Marketing for manufacturing companies is not an easy job. Traditional marketing methods focuses on the seller - what you have in stock, what you need to move, what’s been popular most recently, and where you think the buyers ought to be. While that method may work for some companies, manufacturing companies are a different case.

As a CEO, you have a specific way of looking at your company’s success. You see the big picture: where you are, where you’re going, and how you need to get there. That view hinges on the ability to look at each facet of your business and see the value it brings to your company’s bottom line. A data-centric inbound marketing strategy can give you the data you’ve been looking for from your marketing investments.

Sure, inbound marketing can be great for B2C companies. Creating interesting content for those companies is a great way to increase leads with consumers. But it’s just a waste of marketing dollars for your B2B manufacturing company… you’re looking to connect with other businesses, not people. Right?

Wrong. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

It's the first day of spring training for our hometown Milwaukee Brewers! As they start training for this year's April 3rd home opener and we dream of firing up the grills and the stadium filling with baseball fans from all over, we're drawing inspiration from Field of Dreams - you know, "If you build it, they will come."

SMarketing, sales and marketing alignment, is critical to your manufacturing organization’s success. Both teams are responsible for your company’s growth and success. Both can now be held accountable for their contributions to revenue, and the gap between the teams has closed. With sales and marketing working close together, it’s critical that they work well together.

Marketing attribution: the quest for information and data that allows marketers to pinpoint the assisting marketing messages, formats, and channels that lead a purchasing customer to their buying decision.

To optimize your marketing investment to get the best return possible, attribution is a priority. It’s the ability to analyze the data you have to differentiate how marketing techniques affect the sales cycle, which allows you to choose how to optimize across silos to improve the end result: your bottom line.

Marketing teams are under increased scrutiny today thanks to the advent of Big Data. Executives can analyze everything from overtime cost/benefits and depreciating machinery assets to the return on investment of a single employee to the advantage of healthy vending machine options versus junk food choices. It’s no wonder that business leaders are looking for better, more exact return analysis for their marketing budgets, as well.

As firearm hunting season in Wisconsin draws to a close this year, it’s got me thinking about all the preparation that goes into our hunt each year. From scouting, to outdoor video, to target practice, to building tree stands and setting up ground blinds, we spend a significant amount of time each year preparing for a potential shot. Why would we not spend just as much or more time making sure our website is also prepared for a shot - at a new customer? Just like our hunting preparations, preparing for a website visitor takes strategy.

Bow season is in high gear here in the midwest. The rut, the time of year when deer are most active, is in full swing, and bow hunters are scouting the woods for antler rubs, trail signs, and that elusive twelve-pointer (or sixteen-pointer!). Right now is the time when companies are setting their budgets for 2017. They’re most actively searching for solutions that fit their needs. Businesses with an inbound sales strategy have an advantage.

Your manufacturing business has a very specific audience. Perhaps your industry is incredibly specialized, and you only create your product for one specific purpose. Or maybe you’ve determined that your product has the most influence at enterprise-level companies where there is already a demand. Whatever the audience looks like, they have some demands of you; are you meeting them in your marketing?