Manufacturing, the backbone of the world economy, is always neglected in B2B conversations. This is a gross misservice. Let’s rectify that.
Manufacturing is arguably the largest B2B market there is, connecting every other business- whether they know it or not.
The manufacturing industry is valued at ~$14 trillion, leagues ahead of SaaS and AI. And yet, it is one filled with marketing errors and irrelevant knowledge.
The stats make it evident just how ineffective marketing as a function is for manufacturing, even when the opportunity to target new segments.
It isn’t data-driven and is not connected to the buyers’ journey. But the major problem isn’t one of these things, but rather online content treating manufacturing as the same as other industries. It is not.
A vital problem that manufacturing faces, which its marketing has to understand, is disruption, because it’s this message that will resonate with its core buyers.
Let’s explore what that means.
What is lead generation in manufacturing, and why is it important?
This is for all the folks who aren’t in the know, but lead generation in the manufacturing industry is the marketing practice of showing up where your potential buyers are, communicating value to them, acquiring their data, and convincing them to buy your service or product.
One such example is the TSMC, a silicon manufacturing plant that will market its products to the AI and computing sectors, retain the information, contact them again, and convince them to buy through outreach and sales.
Just like all lead generation initiatives, manufacturers have to: –
- Define their ICP
- Understand their buyers’ pain points
- Position themselves as a solution
- Create and distribute the marketing message
- Generate inbound traffic and an outbound list.
- Make the sale.
That is essentially all manufacturers have to do.
Why is lead generation important in manufacturing?
Okay, this is where everything differs from other lead gen initiatives. In recent years, the SaaS industry has had to wake up to the buyers’ longer cycles. After all, businesses hit by COVID-19 have become risk-averse.
But manufacturers have been dealing with this for a long time.
- Buying cycles that take 18-24 months.
- Delays from compliance, legal, and procurement
- Custom Specifications and meeting these requirements.
- Supply-Chain disruptions
These challenges are as abstract as they come and affect manufacturers on a large scale. And this is a vendor-buyer problem- both of them face it and become wary of changing existing vendors they have trusted for years.
It’s a basic principle: if something isn’t broken, don’t fix it. And it’s this attitude that keeps buyers from switching- even if their current solution isn’t the best one.
Lead gen helps you penetrate this thinking through consistent marketing messages; it gives vendors leverage by empowering them to assess the cost of not switching.
Strategies to generate high-quality leads in manufacturing
Manufacturers have to deal with content online that basically tells them to do all the basics of lead generation, missing all the crucial points to consider.
Of course, it’s easy to say, “Improve your marketing messages,” rather than telling you how to do it. There are a lot of how-tos on the topic of improving marketing messages, but there aren’t many that will help you actually put that into practice.
Marketing teams don’t need how-tos beyond ‘How to use GA4 to set up a funnel or customized goal’. That is what how-tos are for.
Marketers need methods to do what they do best: be analytically creative and target segments. This is our shot at those methods, tailored to manufacturers by leveraging the context of manufacturing.
These strategies are for leaders in manufacturing to improve the quality of leads. So it will be specific to their context.
Turn Supply Chain Chaos into Buyer Confidence
Manufacturers face a crucial problem- supply chain disruption, and the solution to this problem is gargantuan. A lot of goods get stolen, or there is a lack of inventory.
These are problems as old as export and import.
But what does that have to do with lead generation? The answer is simple- your buyers are expecting disruption, and they won’t be buying from you immediately. You need to build a relationship with them before you engage them in selling.
Your marketing and your own supply chain must understand their problems and address them through the marketing messages- making them feel heard and seen. You needn’t promise to change their supply chain, but position yourself as someone who knows this and has safeguards in place.
This type of messaging will help you gain an edge over your competition.
Winning Over the 11-Person Buying Committee
Manufacturing has a long sales cycle, and there are two reasons behind it: changing vendors is risky, and that risk gives rise to the buying committee of 8-11 buyers. (This has become the norm for all B2B buying.)
