There’s a ton of reasons to swing into the drive-thru and grab yourself a quick bite of a seasonal McRib sandwich. You’re thinking about the "right now"… the fact that you didn’t plan for your meal and that you want to fulfill your immediate goal of food in your belly. But, think about this… what do you actually prefer?  The fast food or a slow cooked, juicy, healthy, delicious pork tenderloin?  If you are willing to invest a little bit more, including time, into what was going into your face, you could have been able to be dining on some delish healthy option. Also, the food would be much more beneficial to you in the long run and I guarantee – much more worth the investment.

It’s not a secret or surprise anymore… video is the NOW of digital marketing. And, good news for you, if you’re trying to market a complex or customized manufacturing product or service, doing so with video gives you a bunch of advantages... and, it doesn't have to be as hard as you think.

Pause and think about this…

What do you think “BRANDING” is?

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.