigns and stack low-intent leads without giving thought about where that translates downstream with revenue.

The difference between being in that leadership position with your marketing and constantly taking a backseat to sales is knowing how your efforts translate to revenue.

Without being able to command the sales CRM to tell the story of your efforts, you’ll be spinning your marketing wheels forever and not allow your program to take that next step toward getting more personnel, increasing budget and working as a revenue team with sales hand in hand.

Now go get that SalesForce license and start making it happen.

Ready for marketing to produce a real business impact?

If your sales CRM can’t capture a lick of your marketing’s impact on the bottom line, you my friend are not alone.

It’s simply a matter of knowing what metrics matter and which don’t. And trust me, there’s a lot of marketing metrics that don’t matter. At all.

And some of them are from the same marketing tech vendors that have been brainwashing you for years.

Want the truth served cold? Consider a Road Map with the Gorilla team. We start with a front-end content strategy and build the demand generation engine on the back of it, building your company’s brand and getting that marketing-sourced revenue engine purring.

And if you want, contact me anytime on LinkedIn. Happy to talk and dish on marketing and your business. It’s what I love to do!

Finish strong in the meantime.

PODCAST: Options for Ownership Transitions in Manufacturing w/ Chris Redmond

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 46

Listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Are you prepared to exit your company?

Many business owners haven’t thought about transitioning from their position of leadership. But it’s inevitable that you’ll hand over the keys to your business one day. 

When that day comes, will you know what your options are?

In today’s episode, I talk with Chris Redmond, senior vice president at Capital For Business, about transitioning ownership or leadership of an industrial enterprise.

Here’s what Chris and I discussed:

  1. Three different approaches to private equity investment
  2. How to differentiate your company for prospective buyers
  3. Where owners seeking outside investment should start

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Custom Machine Vision & Robotics Solutions w/ Jonathan Berte

Jonathan Berte The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 45

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Mass production alone is not enough. We all want customized products. 

Twenty years ago, it was easy. Educate your workers about your single, unique product. In a world driven to customization, however, no worker can learn 400 different products. No *human* worker, that is. 

But a digital worker might. Could robotic camera vision streams be the solution?

In today’s episode, I talk about building custom machine vision and robotics solutions with Jonathan Berte, founder at Robovision.ai.

Here’s what Jonathan and I discussed:

  1. His personal journey into the vision component of robotics
  2. How AI’s vision is advancing right now
  3. The most important applications of AI in the manufacturing process

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Building a Manufacturing Community Online w/ Sam Gupta

Sam Gupta The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 44

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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If you want to build thought leadership around a product category, you need to create a community. The longer your sales cycle and the more complex your product, the more critical your community.

But how do you build a community around your product and not around yourself?

In today’s episode, I talk about the keys to success on social media with Sam Gupta, host, community builder and founder at WBSRocks.

Here’s what Sam and I discussed:

  1. What an online community is
  2. Different platforms for building community online
  3. Focusing on your audience’s problems — not your product

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

What is in a voice: What ‘voice’ means and why companies care

This is the first in a four-part series on brand voice in the written word, audio, video and design.

Voice underlays the foundation of commercial communications. 

It guides the way writers engineer a message to impress upon the reader a desired perception of your company and products. 

People say Earnest Hemingway’s prose was terse, Robert Frost’s verses conversational and Truman Capote’s descriptions dazzling. But how would people describe what John Deere, The Korte Company and Zappos.com sound like, and why should they care?

Developing and consistently implementing a distinct voice can build unique connections with customers, fostering emotional incentives to buy your products and services like a child to a Happy Meal.

Consistent representation builds cultural persona

William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White define voice in their classic writing guide, “The Elements of Style.”

Writers, regardless of form or function, use language to convey something about themselves [your company] to the reader, such as their spirit, habits, capacity and biases.

A company’s voice shapes the culture audiences perceive them to have. That perception influences their predictions about what working with the company will be like.

As Ann Handley describes in “Everybody Writes,” a brand’s voice is an expression of personality [company culture] and point of view. “It’s a key differentiator for a company that takes the time to develop it. (And not many do. So you have an opportunity there!)”

Company character building

Before you open a new text document, ask, how do I want the reader to feel about my company after they read this? Next ask, what company traits can we convey to make them feel this way? Practically every stylistic choice can be based on these questions.

