Online marketing in the industry offers many opportunities. Most companies in the industrial sector do not always realise that digital channels contribute to new business. Often, instead of a website (digital) leaflets are still used as a sales tool and selling products is done through representatives instead of online channels. This is precisely the reason why there are still many opportunities for B2B online marketing in the industrial sector which can to contribute to more turnover.
Statistics about online marketing in the industry
95-98% of B2B buyers orientate themselves online before requesting an offer. In addition, 60-70% of buyers are already aware of your products before they contact you. So it is very important to have a clear website that is logically structured and has enough content on it. Something that makes many people quit a website is when they can’t find much useful information.
Almost half of the industrial sector in the Netherlands does not sell their products through online channels. Only 36% of the industrial companies in the Netherlands have an online shop. Research by Sana (2015) and recently also by Jelba (2018) shows that 25% of B2B companies in this sector do not intend to sell online. The major thresholds are that people think their company is not suitable for B2B e-commerce or that their customers are not interested in buying online. In almost all cases this assumption is wrong. 40% of industrial companies indicated that they would invest in an online sales channel by 2017 at the latest. The latter is also evident from the recent research by Jelba.
B2B Lead generation
For B2B companies lead generation is a valuable asset. Especially in the highly competitive industrial sector it is important to outsmart the competition. Here, lead generation saves time and money. It does not rely on every appointment and customer but examines the data and therefore the quality of the lead. This way you filter the best leads with the highest success rate. B2B lead generation is a form of online marketing. It is about trying to gather information from the potential customer, this is a so-called pull marketing method. Examples of this include filling in a contact form, signing up for the newsletter or leaving an e-mail address for an e-book. When the potential customer leaves his details, the seller can follow the lead. Hopefully, this will result in a customer. To be able to perform good lead generation it is important to look at the buying behaviour of the B2B buyers.
Important questions about online marketing in the industry
Online marketing is important for every B2B company. But in the industry there are a number of things you should ask yourself when conducting online marketing. The industrial sector is a fast moving market with a lot of competition. Here it is important to zoom in on those who orientate themselves towards your products.
- Who is influencing purchases that include large processes?
In the industry you often have to deal with Decision Making Units (DMUs) or the one who makes the big decisions. Such a person rarely decides alone, technicians for example, help to find the right supplier. Since in this sector large purchases are common, often there are even more people involved in the search process. All of them read online themselves. For very large companies this is even more complex and often involves entire purchasing teams with many employees. By offering good content that is properly indexed (SEO) lead generation can be applied to the website. LinkedIn is also a good tool for tracing the people in the purchasing process. - What stage of the sales cycle are they in?
This is easy to follow with lead generation. If a visitor fills out a contact form they are already far into this cycle and are interested in getting in touch with you. When they leave their e-mail address for an e-book for example, they are interested in the content but may not be ready to be actively approached. With every action they (can) do on the website it is possible to keep an overview of their cycle. So there are always the same guidelines when it comes to following a lead. - Where do they orientate themselves?
This is of course mainly online. But where exactly online? Do they often search via Google or maybe even another search engine? Do they search for certain keywords? Or perhaps they have specific industry-oriented websites where they always start their search. With different technologies the behaviour of your target group can be tracked online. It is good to have insight into this data so that all the online marketing work you do becomes much more focused and specific. - How do I get to that customer faster than the competitor?
By analyzing the behavior of your visitors, by offering qualitative content and by doing lead generation. Online marketing in the industry is still often lagging behind which offers you opportunities to respond to this. Howen 2018 the number of industrial companies with an online marketing department only increased. It is therefore important that you respond by hiring professionals or a good B2B marketing agency.
Jelba and the industrial sector
What makes us special at Jelba is that we operate in the construction, industrial, logistics and agricultural sectors. We have a 100% focus on B2B and only serve B2B customers. By focusing on a few interrelated sectors we at Jelba have a lot of knowledge and expertise and we know how we can help you in the industrial sector. We already have several clients in this sector that have seen success through the collaboration.
Online marketing in other B2B sectors
Read more about the state of online marketing in logistics and transport, find interesting information about online marketing in construction and installation or find out what the opportunities are in terms of online marketing in the agricultural sector. Jelba’s experts will be happy to talk to you about this.
Do you have any comments or are you curious what we can do for you? Do not hesitate to contact us without obligation.
Finally
The goal of all our customers is to achieve more turnover via the Internet. We ensure that they succeed in this mission. If you are a B2B company, we would like to provide insight into your online opportunities without obligation. And give you advice on where you stand in relation to your competitors. Click here to request this scan.