Are traditional sales tactics missing your target audience? In today's digital age, relying solely on trade shows, cold calls, and direct sales is no longer enough. Buyers rely on the internet for their research, and your website is crucial in capturing their interest. However, many businesses still treat their websites primarily as online brochures. Your website must be more comprehensive to engage your audience and drive business growth. Here are some key strategies to transform your website into a powerful marketing tool that meets your customers where they are.
The Decline of Traditional Selling Methods
Traditional selling methods, like trade shows and cold calling, are becoming less effective in reaching today's buyers.
Trade shows are still valuable for networking and showcasing products, but they're no longer an effective way to connect with potential buyers. With only 46% of attendees visiting more than one trade show per year and a growing number reporting low-value leads, it's clear that trade shows should be part of a broader marketing strategy.
Cold-calling success rates have plummeted to just 4.8%. Think about it: Do you filter spam calls? Do you enjoy unsolicited calls? These methods are time-consuming and often yield minimal returns compared to digital marketing options.
As these traditional methods decline, embracing digital marketing strategies is crucial to engage potential buyers effectively.
The Rise of Digital Marketing in Industrial Purchasing
Before we discuss how to modernize your marketing, let's quickly cover why it is important. You need to meet buyers where they are. Historically, trade shows were the prominent venue, but now it is in the online space.
Recently, we conducted a survey of industrial purchasers to learn firsthand how they make decisions. The survey revealed that 75.5% of buyers use internet searches, and 76.2% rely on recommendations to find new suppliers. The digital landscape is where connections are made.
This is shaped by buyer behavior, which has shifted significantly. Now, 70% of buyers fully define their needs before engaging with a sales representative. This means having a robust online presence is crucial to effectively engaging potential buyers. However, building a robust online presence to engage buyers does not end with your website.
There are 5.04 billion active social media user identities worldwide. Every day, people are spending an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes on these platforms.
To meet buyers where they are, businesses must insert themselves into their daily digital paths, ensuring they are visible and engaging at every touchpoint. This means ranking for relevant search terms that people are searching for and leveraging social media to stay top-of-mind.
How To Build a Robust Online Presence
A robust online presence is crucial for engaging today's industrial buyers. This means having a well-designed website, active social media channels, and engaging content that resonates with your audience.
Website
Your website should be more than just an online brochure. It’s a vital tool for providing valuable information and engaging potential buyers. Our research shows that two out of three respondents rate the importance of a website at 8 or higher on a scale of 1 to 10. Additionally, 81.1% of decision-makers seek product and technical information, 60.8% look for application information, and 53.2% value testimonials and case studies.
Action Steps:
- Evaluate your website’s home page. Does it tell the right story? Does it speak too much about your business while leaving out key information your audience is looking for?
- Consider adding a knowledge center to your website. Identify questions your audience might be asking and build blogs, FAQs, videos, or manuals to answer them.
- Leverage any case studies or client testimonials you have. If you don’t have any, it’s time to work on pulling some together.
Social Media
Social media is a powerful channel for connecting with potential buyers. LinkedIn stands out, with 60.1% of buyers using it to evaluate suppliers, according to Strativise research. Only 23.8% of respondents in our survey did not use social media for this purpose, meaning over three-quarters rely on these platforms to make decisions. Knowing people are turning to your company’s LinkedIn, you must ensure you create valuable, insightful content for your audience.
When a CEO is active on social media, 70% of consumers feel more connected to the brand. Additionally, when employees are engaged with the company online, 72% of consumers feel more connected. Ultimately, 76% of consumers are likelier to be chosen over competitors.
Action Steps:
- Make sure you have up-to-date social media profiles, including relevant company and product information.
- Revisit the questions you developed for your website content. Use these to guide strategic content development for your social media. Focus more on answering the questions and less on promoting your products or services. Remember that your potential customers are using social media to evaluate your company.
- Sit down once a month and build content for that month. Batching content makes you more likely to keep your social media active.
Search Ads & SEO
While we advocate for working on organic search, investing in search ads is also essential to ensuring potential buyers can find you easily. These ads help you get found by the people who are searching for what you offer.
Effective SEO strategies further enhance your online presence by optimizing your content, making it easier for people searching for your services to discover and connect with you.
Action Steps
- Explore Google’s Skillshop to learn the basics of running ads.
- Set up a Google Ads account and connect it to your website. Start by running basic search ads to a product page or your home page.
- As you start to get the hang of it, consider building a specific landing page to help guide your customer through their buyer’s journey.
- Conduct keyword research to identify the terms your target audience is searching for. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush.
- Optimize your website and content for these keywords to improve your search engine rankings. This includes on-page SEO techniques like meta tags, headers, and content optimization.
Leveraging Your Online Presence To Meet Your Customers Where They Are At
Staying the same is no longer an option if you want to keep getting in front of your potential buyers. Today's buyers are no longer browsing trade shows; they're browsing the web. This shift means your digital presence is more critical than ever. Evaluate your online footprint: Is your website more than an online brochure? Are you active on social media, particularly LinkedIn? Do you use search ads to stay visible at the top of search results?
You need to address these topics to stay relevant and find leads. Begin by developing a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to focus your marketing efforts. Understand your buyer's journey and craft a seamless experience that guides them from awareness to decision. Create a unique and daring brand that sets you apart, and produce targeted content that meets your audience at various points along their journey.
Train your sales team to effectively engage with digitally informed buyers, equipping them to handle new interactions. Refining these aspects will build a solid digital presence that attracts and converts potential buyers. Staying ahead in the modern industrial market requires embracing these digital strategies.
Are you curious about what else our report taught us?
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