Nowadays, manufacturing is not just about making high-quality products. Manufacturing companies need to market their services and build good relations with clients in order to stay in the market and grow. This requires a strategic approach to marketing that’s based on analytics and automation. And this is where our role begins! In this article, we want to show you what marketing automation is about in the manufacturing industry. We will focus on the benefits you can expect and how to implement marketing automation in manufacturing. Let’s get right to it!
Put shortly, marketing automation is a set of tools that leverage marketing technology, client dashboards, and extensive data analytics in order to streamline marketing processes and campaigns, allowing businesses to target their audience more efficiently and build and maintain good relations with their prospects and clients.
In fact, if you run a manufacturing company, you can use this technology to improve your relations with not just clients, but vendors, distributors, wholesalers, and other stakeholders as well!
How marketing automation works in manufacturing
Marketing automation in manufacturing is usually a comprehensive system that integrates various tools and technologies to streamline and optimize diverse marketing processes. Typically, the automation process begins with the collection and organization of customer data through customer data platforms (CDPs). With this tool, you can create a detailed profile for each client, which, in turn, allows you to segment them and provide them with tailor-made communication.
For instance, if you’re manufacturing car parts, you can communicate differently with car brands that buy products directly from you and differently with wholesalers who are just interested in a specific line of products in your offer.
What’s more, marketing automation tools facilitate the execution of marketing campaigns across multiple channels. For instance, you can create automated email marketing campaigns to stay in touch with your clients. The rest really depends on what kind of a manufacturing company you run and what you want to achieve through marketing.
Later in the text, we will show you four major features within our platform that will streamline your work. Before we get to that, though, we want to show you several benefits of marketing automation in manufacturing. Next, we have a short how-to guide leading you through the process.
What are the benefits of marketing automation in manufacturing?
There are three basic benefits you need to be aware of when deciding on whether to implement marketing automation in your manufacturing company:
- Improved client relations: Marketing automation enables you to nurture leads and build long-term relations with your clients, e.g., by delivering relevant content at each stage and sending personalized messages. This way, you can guide your prospects toward cooperation and build your clients’ loyalty.
- Increased effectiveness: Marketing automation streamlines many repetitive tasks, giving your marketing team more strategic tasks and projects. You can do more marketing-wise in a shorter amount of time without the risk of losing quality.
- Enhanced web analytics: Marketing automation platforms (just like iPresso) come with extensive analytics features, allowing you to make informed decisions and refine your marketing strategies to stay competitive in your sector.
How to implement marketing automation in manufacturing
There is no one copy-paste process, as it all depends on where your company is marketing-wise right now and how many marketing tools you already have in place. However, most of the time, there are four crucial stages of implementing marketing automation in manufacturing:
STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR GOALS
To kick things off, you need to clearly outline what you want to achieve with marketing automation. Whether it’s lead generation, customer retention, or improved communication, your goals will guide your next steps and tell you what you ought to focus on when implementing marketing automation tools.
STEP 2: FIND A COMPREHENSIVE MARKETING PLATFORM
In general, you don’t want to have dozens of tools in your stack. It’s far more effective to find one comprehensive platform that will provide you with everything you need to run effective marketing campaigns.
We have over 20 features in our platform, allowing you to use everything you need in one dashboard. Forget about dozens of accounts and subscriptions! What’s also important is that our platform is fully scalable – we offer everything you need no matter what stage of your marketing you’re at right now.
STEP 3: INTEGRATE KEY TOOLS
The list of these tools, of course, depends on what you want to do. Below, we list four very popular features within our platform, along with a short explanation of how they can help you:
Customer Data Platform
It integrates client data from many different sources (e.g., your website, social media profiles, and CRM) and has advanced analytics features. CDP will help you manage all your contacts in an effective manner.
Marketing automation scenarios
You can use them to engage your clients and prospects in conversation, depending on their profile and previous interactions with your company. MA scenarios are especially important if you already have a lead in your database, and now your goal is to encourage them to place an order or to start cooperation.
Content automation
This feature allows you to adjust the content on your website to different visitors. For example, if your automotive prospect visits your website, they can see content relating to car parts. As a result, the buyer’s journey is shortened.
Email marketing
Lastly, we have a tool that will help you create and send personalized email marketing campaigns. Everything is supported with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
STEP 4: TRAIN YOUR TEAM
Your marketing team needs to get acquainted with your new platform in order to use it effectively and make the most of it. We have an extensive knowledge base that contains all the information you need to use iPresso the way you want.
STEP 5: CONTINUOUS MONITORING AND OPTIMIZATION
Once everything is up and running, you need to continually monitor the performance of your marketing automation efforts and implement changes if necessary. In order to do so, you should focus on analyzing data, gathering clients’ feedback, and making other adjustments to ensure everything works the way you want.
Wrapping up
We have no doubt that marketing automation can be a game-changer for manufacturers looking to up their marketing game. It helps you achieve better results in a shorter period of time. If you’d like to give iPresso a try, we have a free 30-day trial access for you. All you need to do is send us this short contact form, and we’ll give you your free access!
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