These are leaders from departments like engineering, quality, operations, finance, legal, supply chain, their shipping agency, and more.
Each of them cares about different problems, and your marketing message must reflect that- for example, a leader in finance doesn’t care about whether your product is the best or if you can manufacture 100 units of parts.
They care about the cost of each part, the delivery cost, whether you’re insured and can mitigate damage, and if the goods are damaged, what the replacement will look like.
The finance leader will look for financial security and accountability. How will you reach them with your marketing?
This part also includes identifying decision-makers and drip-feeding them with personalized messages, outreach, or otherwise.
Why Your Marketing Must Speak the Language of Disruption
As vendors, your marketing must understand one thing: your buyers cannot afford to lose shipments.
That’s a core reason why so many of your buyers are risk-averse. Loss doesn’t just mean loss of the products but loss of the promise to their buyers. If the vendor they switched to can’t make the best on their promise, what would happen to them?
The leader who hired the vendor would be at best under scrutiny for their tenure and at worst, fired.
These realistic scenarios are often excluded from marketing planning. So you must ensure your messages acknowledge disruption and take time to explain how you integrate disruption into your processes.
This is the closest thing we can give as a hack. Many manufacturing vendors’ marketing messages don’t include this acknowledgement of disruption.
You can leverage it to elevate your messaging and build trust by making your buyers feel you are transparent with them. This could happen by explaining how you take care of things, which, as a manufacturer, is a prerequisite.
Turn Product Wear-and-Tear into a Trust Advantage
Your buyers are acutely aware of the physical product’s obsolescence- manufacturers and their buyers dread this stage of the product, where wear and tear take hold. There is usually a trade-off between cost vs. the product’s life.
And this is where marketers can capture manufacturing sales leads by simply addressing this pain point and comparing how your product, supply chain, and manufacturing process handle obsolescence.
This step has to be transparent. You can do this through whitepapers and case studies or your engineers’ field notes.
When buyers know that they are buying not just a product but a guarantee compared to their alternative, that will get you to the table.
And that is the crux of all lead generation.
How to Turn Risk into a Lead Magnet
We get it. These methods are more about positioning yourself, and this is what is missing from most manufacturing-facing content. A lack of awareness of what works.
To use these methods to generate leads and sales, you must understand that your buyers are looking for markers of trust. Trust that will be generated from preceding marketing efforts.
Yes, manufacturing is colossal, but so are its problems.
Loss of jobs, unskilled workers, slow digitalization, and cost of raw materials are all pain points that vendors solve but seldom mention.
It’s like sitting on gold and never cashing it.
The method is simple: don’t do what the rest of the industry is doing. Your case is unique, and it operates on a different methodology.
Think of it like this: when has a SaaS marketer had to worry about a ship’s mooring line breaking and cutting a sailor apart? But you do.
And your messages need to reflect that; that is the point of the strategy. To understand just how different the industry is.
When you consistently put out messages that reflect reality, you will get leads that articles like ‘inbound marketing tips for manufacturers’ won’t be able to tell you.
How can they? They don’t know your industry. You do.
Don’t Copy SaaS, Market What Makes Manufacturing Different
Generic advice on marketing is not something you need. Yes, the B2B marketing scene is favoring SaaS because that’s where the tech market is- it’s easy to digitally market to people who expect everything software.
The real challenge lies in the messy reality of manufacturing, and it is a real one.
To gain their trust doesn’t mean to talk about benefits or value, but to prove that you won’t be the one who puts them under. You and your buyers have to think about things that involve lives- what happens when a plane crashes and your piece is the one responsible?
That’s what you, as a marketer and leader, are dealing with. But you don’t have to do it alone. A partner can help make the journey easy.
And we, at Ciente, get that.
Lead gen isn’t easy, and it doesn’t have to be. But you can save time and cost and do the things you do best: becoming a trusted vendor.
