Engineer Your Online Brand Presence And Reputation
“What we are doing has always worked for us. So, why should we change it?”
“Online is fine, but offline is where the real action happens.”
Before the pandemic ensued, this was the common response from most companies in the manufacturing and engineering sectors when the topic of digital marketing came up. Companies from the engineering/manufacturing sectors have long relied on face to face methods of brand promotion, like trade shows, industry networking events, and most importantly word-of-mouth referrals.
However, the pandemic and the resulting decrease in face-to-face interactions showed why a strong digital presence is important for every business, including engineering companies.
At Idecution, we have always advocated for 4 things that engineering and manufacturing companies should implement:
1. Website: A well-written and intuitively designed website. Indian arms of MNCs should have their own landing pages to give the content a local touch.
2. LinkedIn Marketing: Regular posting on company pages and optimised LinkedIn profile of the key customer-facing members.
3. Search Engine Marketing: To provide information in the form of blogs or videos more accessible to customers who are searching on those topics. This could also help to generate awareness for a product launch or drive footfalls when the company is participating in a trade show.
4. Email marketing: A monthly newsletter showcasing the highlights of different products or case studies/application notes can help the customers having similar requirements know about the product.
With the manufacturing and engineering sectors getting ready to ride the wave of Industry 4.0, it is clear that digitalisation is the future. IIoT, AI/ML, blockchain etc. are helping the industry shift from human-led operations and processes to machine-led ones. So why not let your marketing benefit from digitalisation?
Let us look at 3 main reasons why engineering and manufacturing companies should go for digital marketing:
● Brand awareness and recall
Today, knowing how to build an online brand is vital even if your product/service is non-digital. This is because your next customer could be sitting across the globe and looking for a product that you create. While this is especially important for “young” brands, it is equally important for established companies because their newer customers are often looking for them online. They can no longer rely on the traditional methods to get the attention of these customers. In the entire journey of the customer, right from thinking about purchasing a product/service to actually making the purchase, most of their decisions will be strongly influenced by what they see online. Product information, reviews by other customers, or discussions on online forums about an application etc. are helpful to create the online brand presence and perception. This affects whether a prospective customer will end up becoming an actual, paying customer.
● If you won’t, your competition will
If a customer looks for a product using a search engine (like Google) and your name does not appear near the top on the first page of search results, they will move on to your competitor and you will have lost a customer without even having the chance to engage them. To prevent this from happening, you need to bring a strong online brand presence and reputation. The presence will ensure that the customer comes across your brand often and the reputation will ensure that they have a positive impression of you. Together, these will bolster your chances of them engaging with you. Online reputation management is as important as maintaining an offline reputation.Click To Tweet
● To stay in touch with your existing customers
Digital marketing not only helps to attract more customers, but it also helps to retain the existing customers and keep them updated about the new product launches or features or success stories at their convenience, round the clock. This is not the case with trade fairs or conferences which are limited by time and geography.
While online brand building can work at a larger scale than its offline equivalent, it does take time to create a strong brand presence and reputation online. Just as in real-life, a successful brand image in the virtual world takes careful planning and execution. You will often need to employ an array of digital marketing tactics, both short-term and long-term. While that may sound daunting at first, a good digital marketing agency can study your business and advise you on the best course of action, while monitoring and improvising the execution to help keep you on the customer’s mind online. So what are you really waiting for? Get started with building your online brand today!