findability
DESCRIPTION
PPT presentation from Findability seminar presented at Mitchell College, September 2, 2012TRANSCRIPT
FINDABILITYGet Your Manufacturing Business
Visible on the Internet
Presented By
Agenda
9:00-9:50 Manufactured in North Carolina9:50-10:00 Break10:00-10:50 Effective Websites for Manufacturing
Companies10:50-11:00 Break11:00-11:50 Internet Marketing Strategies for
Manufacturing Companies
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
A Free Listing Service and Marketing Program
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
90% $4K - $12,000
50% 0
Of all industrial buyers go online to search, qualify and evaluate suppliers
Of industrial suppliers are chosen based solely on the supplier’s website
The estimated cost to create a small
website for a manufacturer
The amount of exposure you may receive even
after spending that much money
References: (ThomasNet, ThomasNet, Parker)
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Catawba County EDC• NC Rural Center• NC State University Industrial Extension
Service
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
Beta Site Launched for
CatawbaCounty
N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
Site Expanded to Include
Neighboring Counties
Site Expanded to Include All
NC Manufacturer
Goal of 1,000 Signed-Up
20 50 100 300 500
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Provide a free “listing service” for North Carolina manufacturers
www.ManufacturedNC.com• Strengthen your company's online presence
and expand your visibility to the world• Better sell your manufacturing capabilities to
prospects• Generate new leads and sales opportunities
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
Typical North Carolina
Manufacturer
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina Manufacturer with
MNC
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Currently more than 500 North Carolina manufacturers listed
• Fortune 500 to “Mom and Pop”• Since January 1st, more than 13,000 unique
site visitors– 126 countries– All 50 states
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
How can you participate? Enroll online now Connections – talk it up, show it off MORE connections – link your existing website
with www.ManufacturedNC.com or even their profile on MNC
Suggestions/Improvements – you know what would best benefit your company
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Beginning to see individual MNC company "profiles" showing up on the first or second page of Google Search results
• Searchers are beginning to make real connections with North Carolina manufacturers
• Listed companies engaging with one another
Security surveillance equip. Custom printing
Electro-magnet: workholding
Custom manufactured signs
Extruded components
Hydraulic hoses
Spiral paper cores
Industrial/Automated machinery
Water treatment chemicals
Architectural metals/frames
Packaging/Bottling products
Custom machine shop
Custom printing
Composite watercraft
Industrial filtration
Industrial/Automated machinery
Upholstered leather furniture
Sport/Casual hosiery
Custom machine shop: workholding
Industrial/Automated machinery
Plastic packaging
Industrial wheels/castersFiber optic components
Labels/Packaging
Artificial flowers/trees
Sheet metal fabrication
Aerosol spray cans
Custom upholstered furniture
Custom cabinetry
Custom printing
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Highly optimized site ranks profiles high on Google, Yahoo, Bing
• Invest $400,000 in Internet advertising to promote the site and the companies listed
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Takes about 10 minutes to sign up and build a company profile on MNC
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Participation requirements:– Manufacturing or manufacturing-related company– Physical manufacturing presence in North Carolina– MNC does review all applicants to ensure they
meet these criteria– Willing to expand the meaning of “manufacturing-
related” to a reasonable degree, but will not include retail, restaurant or consulting services
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES FOR MANUFACTURING COMPANIES
Beyond the On-Line Brochure
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
2000 2005 20100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
< $1 MM< $100 MM$100 MM +
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• The majority of manufacturing companies – even the very small ones – have a website
• The majority of these website – even sites associated with very large companies – are Web 1.0 technology… an on-line brochure
• Lead generation is the number one objective of most manufacturing and industrial company Websites…
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• A vast majority of your site visitors are not ready to buy on their first visit
• Visitors are not likely to interrupt their online activity to pick up the phone and call you
• Very few visitors if any will take the time to fill out a complex RFQ form, or even a RYSM form
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
But, their existing Websites have little to
no lead generating capability
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
“Well, we don’t want to waste our time with tire
kickers.”
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Studies show the vast majority of those “tire kickers” will go on to buy from someone else within 6-10 months
• Have a mechanism in place to weed out unqualified prospects and move qualified ones into some kind of a lead nurturing program
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Add a “live chat” feature– This can be a static button throughout the site but
should pop open when a visitor has been on a product’s page for 30 to 40 seconds
– Do they need help finding the right part number? – Do they need assistance with an application?