Marketers often reference the archetypal hero’s journey plotline, as implemented in stories like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” and “The Lord of the Rings,” all the way back to “The Epic of Gilgamesh.”

Companies position themselves as guides, helping the hero of the story [the customer] to fulfill their mission of solving a problem

But Gandalf was a lot more to Frodo than just a guiding hand. Characters need personality traits, core motivation, unique worldviews. Much of this is already spelled out in company mission statements and core values, but the challenge is to bring it all to life in every phrase you write.

Example: The Korte Man

One of our long-standing clients at Gorilla 76, The Korte Company, uses two words that guide how its messaging is crafted: sophisticated grit. This phrase permeates the spirit of everything the company puts out to the public.

This sophisticated grit is personified in a character I like to call The Korte Man — a persona loosely based on the values, attitudes and experiences of Ralph Korte, the company’s founder. Ralph was known for such quips as, “I’d rather drive nails than eat.”

The Korte Man is an encapsulation of Ralph’s hammer-swinging spirit. He wears a white helmet, dirty work boots and a button-up shirt with rolled sleeves. He sounds like Sam Elliot and his hands are rough like Paul Bunyan’s. He swings a hammer as well as he can read a blueprint. He’s the kind of leader his small army of subcontractors gladly follows, come what may.

This spirit was already present when G76 co-founder Jon Franko took on the account as its first copywriter. Gorilla 76 Content Director Toby Wall has helped develop it after he took over the account four years ago.

The Korte Man’s voice evolved from their print advertisements, where his terse, choppy style was well fit for the medium.

“Print is dead, but the voice has stuck,” Toby says.

Toby took The Korte Company’s voice from print advertising and helped apply it across all of the company’s messaging as its marketing strategies matured and its goals became more ambitious.

“[The Korte Man’s messaging] used to be all brand, all voice, all the time,” Toby says. “Now, by necessity, it’s hard facts, details, complex solutions to prickly problems, guidance the audience needs to make the decision that’s right for them. The Korte Man is still talking, but he has to talk about a lot more stuff.”

“Print is dead, but the voice has stuck.”

Composition of voice

In her essay “On Voice” from the collection “Telling True Stories,” journalist Susan Orleans breaks voice down into two basic components, pacing and word choice.

Pacing

Orleans explains properly manipulated pacing is a critical component of voice, used to subliminally alter the mood of a passage. 

Pacing can make or break a good joke as well as a dramatic scene. The rhythm of your words can build like a drum beat, each syllable another rap on the snare, raising the reader’s anticipation. Then, the punch line, perfectly timed. Maybe it brightens someone’s day. Maybe it breaks their heart. 

Think of the music that plays before the jump scare in a classic horror movie. That same tension can be portrayed through the length of sentences. Start with a long sentence like a violin crescendo slowly rises, building anticipation for an abrupt ending that releases the tension in a burst.

Consider how Edger Allan Poe’s “The Raven” uses pacing to add levity to the end of his passages, transitioning from a long sentence to a short, punchy, conclusive ending.

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

How does the impact change when the phrase is worded, “May I see Lenore? Quoth the raven, ‘You shall not see her anymore.’” 

Ending with the longer sentence reduces the weight and gives the phrase a more playful feeling than readers would expect from the likes of Poe.

Poe’s readers expect his writing to be on brand, and so do your customers. 

Your overall pacing speaks to the character of your company. Short, tight sentences indicate a professional, all-business manner, but it also comes off as stiff and unfriendly if the length of sentences isn’t varied to some extent. 

On the other hand, long, drag-on sentences can indicate that your company is unfocused, undisciplined and could be difficult to work with.

These literary principles are used in advertisements that cap off descriptive commercials with catchy one-line kickers like De Beers’ “A diamond is forever” or “America runs on Dunkin’.”

The Korte Man’s pacing is what I like to call “cowboy staccato.” Like John Wayne, he keeps things to the point. 

His rhythm has a horse trot quality: dadun, dadun, dadun. 

Infrequent incomplete sentences are calculated for effect — a tactic Toby believes is most effective when used sparingly. 

Word choice

Ahava Leibtag, author of “The Digital Crown,” recommends picking three or four adjectives that best describe how your company benefits every customer.

Does your company place more emphasis on being reliable or fast? The accompanying language reflecting those traits can be very different.

