How To Find Industrial And Technical Buyers On-line
If your company sells industrial products or services, one thing
is for certain, you should be using the Internet as a marketing
tool to reach your target audience. After all, over 87% of
engineers and other industrial buyers report using the Internet
on a regular basis to find the products, services and solutions
they need. The manufacturers and suppliers that know how to
effectively reach these ready to buy prospects through effective
marketing programs are the ones making the most profit from the
Internet.
However, reaching qualified buyers, at the right time, is
becoming increasingly difficult as more manufacturers and other
industrial suppliers join the on-line marketplace. The
competition has become so intense for certain products and
services, many companies are beginning to doubt the Internet as
being a profitable marketing tool.
Even programs that use to be extremely profitable for a lot of
manufacturers, such as pay-per-click, lacks the clout it use to
have in the eyes of a lot of industrial suppliers. Most of them
blame it on the competition. But that is not really the problem.
The real problem is the company's inability to adapt to a
constantly changing marketplace. And unquestionably, no
marketplace changes faster or more frequently than the Internet.
Increase Your Marketing Channels
Relying on pay-per-click, search engines, banner ads or your
Web site is not enough. You have to versify your entire
marketing approach in order to compete on the Internet today, as
well as in the future. If you expect the major search engines to
be your Web site's main source of traffic, you are relying too
much on one marketing channel. You must increase those channels
to generate traffic from multiple sources all over the Internet.
The Web site's that are most versatile in terms of marketing,
will develop the strongest competitive advantage possible over
their competitors.
Probably the single biggest reason why most manufacturers do
not versify their marketing is they prefer to keep things
simple. So they invest most of their marketing dollars in one or
two programs, and overlook smaller traffic sources that could
significantly increase their ROI.
Indeed, keeping it simple is certainly an ideal approach, but
it does not mean you have to limit your marketing channels. The
key is to find smaller, more flexible search engines,
directories or portals that reach your target audience. You can
and still should utilize the major search engines to promote
your site. Just don't overlook the others just because their too
small to work with. Together they can generate much better
results than any single source, no matter how big. Moreover, the
competition will be a lot less, so the ROI will be significantly
improved.
Finding Marketing Channels That Work
Obviously, not all marketing opportunities are equally
effective. You want to find marketing plans or programs that are
simple to utilize, measurable, and of course profitable. No
matter what audience you are trying to reach, there are dozens,
perhaps even hundreds of Web site's that are ideal marketing
channels to promote your company. Don't make the mistake of
ignoring a site just because of its small audience. You need to
look at the whole picture and see the real value of these sites.
As I mentioned earlier, most leading manufacturers don't even
bother with advertising on Web sites that reaches just a small
fraction of their target audience. Yet, these smaller sites
offer by far the greatest profit potential. Consider not only
the excellent advertising value these sites usually offer, but
also the enormous potential they often have to reach even more
of your prospects in the near future. After all, as their
visitors and audience increases, so will your ROI due to several
reasons.
A significant advantage of advertising on smaller Web sites is
the relationship factor. Imagine being the original advertiser
on a Web site that once had a small audience but now reaches
millions of your prospects. There will certainly be perks. I
know myself I will not forget the original advertisers of my own
site. Their support was vital to my Web site's success and I
make sure these companies are rewarded with exclusive
advertising benefits.
Internet Advertising and Marketing
Everybody on the Internet today has their own opinion about
which advertising or marketing methods are best. Many swear by
text link advertising and search engine optimization. Others
like pay-per-click or opt-in email. And there are many
manufacturers that still prefer banner advertising, most likely
for branding purposes. But who cares what works for somebody
else? All that really matters is making it work for your company
- period.
Different Web sites offer different advertising opportunities.
Some sites will only accept banner ads while others will only
present text link ads. Then there are directories or search
engines that may even accept both. The point is, if the terms
are right, then you must be flexible and be willing to advertise
in the manner these sites require. Again, all that matters is
reaching your target audience while increasing ROI. Whether it
be via a banner advertisement, text link, featured listing, or
whatever.
Yes, it will take some serious time and effort to find the
right marketing channels and advertising opportunities. But the
benefits are certainly worth it if you are responsible for
marketing or increasing traffic to your company's Web site.
Just look at the whole thing as if your building a chain one
link at a time with each link strengthening the entire system
the bigger and longer the chain gets. This chain will undeniably
result in a flood of ongoing traffic from multiple sources that
will consistently increase your site's visibility and
competitive advantage on the Internet.
In contrast, your competitors will be limited to the one or two
big marketing channels they rely on for 90% or more of their Web
site's traffic and perhaps their survival. They will be
constantly subjected to price increases, growing competition,
and ironically the need to find other marketing channels.