3 Reasons You Need a Digital Marketing Strategy Now

Modern manufacturer marketers often find themselves stuck in the same marketing rut: trade shows, trade publication ads, brochures, and product sell sheets.   Sometimes, the marketing is done by the sales team with just a few brochures and a trip to the annual trade shows where you put up the same booth you’ve been using for the last ten years.

If this sounds at all familiar to you, you have my condolences. Running the same general marketing campaigns with different products and the same strategies you’ve used for years can make your work feel stale.

But there’s something you can do to make your marketing efforts fresh, energize your B2B campaigns, and rejuvenate your team while funneling new leads into your sales pipeline.

It’s time (actually, it’s a little past time) to implement a digital marketing strategy.

“No,” you might be saying. “Our industry doesn’t do the online thing.”

Let’s dive into the reasons why that might not be true and why you need to move forward with a real online presence now.

People Are Searching Online.

I don’t care what industry people are in. They are turning to Google to find the answers. As of October 2023, 5.3 billion people worldwide have access to the internet, that's two-thirds of the world's population. According to Salesforce, 72% of B2B researchers start their research online. McKinsey reports that B2B decision-makers use more channels (10) than ever to interact with suppliers. Animoto says that four times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.  

Truth is, people are looking for information online. They are seeking answers to their problems. If your products or services provide the answers they’re seeking, you need to have a digital presence.

A Website Alone is Not Enough

“Oh, we have a digital strategy. Take a look at our website!” A website is a terrific start but it isn’t a digital strategy. There are a few facts you need to know about websites:

• Websites must be mobile responsive. Google says that more searches take place on mobile devices than on desktop computers. Therefore, they’ve added an algorithm that penalizes your company if it isn’t mobile-responsive. That means your website won’t show up in mobile searches.
  
  
• 67% of searches are 3-5 words or longer. Your website alone is not enough to address long search terms. You must be developing content like blog posts, videos, downloadable white papers, and tip sheets to show up in more online searches.
  
  
• White space is good. Many businesses try to crowd as much information as they can on their pages. But white space helps your readers process your page more efficiently. Instead of fitting more information on one page, use hyperlinks to direct people to other areas on your site that may be valuable.
  
  
• Websites that don’t add new information attract fewer repeat visitors. There isn’t a reason for your prospects and customers to come back to your site if you aren’t adding new information. And if they aren’t coming back to your site, what other sites are they visiting?

You Need to Know Your Prospects

If people who visit your website just come in and browse but you don’t know who they are, how will you find out what they need? By allowing them to interact with your site and leave their contact information in exchange for downloading a white paper or a tip sheet, you can learn more about them. And the more you learn, the more you’ll know what they need. Then you know how you can help them. And your sales team will have a fully qualified lead!

A digital marketing strategy encompasses many things that help support all the traditional marketing tactics you’ve been implementing for years. By adding blogging, social media, ad retargeting, email campaigns, and more, you’ll revitalize your marketing efforts and better engage your customers and prospects. A better engagement is exactly what leads to higher sales.