A company like online retailer Zappos places great value in being perceived as reliable and conscientious, while also wacky and fun. Everything you read from the company reflects that. 

So when a software glitch caused a major pricing error, their apology letter read more like a note from a peppy co-ed softball coach than a corporate apology by referring to the glitch as “our little hiccup.”

This playful, familiar voice is also present on the company’s job page, where little casual turns of phrase help applicants know what to expect when they apply to a position “in the ‘City of Sin.’ Yep, Las Vegas, Nevada.” 

The simple use of the term “yep” portrays the Zappos culture more effectively than most mission statements.

Using the right words is equally important as avoiding the wrong ones.

Using the wrong words in a social context can alienate potential customers. Implementing the wrong words on technical matters can leave customers feeling like you’re not the subject matter expert they need.

That’s why it’s important to use terms that express what your company has to offer within the language of the demographics in your customer profiles. Marketers may recognize this as the “voice of customer” model.

While many writing guides caution the use of colloquialisms, if the majority of your customers come from a particular region, culture or zeitgeist, using slang and phrasing that they identify with could make you stand out among competitors. However, don’t drown your prose in style at the expense of clarity and make your voice an annoying cliché.

Reading familiar language makes it more likely for people to identify with your content, relating it to aspects of their lives that go deeper than their job title, which will help instill brand loyalty.

For example, when The Korte Man “speaks,” you’ll hear about honesty and fair dealing. You’ll hear about working hard and giving back. When he says he builds for customers as if they were his own neighbors, he means it.

 

In other words, his fallback zeitgeist is Midwestern nice. But how does that square with the company’s national customer base?

Relating to the wider market

Making your company’s character unique yet widely relatable is a matter of good judgment and even better balance.

When writing for The Korte Company, Toby says it’s important not to overemphasize regional flair. As such, you’ll never see The Korte Man try to score points for style if he’s got something educational to say. He’ll speak in brass-tacks terms but won’t dumb down information because his audience includes facility managers and engineers responsible for multimillion-dollar projects. They know their stuff. 

Toby says that’s why, even though it’s so specific, The Korte Company’s voice nonetheless works across a wide audience. “If buyers don’t see themselves in the history or in the geography or the demographics, they do see themselves in the work.”

As a result, The Korte Company has earned its audiences’ respect; with his cowboy staccato, The Korte Man shows he knows his stuff, too.

In the long term, The Korte Man’s voice will come to mind the next time a regional VP of logistics needs to contract for a Design-Build distribution center erected with Tilt-Up concrete panels.

Listen to your customers

There are multiple ways to home in on the language of your customers, such as customer interviews and analyzing how consumers talk about your products on social media.

Consider the pace at which they write or speak and note recurring key terms, then reflect what you’ve learned in your writing. 

  • What problems are they attempting to solve when they consider purchasing one of your products and how do they talk about them? 
  • What emotional states can you expect of them during the buying phase? 
  • Do they readily recognize and refer to your brand names or do you need to be more generalized?

The mood of your reader will affect the words they connect with. An anxious person is more likely to respond to aggressive language. And a calm person will be more likely to respond to pleasant prose that doesn’t harsh their mellow.

Think about if your product is intended to solve a frustrating problem, meaning your buyers are probably not in the best of moods. Or, is your product something customers generally only consider when finances are in the black, meaning they may be in better spirits?

Brand positioning (snuggling into hearts and minds)

Everything consumers hear from your company affects how it’s positioned in their minds, whether or not it’s a part of your positioning strategy.

Al Ries and Jack Trout teach in “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” the concept of positioning yourself in a comfortable and familiar place within a customer’s mind. This allows your words to break through in an overcommunicated world and your product to stand out in an overcrowded marketplace.

Write to relate your product to something that potential customers already hold dear.

For example, “Tractors are green, cattle are black.”

It was penned by an agriculture equipment dealership and livestock genetics company formerly under the Sydenstricker’s Implements umbrella. 

Sydenstricker wants farmers to think of John Deere when they hear tractor and Black Angus when they hear cattle, just like people ask for “Kleenex” when they need a tissue. 

By leading with the general terms, those who have strong attachments to tractors and cattle are more likely to pay attention than starting with company-specific language like, “Syndenstricker’s sells green tractors.”

The slogan positioned Sydenstricker’s products deep in the mind by attaching their products’ physical characteristics with a widely familiar bit of poetry, “Roses are red, violets are blue.” 

