It is important for manufacturing technology companies of all sizes to have a marketing presence on the internet and social media. We all do the bulk of our research online, read about our industry, conduct personal business, and read and post on social media. And our customers are doing the same thing.
The three most popular options for marketing on the internet today are on the Google AdWords, Google Display advertising, and Facebook platforms (we will not be looking at banner advertising in this article). All three platforms have a low cost of entry, and it is worth experimenting with them to evaluate their effectiveness in bringing new visitors to your website, branding your company or products, and generating demand.
LISTED IN ORDER OF POPULARITY AND MARKET SHARE, HERE IS A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF EACH:
Google AdWords: These are the ads that are interspersed with search results when you do a Google search. You pay only if the user clicks on your ad, which brings the user to your website or to a landing page on your site.
Google Display advertising: These are the multimedia ads that show up in a variety of sizes, shapes, and locations on webpages you visit on the internet, as well as in YouTube videos. You can also set up these ads to be displayed for people who have previously visited your website.
Facebook advertising: These multimedia ads pop up in the middle of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media feeds.
An important feature of both Google Display ads and Facebook ads is the ability to have them delivered and shown to people who have already visited your website or a specific page on your website (or you could choose to exclude this audience if you want). Called “remarketing,” you only need to add a piece of code that is generated for you by Google to the pages on your website you want affected. Google calls it a “remarketing global site tag” and Facebook calls it a “Facebook pixel.” They also all enable the targeting of very specific demographics, including age, location, interests, and many other factors.
INTERNET MARKETING OFFERS A NUMBER OF VALUABLE BENEFITS, INCLUDING:
Low cost of entry
You pay only for clicks and visits to your site
Development of an ad with images is free and easy to do
Ads are relatively easy to create, including multimedia ads
Highly measurable
Robust reporting tools help you evaluate ad effectiveness
Campaigns can easily be turned on and off
You can continually monitor the results of your campaign
EASY TO GET STARTED
Both Google and Facebook have made it increasingly easy for companies to set up and manage online advertising themselves, including multimedia campaigns. However, you need to commit time, be consistent, and trust in the process. Monitoring the success of various key words, website visits and clicks, conversions, bid rates, and competitors’ bidding and behavior must be done consistently to maximize the effectiveness of advertising. Both companies have many online resources available that are easy to find and follow.
The first step will be to define your campaign objectives to determine what type of ad will work best. For example: Is your goal that people visit your site, visit a specific page of your site, request a quote or demonstration, sign up for a webinar, become more familiar with your company name and brand, or several of these objectives combined?
COMMON BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS (B2B) MARKETING GOALS INCLUDE:
Brand awareness: Introduce and reinforce your company name or product brand
Conversions: Get people to take a specific action on your website (request a quote or demonstration; sign up for a webinar)
Lead generation: Get new prospects into your sales funnel
Reach: Expose your ads or marketing messages to as many people as possible
Traffic: Drive traffic to a specific webpage or app
Note that these platforms are not ideal for direct sales, but this is due to the nature of B2B sales and marketing, not the platforms themselves. In the B2B market, products are less likely to be “commodities,” and therefore are less likely to be purchased as “transactions” through a single click on the internet. Compared to the B2C (business-to-consumer) world, B2B purchases are much more likely to be customized, relatively expensive, and there are typically several decision-makers or influencers in the buying decision. A manufacturer’s relationship with a machine tool company is typically multifaceted, and prospects are interested in learning about a company’s existing client base, commitment to R&D, additional product lines, company longevity, and other factors. The sales cycle often takes months.
Each respective ad platform has a wealth of detailed information to walk you through the process of ad creation, budgeting, and targeting. And if you have a question for which you cannot readily find the answer, just Google it! Chances are, the answer will come right up.
Lastly, both platforms have powerful, free analytics tools to measure campaign performance. Whether you are looking to measure clicks, views, or visits, or cost by click, view, visit, day, week, or month, there are dozens—if not hundreds—of tools you can use. It is important to establish some type of measurement metrics so you can determine what your ROI is and whether it makes sense to continue a campaign, increase it, or modify it.
