Here's Why Brand Marketing Is Important For Manufacturers

While most manufacturing companies in India still rely on direct sources of business such as dealers, trade shows, word of mouth and referrals to attract new business, the industry is in the midst of a sea change across the world.

Like with most other verticals, the availability of vast amounts of information online and the logistical convenience brought by the internet are changing the way industrial products are being bought. Procurement teams on the customer side conduct vast amounts of research - mostly online - before settling on a brand and product.

Without a significant brand presence, you’ll soon find yourself struggling to catch up with the competition and the new norm around the world.

We’ve compiled 4 reasons there must be a branding strategy for industrial products:

• 1. It shortens the buying funnel for your company

  In the manufacturing industry, the customer is not just a company but a set of people following an in-depth research and procurement process. Branding campaigns help increase recall and consideration, so your brand has to work that much less harder to convince customers during the research phase.

  Fun fact: Most of the research conducted by procurement teams is done online today - according to a BCG report published in 2019, 88% of industrial buyers performed some sort of online research prior to purchasing.

  Running online brand campaigns and having a robust social media presence will help increase your audience base whether they’re currently in the purchase funnel or not, giving you a strategic position long term.

• 2. It helps you gain an edge over the competition

  Industrial products are an offering that aren’t necessarily completely different from your competitor’s products, posing a difficult choice for customers without previous experience with either or in-depth data.

  The reviews & ratings universe around industrial products is still being built online - it’s nowhere near as active as what we see in the e-commerce industry. In such a case where customers don’t have access to thousands of reviews and won’t necessarily benefit from them unless the use-cases are exactly alike, brand impression plays one of the biggest roles in helping your company and products stand out from the competition.

• 3. Emotional Connection With Customers

  The goal of successful branding in any vertical is to help create an emotional connection with your customers. In an industry such as manufacturing, with stringent rational guidelines and parameters for purchases, that emotional connection is not to be underestimated - it’s one of the most effective ways to create a slight favourability for your brand in the minds of customers as they conduct online research, evaluate finances and long-term impact.

• 4. Direct Selling To Customers

  Once your brand establishes a strong connection with customers, you don’t have to rely on traditional marketing channels solely. If you have strong brand recognition, you can skip the middlemen and sell directly to consumers. Industrial internet marketing is a more and more popular way to increase your profit margins and also help you reach a larger audience base.

To more effectively establish the brand online, integrate it into month-on-month content marketing strategies and social media strategies to ensure a consistent effort towards your brand propagation.

Convinced about the benefits of branding to manufacturers? Let us help you get started. Our growth-focused digital strategies have been instrumental in building great brands across various industries. For a comprehensive brand strategy for your manufacturing business, get in touch with our growth experts today.