While the slogan relates to a flowery poem, the language is direct and to the point, fitting for the personalities of many farmers and ranchers.

Everything consumers hear from your company affects how it’s positioned in their minds, whether or not it’s a part of your positioning strategy.

Spread voice across media

A single slogan can be forgotten, but the consistent feeling customers get when they tune in to your content won’t easily fade away. 

That’s why you need to expand your voice strategies throughout all of your company communications, internal and external, as well as maintain traits of this company character in every speaking engagement, web layout and multi-media project your company undertakes.

Not every medium will require the same stylistic choices. A white paper should inherently be a more straightforward voice than what would be appropriate for a sharable Facebook post, but it should still feel like your company character is behind every word.

They think about how your company character would phrase a message, rather than think in their own voice with their unique habits. This process can also be a useful way to solve writers’ block, Toby says, because team members can get out of their heads.

Consider putting together a company style guide with elements of the voice outlined so every team member has fast access to an essential resource that won’t be impacted by staffing changes.

In our next series installment, we’ll see how written voice practices apply to the spoken word. Many of the same principles and strategies can be carried over but need to be fine-tuned to fit the specific requirements of the medium, whether it’s podcasting or public speaking.

Build a chorus

While creating a consistent public-facing company voice is important, it shouldn’t limit the voices of your employees and subject matter experts.

Jon says the overall value of a company is supplemented by the unique perspectives and qualities of its employees, so their voices should be celebrated as well. 

The challenge for company leaders is adding all of the voices within a team to a chorus that creates a richer overall message. 

Encourage your team members to build upon the voice of your company by putting their own ideas and contributions on display in a way that supports your positioning strategy. 

Expand upon your company’s online learning center by having team members write about the challenges they’re experiencing and what new solutions could improve the lives of their peers and customers.

Develop your voice and put it to work

The ability to create a compelling company voice and then put it to work is an essential tool in any well-rounded industrial marketing toolbox.

When it’s sharpened up, you’ll be equipped to share what you know and what you do with a growing audience that feels a genuine connection.

And as your audience grows, so builds your pipeline.

PODCAST: Amplifiers of the workforce: The future of robots in manufacturing w/ Ryan Lillibridge

Ryan Lillibridge The Manufacturing Executive

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 42

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Robots have been around since Mamie Eisenhower presided over the White House.

But recent advancements in robotics have helped bring automated workers out of big automotive companies and into mainstream manufacturing.

Are the robots coming for your team’s jobs? How should manufacturers determine whether or not to add a robot?

In this episode, Ryan Lillibridge, director of business development at Mission Design & Automation, discusses the impact of robotics in the manufacturing sector.

Here’s what Ryan and I talked about:

  1. The biggest changes happening in robotics
  2. How to evaluate when adding a robot makes sense
  3. Are robots an opportunity or a threat?

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

PODCAST: Leading by Listening w/ Joe Molesky

Joe Molesky The Manufacturing Executive Podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 41

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Don’t think. Just make parts. 

Ever had a manager tell you that when you offered a suggestion for process improvement? 

Leaders’ words carry weight and affect people. They can affect how you think about your employer and even change your career forever.

In today’s episode, Joe Molesky, vice president of operations at MultiSource Manufacturing LLC, discusses why people feel the way they do about your company and the simple keys to changing it.

Here’s what Joe and I talked about:

  1. Why canned lean tools don’t work
  2. Listening to your customers and to your team
  3. What people-first leadership really means

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Creating a Well-Designed Sales Playbook w/ Kevin Roach

Kevin Roach The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 40

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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If you have a defined sales process, you’re ahead of 50% of the manufacturing companies out there. But without one, you can’t measure efficacy or deliver maximum value to your customers. Your organization will suffer.

Why is it so hard for manufacturers to draft a sales playbook? And what’s the right solution to this problem?

In today’s episode, I discuss creating a sales playbook for manufacturers with Kevin Roach, President at Harpak-ULMA Packaging

Here’s what Kevin and I talked about:

  1. Ways to align your sales process with the buyers’ journey
  2. Why OEE and TCO need to be part of the sales conversation
  3. How to overhaul the way you go to market with your sales team

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: The Brightest Generation: New Leadership in Manufacturing w/ Paul Brauss

Paul Brauss The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 39

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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The younger workforce in manufacturing is looking for more out of leadership. In particular, millennials want to know why the organization is doing what it’s doing. And they want a voice in their company’s continuous improvement.

