When engineers are your target audience, you know for sure that all you do must be fact-packed and on point. Handling a B2B consumerism structure is definitely different from a B2C customer journey, since it requires a more cohesive plan, a more narrow USP, and stronger trust. On one hand, you don’t need to spend your energy on pretty “unicorn and rainbows” content to appeal to your customer, but on the other hand, it might cause you some time (and nerves) to find the best working channels that will grow your business.
64% of engineers consider social media inefficient and therefore they don’t spend much time on it. But it doesn’t mean that they don’t use it at all. Moreover, thanks to new technologies, digital marketing is now worth more than just a ‘social’ media. Just like IT and computing tech, digital marketing is merging and using AI more to its favor to create relative algorithms that will help its audience achieve more exposure, engagement, fame and popularity, and even leads. I mean why else would ‘Digital Nomads’ be a trend now? Because it’s effective! And it generates active revenue!
Why Should An Engineering Company Invest In Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing strategies are a great way to engage with engineering clients, build stronger relationships and establish a company’s authority in the market. Especially when other competitors are saving up in marketing.
Surely you need to build Trust first, and THEN you can boost your sales. It’s dictated by the special characteristics of the target audience: engineers are busy, logical people. They value their time, and are looking for specific and useful content for their niche.
Modern era of digitalisation and automation leaves people no choice but to use the internet to look for the right information. No matter how conservative some engineers may be, they use the internet way more than we think for various purposes. The internet is eventually also where they find exposure for their papers, inventions, foundings, hypotheses, and even experiments and collaborations.
Where you find a community, you find opportunities to network. And networking is the only way to build a strong B2B brand awareness and lead generation. Networking is a slow, subtle, but strong way to build relationships with other professionals. Since engineering is considered a narrow niche in digital marketing today, you’ll see top companies on social medias and SERPs.
You may have heard of Siemens, GE, ACS, Hitachi, Honeywell, Bosch and many more. These are generational companies that have built their reputation through networking, quality customer service, and lastly, adaptability to the modern trend. This includes digital marketing and PR.
The good news is that YOU can use digital marketing to your benefit. And you can start today! Whether your goal is to create a strong online presence by showing up in the first page of Google search results, establish a clean and authoritative website, or even a marketing campaign or even press release. Everything is possible! Check out how engineering companies can also generate sales through blogging here!
5 Marketing Strategies To Grow Your Engineering Business
There are various Digital marketing strategies and tools you can use for your business. The truth is, however as you know, there are 6 major branches of engineering and over hundreds of different subcategories.
With that being said, there is no thumbnail rule or fixed formula for all engineering companies. Understanding the specific category of each engineering business will give you an understanding of where you can find your audience. Whether it’s through commercial ads, organic blogs, google ads, cold/warm outreach, event expo, or others.
Here are 5 best strategies for your engineering company. To consult on a specific subcategory strategy – please email us here for a free consultation and make sure to state your industry.
- SMART goals
When I get on calls with prospects or clients, I never really ask them HOW I can help them. Instead, I ask questions that help clarify what they WANT, and what their main objective is. The reason for this is because most of the time, people don’t actually know what they want!
You have to know WHAT you want to achieve with digital marketing and WHY, to create the best strategy. These are important questions to ask yourself before working on a more detailed strategy. Using digital marketing tools without seeing a clear direction of where your company is moving to would lead you to nothing but a waste of time, money, and effort. And what’s worse… No results.
Know your goals, and make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-specific.
- Strengthen your online presence
4 billion people are using the Internet right NOW. They are browsing, liking, commenting and sharing someone else’s content while you’re still hesitating to start your digital marketing. Ouch. Well, your loss!
Whatever your marketing goal is, you cannot achieve it without a strong presence in the online realm. As Mark Zuckerberg and the ex-Facebook team are working on creating the perfect Metaverse, you’re still stuck on paper flyers and word of mouth. Waiting for leads to flow in at the most unexpected time…
Have you ever thought what it would be like if you knew a way to get more clients, generate more revenue, in a predictable, strategised, proven, and effective way?
Why limit yourself with the belief that digital marketing doesn’t work for engineers, when the fact is: 76% of engineers found relevant and relatable content for their business via Google. Statistics show that engineers watch videos, listen to podcasts, and read newsletters – just as much as other internet users do. Our work is to find what content they prefer and what keywords they’re most likely to use and search.
When it comes to an engineering company, omni-channel marketing isn’t a dead formula, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn and duplicate from a proven system.
Keep in mind, 51% of engineers prefer to do their research online prior to buying or engaging with other businesses: be there for them to offer what they need before other competitors snatch the opportunity!
- 89% of engineers are subscribed to at least one e-newsletter. They prefer reading useful content related to their work and trends in the market. You can read more on how to write a convertible newsletter here..
- 73% of engineers listens to industry-related podcasts. It’s not a secret that more people prefer to listen and digest audio information compared to long-form copies and white papers, as it saves more time and allows them to multitask.
- The content you do should be search engine optimised (SEO). This way you will secure your way to the first pages in the most popular search engines. Obviously it’s easier said than done, but with the right expert, you won’t even have to lift a finger. Let them do the work!
- Pay-per-click will allow your company to expand. Advertising your company based on keywords your target audience is using. It might be challenging to do without the proper tools, but as soon as your buyer persona knowledge is improved – it should be a smooth sail.
- Engineers rate YouTube, LinkedIn and GitHub as valued sources, which is another proof that engineering companies shouldn’t neglect using social media as one of their digital marketing channels.
- Keep your website modern. Consider it your online office: who would love to engage or buy something in the dirty and half-damaged office room? Same with the website: make sure it’s updated, convenient to use, easily navigated, and contains relevant information that your audience would ask. Just enough to bait them in, and inquire for more info.
- Produce High-Value Content
Relevant content is crucial for engineering companies’ marketing success. Engineers just won’t read or watch if the content does not answer their needs directly. Here are some statistics on what content is most valued by engineers, provided by GlobalSpec and TREW Marketing:
Source: trewmarketing.com
- Use Sales And Marketing Together
Nowadays, modern technologies allow us to see which marketing strategies are best performing in terms of sales: promotions, special offers, packages, etc. You can also monitor the most efficient channels and tools that lead to higher sales conversion. We recommend integrating your sales CRM and marketing automation and system to improve the process of establishing new strategies for your growing engineering business.
- Monitor The Process And Analyse The Data
Data is a focal and crucial point. It’s essential to gather it and collect it in the most structured and organised way. With the help of your data and its analysis, you will be able to understand your clients better, thus providing them with more relevant content and services.
Creating an automated system for your marketing processes is ideal, common, and the most effective way to generate leads and build a legacy for your brand.
AR & Associates have helped IT, Engineering, Automation, and Energy companies all across Australia to generate leads, increase brand awareness, maintain reputable PR, as well as increasing sales.
We focus on helping you spend less time in marketing, and more time serving your customers. Leave the matter to the respective experts. As engineers ourselves, we understand the core values and importance of marketing through trust and reliability.
We provide a full tailor-made solution that helps you build your company to the next level through digital and on-site marketing. With expertise in organic omni-channel marketing and on-site event or workshop planning, we offer a full turn-key marketing solution that gives you time, space, and freedom to focus on what you do best, which is to run your business.
Email us here or call us today at (+61) 02 8416 4442 to get more information or to book a complimentary marketing consultation or strategy session.
Article inspired by forbes, webfx, loginradius, trewmarketing, challis, and AR.
