2. Agenda
9:00-9:50 Manufactured in North Carolina
9:50-10:00 Break
10:00-10:50 Effective Websites for Manufacturing
Companies
10:50-11:00 Break
11:00-11:50 Internet Marketing Strategies for
Manufacturing Companies
3. A Free Listing Service and Marketing Program
MANUFACTURED IN NORTH
CAROLINA
8. MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
90% $4K - $12,000
Of all industrial The estimated cost
buyers go online to to create a small
search, qualify and website for a
evaluate suppliers manufacturer
50% 0
Of industrial suppliers The amount of exposure
are chosen based solely you may receive even
on the supplier’s after spending that
website much money
References: (ThomasNet, ThomasNet, Parker)
15. MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
20 50 100 300 500
Site Expanded Site Expanded
to Include to Include All
Neighboring NC
Counties Manufacturer
Beta Site
Launched for Goal of 1,000
Catawba Signed-Up
County
16. 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
19. 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
21. 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
22. 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
24. 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
25. MANUFACTURED IN NORTH CAROLINA
• Takes about 10 minutes to sign up and build a
company profile on MNC
35. 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
36. Beyond the On-Line Brochure
EFFECTIVE WEBSITES FOR
MANUFACTURING COMPANIES
38. 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…
39. 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
40. EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
But, their existing
Websites have little to
no lead generating
capability
42. 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
43. 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?
44. 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
45. 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)
46. 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
49. 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
50. EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
• Websites based on a dynamic blog content
management system (CMS)
– WordPress
– Joomla!
– Drupal
51. EFFECTIVE WEBSITES
Building or redesigning a
company Website as a blog
site is increasingly becoming
the preferred method for
many industrial and
manufacturing marketers
53. 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
54. 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
55. 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
56. 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
57. The Engagement Approach to Effective Internet Presence
INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES
FOR MANUFACTURING COMPANIES
58. INTERNET MARKETING
Outside
Sales
Inside Print
Sales Advertising
Sales/Marketing
Mix
Online Customer
Marketing Service
59. 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?
61. INTERNET MARKETING
LinkedIn
Twitter Email
Facebook Blog YouTube
[Website]
62. Internet Marketing
• What are your objectives?
– General information source
– Build your brand (confidence)
– Sales
– Customer Service (after-sale)
– Investor relations
– Employee relations/Recruiting
63. 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
64. Internet Marketing
• What Internet tools allow you to most
effectively engage with that audience?
– Blog (centerpiece or pointer)
– Social media
– Email marketing
65. 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
66. 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
67. 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
69. 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
71. 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
73. 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
75. 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
76. Questions?
John B. Marek
John@StatesvilleRegion.com
704-657-7007
77. Thanks Your for Your Participation
ThunkTank Corporate Training is a joint venture of Mitchell
Community College and Stateville Regional Development