Like all businesses, industrial firms are looking for better ways to find new clients and to hang onto existing clients.  Companies in the industrial sector primarily engage in B2B marketing as they promote products  ranging from capital goods to construction equipment to aerospace technology. While it might seem that their product lines are associated with the old economy, it would be a mistake to assume that these companies are sticking with old media.

A recent survey by Global Spec reveals the top marketing goals and challenges for this sector in 2010 are as follows:

• Primary marketing goals: Acquire more customers and generate leads
• Primary marketing challenges: Lack resources, lack leads, and require improved ROI

The best new lead sources cited by industrial firms are  the  company website (70%), tradeshows (44%), and e-mail marketing (33%).

And nearly half of these companies (47%) say that they’re spending up to 1/3 of their marketing budget on online activities. Here’s a list of the most frequently used online marketing formats:

• E-mail marketing, in-house list: 65%
• Online directories, websites: 58%
• SEO: 50%
• Internet banner ads: 36%
• Online newsletter sponsorship/ads: 34%
• Search engines/paid traffic: 34%
• Social media: 24%
• E-mail marketing, rented/purchased list: 16%
• Video: 15%
• Webinars: 15%
• Blogs: 13%
• Internet banner ad networks: 13%
• Podcasts: 3%

This year, over 2/3’s of industrial firms say they’ll increase their social media marketing efforts. Currently, the top 2 applications used in this sector are LinkedIn (59%) and Facebook (40%).

GlobalSpec analysts expect these firms will increase marketing as the economy improves. To reach customers and prospects, they’ll be using targeted online activities and looking for ways to measure the ROI as well.

[Source: Trends in Industrial Marketing. 2010. Globalspec, Inc. Web. 12 Jul. 2010]

Firms operating in the industrial sector are hoping for a solid expansion in 2010. And one way to increase sales will be to launch new products such as motors, tools, gaskets and machinery. The results of the new Grant Marketing survey reveal that over 90% of  industrial firms will be introducing new or improved products this year. Along with the product launches, these companies will also boost advertising expenditures.

Industrial operators will use the following promotional strategies:

• E-mail 88.9%
• Website 85.2%
• Press release 77.8%
• New brochure/catalog 74.1%
• Trade shows 70.4%
• Magazine advertising 51.9%
• Social media 44.4%
• Direct mail 37%

The media mix used for new product introduction differs slightly from the regular promotional strategy. Typically, industrial marketers say their top 3 strategies are:

• E-mail 86.7%
• Catalog/brochure 80%
• Trade shows 80%

The survey also found that most decision makers in the industrial sector are turning to online webinars as a source of important information. This finding correlates with statistics that appeared in the Unisfair report I blogged about earlier this week – more business leaders are turning to virtual events.

Overall, Grant Marketing analysts note that “the process of buying and specifying has not changed; it is only the means and media that have changed.” As with many other sectors, the industrials are moving online.

[Source: Grant, Bob. Industry Marketing in 2010 and How to Market Smart. GrantMarketing.com. May 2010. Web. 18 Jun. 2010]

Conditions for U.S. manufacturers have been anything but positive since December 2007. These businesses have lost at least 1.96 million jobs and don’t plan to increase employment for at least another year. But senior managers, responding to a ThomasNet survey, believe conditions are looking up and they are carrying important lessons forward from this recession.

For one thing, these executives aren’t expecting handouts from the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program. Instead, they are looking to innovation as key to a better future.  Several survey respondents indicated that “developing new or innovative” products will be more important than continuing to offshore work which has been a common strategy to improve business conditions. For the second part of 2009, nearly 15% of manufacturers will expand into new product and business lines. To support this expansion, 6.2% indicate they will increase online marketing while 6.1% say they’ll widen sales channels.  According to one respondent, “[m]arketing is the key and innovation is mandatory for small corporations.” This new positivism extends to business predictions for the rest of 2009 and into next year.

About 1 in 3 of these companies expects sales to grow during that period while about 4 in 10 predict a steady state in revenues.

[Source:  Optimism Amid Crises, Industry Market Trends, ThomasNet, 9.38.09]

Amidst the news that the nation’s unemployment rate continues to rise and may reach 10% before the economic recovery really kicks in, some analysts are watching the staffing industry closely. While Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) predicts that 2009 will usher in an overall drop of 25% for companies in this industry, the firm is predicting an industry growth rate of 5% for 2010.

One sector of staffing, temporary help, is often a leading indicator. So it’s cause for excitement that SIA notes the temporary staffing industry overall experienced back to back gains in July and August, 2008. The following two trends are notable and predictive:

• The industries with the most demand for temporary staff include: Industrial, IT, telcom, manufacturing, and finance/insurance
• The industries where demand continues to fall include: Travel nursing and legal

A related release by Career Builder indicates that 9% of large firms plan to hire temporary employees for the 4^th quarter, marking a 2% improvement over the 3^rd quarter. The trend watchers at Career Builders concur with SIA analysts when they note staffing increases should be higher for “health care and industrial positions.”

Though this is a small improvement in the employment industry, it’s a positive trend and may prompt staffing firms to increase their marketing efforts going into 2010.

[SIA release, 9.28.09; Career Builder release, August 2009]