Ideal Marketing Technology Stack: Manufacturing

In recent years, manufacturing companies have encountered multiple disruptions including supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturns, skilled labor shortages, and the rise of AI technology.  These uncertainties have made it difficult to build customer relationships while building products, homes, and communities. However, resilient Manufacturing companies will be those that embrace their customers and technology. 

Definition: Martech Stack – Marketing Technology Stack is the integrated set of software applications used to drive demand, execute tactics, manage leads, orchestrate programs, and measure results of marketing activities 

Marketing technology, or martech, is transforming the way products are marketed and sold. Martech advancements enable Manufacturing companies to reach larger audiences with more effective marketing strategies. 

In this blog post, we will explore different marketing technologies that Manufacturing companies can adopt to generate leads, increase sales, and improve their return on investment.

Top Challenges for Your Customers in 2023:

It’s important to understand your customers’ thoughts and worries about the industry challenges mentioned earlier so that you can communicate and engage with them in a meaningful way. Focusing on their needs is key to building a strong relationship. Some of their top concerns might include:

• High prices: The cost of manufacturing goods has gone up in recent years, and this is being passed on to customers in the form of higher prices.
• Shortages: There are shortages of many raw materials and components, which is making it difficult for manufacturers to produce goods.
• Logistics problems: Challenges with shipping and delivery due to supply channel issues are adding pressure on your customers.
• Uncertainty: Trepidation in domestic and global markets can make it tough to plan for the future.

As you engage with prospects and customers, addressing their unique challenges will help you build relatability and trust. That’s where Martech comes in.

How do we get started?

Before diving into categories of an ideal martech stack; Here are a few fundamentals to think through before investing in new tools:

• Current state of your martech stack. Assess what tools you currently have. This will save you a great deal of time and money if you can leverage tools that are already in use in your company.
• Map Personas and Customer Journeys. Whether it’s business owners, engineers, general contractors, or consumers, knowing whom you are targeting, what they care about, and their decision-making journey is an important first step in effectively engaging with them. 
• Personalize your messages. To increase the chances of receiving a response from customers, it’s best to personalize your messages. Incorporate their names, reference their interests and recent company news, and address their specific needs in your messaging.
• Make it easy to respond. Design a digital journey that makes it easy for your customers to engage with you. Make sure your call to action is clear and easy to follow. 
• Follow up. Studies show it can take up to 10 touchpoints or more before a customer responds. Craft an approach with multiple touches over several weeks or months. 
• Track your results and adjust as needed.  Analytic tools will capture progress and trends, showing you where you might need to adjust your approach.
• Start small. After you complete your current state assessment, stack rank your stack needs. This will help you not only manage your budget and ROI but will ease change management in your organization. Once you decide where to invest, start with a pilot or free trial to ensure any new tools achieve the desired outcome.

The Ideal Martech Stack:

The categories of a good martech stack are similar across most industries. In our overview here, we have included options tailored to Manufacturing companies:

Core:

• Customer relationship management (CRM) software: As a larger company, you undoubtedly have this covered, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t include this in our overview. Your CRM is the equivalent of your core; the hub for managing the customer journey end-to-end. This includes customer data and interactions, tracking sales leads, closing deals, and growing accounts. Some popular CRM options include Salesforce, HubSpot, and Oracle CRM.

Data / Intel:

• Data enrichment: There are a host of tools that will aggregate intelligence about your target accounts and contacts to enable a personalized experience as you bring customers into your funnel.  These tools include ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Data Axle Genie, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
• Customer Intent: Tools in this category help you understand what your prospects and customers care about and are responding to.  Examples here include Propensity and 6Sense.
• Competitive Intel (CI) Platforms: CI tools help you keep the pulse of the ever-changing landscape in the Manufacturing space.  Popular options here include Crayon, Klue, Kompyte, and Watch My Competitor.
• Web analytics software: This software will help you track website traffic and analyze your website’s performance. Some popular web analytics options include Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Mixpanel, and Matomo.

Customer Engagement

• Marketing automation software: This software will help you automate your marketing tasks, such as email marketing, lead nurturing, and social media marketing. Some popular marketing automation options include Marketo, Pardot, and HubSpot CRM. If you are using manufacturing or construction platforms like Procore, those likely offer some marketing functionality as well.
• Email marketing software: This software will help you send email marketing campaigns to your customers. Some popular email marketing options include Outreach, Salesloft, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and AWeber.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising software: This software will help you create and manage your PPC campaigns. Some popular PPC advertising options include Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads.
• Search engine optimization (SEO) software: This software will help you improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Some popular SEO software options include Moz, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, and SEMrush.

Content Creation and Management:

• Content management system (CMS) software: This software will help you create and manage your website content. Some popular CMS options include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
• Social media management software: This software will help you manage your social media accounts and publish content. Some popular social media management options include Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social. 
• AI Content Creators: Leverage AI to become a prolific and personalized content creator.  There are free tools in the space, like ChatGPT, Google Bard, etc.  There are also subscription-based tools like Jasper.ai, Regie.ai, Scribehow, etc.

Technology is transforming the way we market and sell our products. Manufacturing companies can benefit from adopting tools like those mentioned above to reach new and larger audiences, generate leads, increase sales, and improve return on investment. To get started on your road to the ideal martech stack, check out our recent blog on Software Asset Inventory.