How Product Manufacturers Can Reach The Right Audience Online

Reaching the right audience makes all the difference. Do you agree? Increasing your visibility to your business' target audience saves your company time and resources. It also allows your business to potentially connect and develop stronger relationships with customers. However, being in front of the right audience isn’t the only important aspect to think about.

You also want to make sure you are providing your audience with all the relevant information they are searching for. To do this, a product manufacturer must first consider providing the right information with a content-driven website. In addition, product manufacturers must also establish a presence on search engines and destination websites, since that is usually where the search begins. And finally, Social Media. Social media enables you to develop relationships with your audience, which in today’s world is becoming essential to business.

What Your Audience Expects From You

Develop a Content-Driven Website

A website is the first point of contact a prospect has with your company; the goal is to have an excellent first impression. Your website should provide the products you offer, the industries/locations you serve, and how to contact you. A visitor’s experience on your website should be seamless.

To create a website that your visitors will respond positively to, you have to focus on content. Content on your website should include:

• About Us – Who you are and your company history
• Product Categories and Descriptions
• Interactive Product Catalog – Effortlessly taking visitors down the path to find the product of interest 
• Contact Us - Address, phone number, and form to request more information

According to ThomasNet’s Industrial Purchasing Barometer, “It's all about the content on your website… you need to include deep and relevant content such as product details, specifications, certifications, applications, capabilities and equipment.” By providing information and usability, visitors will know what your company is all about; they’ll have all their questions answered; they’ll feel more enticed to contact you. And better yet, they’ll be able to find you on the search engines.

Where Is Your Audience Searching

Search Engines

As you could have guessed, Google is the #1 search engine followed by BING. Getting found on these search engines is extremely important because your audience is searching here. 87% of industrial buyers search on regular search engines, and their search phrases are very specific. Their searches usually contain 3-4 words describing exactly what they want. Searches containing 3 or more words are referred to as long-tail search terms. To rank on the search engines, your website’s content should align with the various long-tail search terms your target prospects may type in the search bar to find you.

Destination Websites

Did you know that 68% of industrial buyers search on targeted industrial sites, otherwise known as destination websites? Destination websites are focused, and provide visitors with an abundance of information from product sourcing to CAD downloads. A leading destination website in the industrial market is ThomasNet.com. ThomasNet has prided themselves in bringing buyers and suppliers together for over 115 years.

As an example, ThomasNet allows buyers to:

• Search through over 600,000 qualified manufacturers, distributors, MRO providers and custom manufacturers by category, company name and UNSPSC commodity code. 
• Search for the exact products they want by the specifications they require. 
• Download 2D and 3D CAD models to facilitate and advance the design process.

In becoming one of those 600,000 qualified manufacturers on ThomasNet, your company becomes more visible to the right audience; an audience that is searching for your products. ThomasNet currently gets about 2 million qualified visitors a month. Websites like ThomasNet are where your audience goes to find products because it’s a quick search. Industrial buyers can be as specific as they want and actually find what they’re looking for.

Connect with your Audience

Social Media for Product Manufacturers

Making it easy for your audience to find your company is one thing, but keeping them so they come back for more is another. Connecting with your audience and your customers is key. Social media has become the primary way to build relationships with customers and prospects. The industrial space is quickly beginning to embrace social media.

Providing your audience with the right information, making it extremely easy for them to find your company, and finally connecting and developing a relationship with them is what can truly set your company apart from others.