How can we embrace the energy, curiosity, and brain power that younger members of the workforce are bringing with them?

In today’s episode, I talk about the generational transition in leadership with Paul Brauss, CEO Blue Line Technology and author of Dare to Improve Your Legacy. 

Here’s what Paul and I discussed:

  1. What the new generation of workers means for manufacturing executives
  2. How to move from top-down leadership to a team-centered approach
  3. Why a production plant is one of the single best marketing tools a company has

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Building Trust Through Webinars w/ Matt Sciannella

Matthew Sciannella The Manufacturing Executive Podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 38

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Audio is huge right now. Podcasts are part of that, of course, but so are webinars. The unique magic of the webinar lies in its interaction. Your viewers can ask questions or offer ideas during the event.

Most companies just use webinars to sell products. But if you create a webinar with no agenda other than helping your audience do their jobs better, you can win big in the long term.

In today’s episode, I talk about how to make magic with webinars with Matt Sciannella, thinker and strategy director at Gorilla 76

Here’s what Matt and I discussed:

  1. How your webinars could be capturing a larger market share
  2. What to do a webinar about
  3. Making the most of a digital live-event

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Not By Accident: Risk Management for Manufacturing Executives w/ Van Carlson

Van Carlson The Manufacturing Executive Podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 37

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Risk management isn’t an accident. If we’re going to survive, then we have to plan for unforeseen events. Like 2020… and 2021. 

But you can’t insure everything, and rate increases seem to be hardening. What can manufacturers do to manage risk more effectively?

In today’s episode, I talk with Van Carlson, founder and CEO at Strategic Risk Alternatives. Van brings to the conversation more than 25 years of experience in insurance. He focuses on solving client risks through risk alternatives and management. 

Here’s what Van and I discussed:

  1. What manufacturers can do about the increase in traditional insurance premiums
  2. How to prevent gaps in risk management strategies
  3. The risk management tools available to manufacturers

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Thinking like a Marketer: Reframing the Sales Mindset w/ Chris Luecke

The Manufacturing Executive Podcast Chris Luecke

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 36

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Manufacturers love trade shows. But for a year, we’ve had to do without them. Plus, shows may never come back the way they once were. How can manufacturers create content, build relationships, and generate leads without shows?

In today’s episode, I talk with Chris Luecke, podcast host and community builder at Manufacturing Happy Hour. Chris offers a full plate of both strategic advice and down-and-dirty tactics about how sales-focused organizations can think more like marketers.

Here’s what we discussed:

  1. Why videos and podcasts are great ways for manufacturers to build relationships
  2. How sales professionals can improve results with micro marketing
  3. Ways manufacturers can leverage LinkedIn in a meaningful and impactful way

Resources mentioned:

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The power of customer interviews (and how to conduct them)

customer interviews

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” – Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School

I was recently introduced to Tony Ulwick’s Jobs-To-Be-Done framework for customer research and man, did it strike a chord with me.

Building on Levitt’s quote, Ulwick says:

“Historically, the primary cause of failed products and services is a misalignment with customer needs. This is not surprising given that 95% of product teams do not agree on what a customer “need” even is.”

How often do we make assumptions about what our customers and prospects care about?

  • The problems we think they have
  • The goals we think they’re trying to achieve
  • The questions we think they need to get answered

What if instead of making assumptions, we created a deliberate process for learning the truth – and right from the mouths of those exact people?

This article is about customer interviews.

And the resulting benefits are plentiful:

  1. You’ll demonstrate you’re listening. People want to be heard, not talked at. By simply giving your customers a platform to talk, you’ll naturally deepen those relationships.
  2. You’ll gather market research. Speaking with a variety of individuals inside a particular customer segment will unearth trends in both customer needs and buyer behavior.
  3. You’ll impact product development. You can feed the insights you collect right back into R&D and start building what your customers actually want (instead of what you think they want).
  4. You’ll create a foundation for impactful content. The most effective marketing content is rooted in real-life pains, buying triggers, goals and questions of the people you’re trying to reach and influence.
  5. You’ll set the stage for case studies. These conversations will warm up customers to telling their success stories about the impact you’ve had on their businesses.

Below, I’ll start by elaborating on these benefits.

