The labor-intensive and risk-prone nature of the manufacturing industry demands a significant amount of time, effort, and energy at the operational level. Consequently, marketing the business may not be the domain where manufacturers’ specialization dwells. Having said that, it’s also true that their existence in this fiercely competitive terrain hinges unequivocally on sales – making a commitment to marketing an absolute must. The real trouble is the frantic speed of the technology growth is giving rise to new marketing tactics every passing second.  For manufacturing entrepreneurs who are as busy as bees, it may prove difficult to stay on top of the latest trends, figure out the best ways to use different platforms, and eventually master the modern art of digital marketing. Hiring a digital marketing agency for manufacturers, thus, appears to be the wisest step to take.

However, selecting the right digital marketing agency for manufacturers from the ultra-crowded world of specialized marketing offerings may prove a complex feat. Even if agencies are equipped to handle other businesses, a one size fits all method does not work for the manufacturing industry. Those agencies might miss some key points that are most important to the OEMs, as they might not understand the target demographic. What it indicates is that you need to perform a thorough background preparation even before you start searching for an agency. Use this blog post as a checklist for selecting the right digital marketing agency. This is particularly important when you consider that marketing is an investment in people, time, and money.  Failure to optimize it can severely hamper your economic backbone.

Here are the five crucial steps you should implement while zeroing on an able and experienced digital marketing agency for manufacturers.

1) Specialization in Your Niche:

After deciding your marketing goals, which should be the first step while hiring a digital marketing agency for manufacturers, it’s important to look for an agency that specializes in those goals. It’s mainly because such agency knows what the industry is like – and more importantly, it knows what’s going to make money for you. Agencies that cover various businesses generally create campaigns and strategies that aren’t effective in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Their sheer incongruence with your business goals may result in wasted time and money.

That’s precisely why it’s wise to look for people with experience in what you do. It doesn’t mean that if you are a car manufacturer you should hire an agency that specifically works in cars. But look for an agency that works specifically in the manufacturing industry from a marketing standpoint. It allows the agency to quickly transfer from the research phase of the marketing process to the implementation phase. Resultantly, it can get into the groove quickly and start giving you results much faster.   

2) Capabilities of Agencies:

Generally, agencies have certain specialty services that they excel at.  It’s possible that a website design agency might offer marketing services in addition. Or, a traditional marketing agency will tell you that it has a digital marketing branch. Though it may sound petulant to dismiss them outrightly, there is a risk in going with them. The reason is digital marketing always stands on the verge of change. You need an agency that handles your business with the latest trends – and unfortunately if digital is only a side-service of an agency, it might not be the right one.

For example, social media management will work for you only if the agency specializes in LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter aren’t ideal for reaching your target demographic. Note that manufacturing companies try to get business from OEMs by offering a value proposition that they can become a single source. That’s why it’s of prime importance to know where OEMs are spending their time. They’re typically on Facebook, but not from a business position. They unfailingly reside on LinkedIn. This makes it almost imperative that the prospective agency must have a specialization in LinkedIn, as it produces the best ROI for manufacturers.

3) Judge The Agency Meticulously:

One of the best signs about an agency that will specify what it can do for your business is the results it has generated for itself and its clients. While deciding on the digital marketing agency for manufacturers, take a deeper look into its work, talk to its existing and previous clients, and ask for references. If you’re thinking about hiring an agency for blog management, see how it runs its own and clients’ blogs. If you wish a web design specialization, evaluate how it has designed websites. If you want to hire an agency for SEO, see where it ranks in search for terms in its industry.

Our ranking for Digital marketing for manufacturers.

                                          We rank near the top for Office Migration services.

More importantly, an agency should be able to take your creative preferences. It should be able to understand that opinion of your target demographic matters. Just because you like reading industry magazines, doesn’t mean your target demographic does, and therefore it shouldn’t encourage you to spend money on advertising in magazines. The bottom line is if an agency cannot evolve and adjust based on the specific capabilities of the manufacturing company to effectively market to the target demographic, you should move towards the next shortlisted agency. 

4) Understand How The Agency Monitors And Measures:

If any marketing endeavor has to generate satisfactory ROI, it should be goal oriented and time bound. Hiring a digital marketing agency for manufacturers is no exception. Unless and until you measure the whole marketing effort carefully, you cannot manage it. The only thing which can bring it in the purview of measurement is the ability to collect, analyze, and act upon data. It’s, thus, critical for you to have an acute understanding of each potential marketing partner’s approach to the following –

1. Tools: Find out the types of tools and software the agency uses across different digital marketing channels and tactics.

2. Metrics: What are the metrics that the agency monitors on a regular basis? 

3. Expertise: The best tools and metrics will not deliver much if the right people are not at the helm. Try to know as much as you can about the people who will be working on your account, including details such as certifications, credentials, and hands-on experience.

4. Reporting:  Transparency forms the kernel of any successful partnership. The agency should keep you in the loop regularly and consistently about the marketing efforts and results. The easiest way of gauging the reporting ability of an agency is to ask for sample reports related to the services you are interested in.

You can also read these:

SEO for Manufacturing Companies

Content Marketing for Manufacturers

Social Media for Manufacturing Companies