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Add a big button to download your online catalog – Try to put this above the fold – You can make this content ungated (doesn’t
require registration) to help visitors specify your products long after their first visit
– Add a simple order form if you publish a printed or CD version of your catalog
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Use a mix of free and gated content to qualify and nurture your visitors – For example, product catalogs, datasheets and
application notes can be ungated– Technical articles, white papers and case studies
would require basic registration information – name, company name and email address
– Online demos, samples, and webinars should ask for more information (progressive profiling)
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Try adding an option to your Contact Us form for someone to call them– Monitor how many visitors select that option– Test to see if your conversion goes down if you
make that field mandatory
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
Engagement
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
“Can we do it ourselves?”
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Free or very low-cost Website options for small manufacturers– Google Sites – Surprisingly powerful and full-featured, but
difficult to get professional-looking results– Wix.com (HTML5) – Easy “drag-and-drop” design, good-
looking, difficult to customize, integrated blog– 1and1 – Easy “drag-and-drop” design, very difficult to
customize– GoDaddy – Easy “drag-and-drop” design, very difficult to
customize
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Websites based on a dynamic blog content management system (CMS)– WordPress– Joomla!– Drupal
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
Building or redesigning a company Website as a blog
site is increasingly becoming the preferred method for
many industrial and manufacturing marketers
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Creating a fully integrated blog site would mean maintaining and updating just one online marketing asset versus two or more
• With a built-in content management system (CMS), it is much easier to add new content and pages
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• On-site search engine optimization (SEO) is much easier to do by adding new posts using long tail keywords and deep linking to specific product pages within your company’s site
• The value or authority of your domain increases whenever another site links back to the blog that is part of your main domain
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• User experience is significantly improved when they can move seamlessly between your site pages and the blog
• Monitoring, tracking and measuring is a lot easier when you use one set of Web analytics for both the site and the blog
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Organizing content in a searchable format is much easier using blog categories and can be set up to offer related content for more up-selling and cross-selling opportunities
INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR MANUFACTURING COMPANIES
The Engagement Approach to Effective Internet Presence
INTERNET MARKETING
Outside Sales
Print Advertising
Customer Service
OnlineMarketing
Inside SalesSales/Marketing
Mix
Internet Marketing
• How is your Internet presence structured?• What are your objectives?• Who is/are your target audience(s)?• What Internet tools allow you to most
effectively engage with that audience?• What role will SEO and PPC play?
INTERNET MARKETING
WebsiteFacebook
Blog
Twitter LinkedIn
YouTube
INTERNET MARKETING
Blog[Website]
YouTube
Internet Marketing
• What are your objectives?– General information source– Build your brand (confidence)– Sales– Customer Service (after-sale)– Investor relations– Employee relations/Recruiting
Internet Marketing
• Who is/are your target audience(s)?– Based on your objective– Will most likely have more than one– Don’t forget industry sectors; not all alike
Internet Marketing
• What Internet tools allow you to most effectively engage with that audience?– Blog (centerpiece or pointer)– Social media– Email marketing
Internet Marketing
• Blog Tips & Techniques– Be sure your company has the time and talent
before committing to a blog-centric Internet presence
– Absolute minimum of one post (300-500 words) weekly; two recommended (2-3 hours)
– Don’t forget relevant pictures– Process screening procedure – Edgy gets views;
but edgy makes management well… edgy
Internet Marketing
• Social Media Tips & Techniques– Not all types of social media are effective for all
types of business– Most manufacturing companies will want a mix– Done correctly, not as time-consuming as you
think– At a minimum, should be monitoring
Internet Marketing
• Facebook– Most effective for manufacturers who are closer
to the end-user– Can be effective for brand-building and public
relations– Tends to skew younger and with less substantive
content (lifestyle)… but that is changing
Internet Marketing
• Twitter– Can be used as either a “broadcast medium” or as
a tool for lead, prospect and customer engagement
– Broad range of demographics– Short, concise entries; but needs to be carefully
monitored– Visual capabilities improving, but still primarily a
text-based format
Internet Marketing
• LinkedIn– Has become the domain of choice (but not
exclusively) for headhunters, job seekers and consultants
– Best suited for individuals, not companies– Company profiles/Groups
Internet Marketing
• YouTube– Most business people think of YouTube as a
repository of music videos and clips of cats– Actually quite a lot of business-related content– Although there is some interaction; primarily a
broadcast medium– How-to videos, Product demonstrations– Somewhat cheesy production is okay, where it
might not be for a Website or sales presentation
Internet Marketing
• Email Tips & Techniques– Can be a great automated lead nurturing tool– Can also be your worst enemy– Easy to do; Easy to do wrong– Constant Contact – Powerful, expensive– Mail Chimp – Good, free
Thanks Your for Your Participation
ThunkTank Corporate Training is a joint venture of Mitchell Community College and Stateville Regional Development