And then I’ll leave you with some advice from people much more experienced on this topic than me about how to conduct impactful customer interviews (and where to start).

As for those five benefits…

1. You’ll demonstrate you’re listening

“We tend to think that we’re perceived as smart by the things we say. But I think that even more powerful are the questions we ask, and how well we listen.”

These are the words of Dave Loomis, President of Loomis Marketing and an expert on “Voice of Customer” (VoC) work.

As a recent guest on our podcast, The Manufacturing Executive, Dave talked about how we sometimes default to “leading the witness.” We come into a conversation with a preconceived notion of what the other person is going to say. And we craft our question to get the answers we expect (or want) to hear.

Dave advocates leaving your questions much more open ended. Instead of saying, “I bet you’re having a problem with ___”, you can say, “Today I want to talk about ___.” And then you let them talk. Create focus on a topic, but don’t put words in their mouths.

When we give our customers an open platform to talk, not only do we demonstrate we’re listening, but we’ll naturally learn things we couldn’t have by making assumptions alone.

And these things will let us serve them better.

That leads us to benefit number two…

2. You’ll gather market research

Our strategist Grace Wright had the following to say when I asked her about her experience with customer interviews:

“I’ll give a lesson I learned from a recent customer interview I conducted for one of our clients.

My goal for the call was to answer this question: Are the statements listed in the persona documentation for this audience accurate?

After 30 minutes of active listening, I learned they weren’t quite right.

But more importantly, I gained a better understanding of what this audience DOES care about, what DOES keep them up at night and what DOES sway their purchasing decisions. He even gave us great insight into a particular product that would be a “gold mine” if we positioned it correctly to others in his role.”

Now think about the power of scaling that:

  • Talk to one customer, you’ll learn what’s going on in his or her head.
  • Talk to five customers in that segment and you’ll see some patterns emerge.
  • Talk to twenty customers in that segment and you’ll have a legitimate market research report.

One build before we go to #3. I got this one from Dave Loomis too…

Next time you go to a trade show (where hundreds of people in your target audience have congregated in one small area), how about conducting interviews right there on the spot?

Rent a suite at the hotel. Or better yet, do it right there at your booth.

These individuals may not be your current customers. But by course of these interviews, you’ll collect insights (and establish relationships in the process) that will make some of them future customers.

3. You’ll impact product development

The next three benefits, starting with this one, are natural byproducts of the first two:

Once you’ve collected real customer insights, now you can apply them.

For many manufacturing organizations, the Marketing team has traditionally been thought of as trade shows support, creators of nice-looking print materials and “the website guys” (I cringe as I write it!).

But when your Marketing team (whether that’s an internal person, group of individuals or agency) starts talking to customers, now they’re doubling as contributors to product development.

Remember Tony Ulwick’s quote from early in this article?…

“95% of product teams do not agree on what a customer ‘need’ even is.”

That’s a pretty darn risky game to play.

4. You’ll create a foundation for impactful content

We’ve long been advocates of content marketing at Gorilla.

And there are lots of great ways to develop content ideas that will resonate with your buyers. But none is more powerful than simply addressing the pains, goals and common questions of the people you’re trying to reach.

My all-time favorite marketing book is They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan. And frankly, the title says it all.

What questions do your buyers need answered during the buying process?

Now answer them!

In blog posts. In videos. In podcasts. In webinars. Choose a medium and just go.

The number of amazing content ideas you’ll have after five or 10 or 20 customer interviews will blow your mind. I guarantee it.

Oh, and remember Dave Loomis’ idea from earlier to use trade show for interviews?

Well, what if you put a mic and camera on those individuals?

It’ll cost you a couple thousand dollars to find a local videographer on Upwork. Or just your your dang iPhone.

Since I’m writing this in February of 2021 (still no trade shows on the horizon), Zoom will be your best friend on this front. You can do the exact same thing there.

Chris Luecke, creator of Manufacturing Happy Hour, describes how he does it in this short audio clip from our recent podcast episode:

https://manufacturingexecutive.sounder.fm/episode/thinking-like-a-marketer-chris-luecke?start=1387.00&end=1452.00

And while we’re on the topic of podcasting, how about doing what James Carbary advocates for in his book, Content Based Networking:

Interview your future customers. And turn those interviews into podcast episodes.

Now you’re building relationships with the exact people you want to do business with (and learning from them in the process).

5. You’ll set the stage for case studies

I got this one from our strategy director, Matt Sciannella.

Let’s say you start by interviewing five customers. I’d be willing to be that at least one of them loves you enough (and it’ll be clear from his/her words and tone of the conversation) to do a case study with you.

“We had ___ problem. And we were amazed by the way your team listened and then did ___ and ___ to solve it for us.”

You’ll use this preliminary customer interview to warm them up to the idea.

Set up a second call if they’re willing and have them break it down.

Matt will tell you:

  • A written case study is great.
  • An audio case study is better.
  • A video-based Zoom interview is phenomenal.
  • A video interview with a professional videographer is gold.

But start somewhere.

Watch the impact of that case study take root. Then reinvest.

How to get started with customer interviews

Two of our good friends at Gorilla – Logan Lyles of Sweet Fish Media and MJ Peters of Firetrace International (a first-class manufacturing professional) recently had a great conversation on the B2B Growth podcast.

In Logan’s interview with MJ, she described three different applications for what she calls “customer listening”:

  1. Deliberate customer listening. You’re researching customers for the first time
  2. Regular cadence. You build customer listening into your processes every day
  3. Experimentation. You take insights from your research or regular cadence and apply them to get a continuous feedback loop

Here are some key points MJ made in that conversation:

She advises that you create a “Customer Hypothesis” ahead of the interview:

  • Who is it we’re trying to sell to?
  • What are we going to learn about them?
  • And what are we going to do with that information?

She says to frame the conversation by saying, “I will not take up more than 20 minutes of your time.”

(Along the same lines, Dave Loomis will tell you to state directly that you promise not to sell in this meeting. Help them take their guard down. You’re there to learn).

MJ says to go track down five emails addresses from customers and send them a note like this:

“Hi, I’m just trying to learn more about this industry. I noticed that you’re an expert because I read X, Y and Z on LinkedIn. I’m not trying to sell you anything. Would you be open to talking to me for 20 minutes so I can learn?”

It’s that simple.

You can do this. Just start.

PODCAST: The Organizational Impact of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) w/ Luke and Joel Wittenbraker

Joel and Luke Wittenbraker The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 35

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Episode show notes

Every company has an operating system that determines how people solve problems, plan, prioritize, communicate, and measure success. Often, an operating system is inconsistent, though, leading to employee frustration and burnout.

In today’s episode, I talk with Joel Wittenbraker and Luke Wittenbraker. This father-son duo leads Mactech On-Site, one of the world’s foremost providers of on-site machining services, heat treating services, and stress-relieving equipment.

Here’s what we discussed:

  1. What The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) actually is
  2. The 6 pieces of the EOS pizza pie
  3. The biggest hurdle organizations face in the EOS development process

Resources‌ ‌mentioned:

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Human Input in a Data-Driven World w/ Martin Cloak‪e‬

Martin Cloake The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 34

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

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Does technology have to be all or nothing? Is it possible that in our increasingly data-driven manufacturing environment, we’re losing sight of the value provided by human input?

In today’s episode, I talk about those questions with Martin Cloake, CEO at Raven.ai. Martin is an experienced executive and award-winning technology entrepreneur with a background in manufacturing, data science, IT, and operations management. 

Here’s what we discussed:

  1. How Martin merged his varied background experiences to create Raven.ai
  2. Creating balance between data and human insight
  3. Real stories of how Martin’s clients blend the best of both worlds

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

PODCAST: Breaking the Stigma on Podcasting w/ James Carbar‪y‬

James Carbary The Manufacturing Executive podcast

The Manufacturing Executive: Episode 33

Listen to this episode here or on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher or Google Podcasts.

powered by Sounder

Episode show notes

Video- and- audio-based content humanizes the people behind the information. You can see someone’s face in a video or hear their voice in a podcast. They suddenly become a real person to you. Yet, manufacturing marketers are slow to embrace content that moves outside of print.

We’re missing out on a lot!

In today’s episode, I talk with James Carbary, founder of Sweet Fish Media and author of Content-Based Networking, about why podcasting creates powerful marketing experiences and tools. 

Here’s what we discussed:

  1. How audio content can humanize your company
  2. Content-based networking: how to reverse-engineer the exact relationships you want to develop
  3. Why podcasting is not all about audience growth (and what it IS all about)

To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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