For many manufacturers and industrial companies, there’s no such thing as an “impulse” sale. That’s because the industrial buying cycle is a lengthy one, driven by a supplier evaluation and selection process that can take months or longer.
That’s why it is so important for manufacturers and industrial suppliers to stay top of mind with their prospects. Unfortunately, many companies fall short in their marketing efforts, focusing on metrics that don’t really matter in the industrial space (such as clicks and page views) when they should be focused on connecting with their best prospects where and when they are ready to become customers.
A strategic, industrial-focused digital retargeting program can be the solution.
By definition, digital retargeting is advertising to individuals based on actions they previously took online. Even if you aren’t familiar with the term “digital retargeting,” you are probably familiar with how it works.
For example, think of the last time you went to a retailer’s site and searched for a product, be it a shirt, a pair of shoes, or a television. For whatever reason, you ended up not going through with your purchase. Suddenly, you start seeing ads for the product everywhere you go – on news sites, blogs, when you check the weather, and even in your email.
This is a prime (and common) example of digital retargeting advertising in action.
Digital retargeting has proven to be tremendously effective for retailers looking to close sales. However, for many manufacturers and industrial companies, digital retargeting has been a mixed bag – at best.
That’s because the industrial buying cycle and the retail buying cycle couldn’t be any more different.
Think about it – when you visit Amazon and browse shoes, Amazon knows that you are looking to purchase shoes relatively quickly. But when a visitor lands on your site, they are not necessarily looking for a new supplier.
As a result, typical retargeting programs promote wasteful spending, because they’ll retarget anyone that comes to your site. This could include existing customers, competitors, accidental traffic – in other words, people who are not actively looking for a new supplier like you. Even those potential customers who do land on your site may be only at the very beginning of the supplier discovery process, and retargeting for weeks or months could prove costly and ineffective.
At Thomasnet.com, we’ve been helping to connect buyers and suppliers for more than 100 years, so we understand the industrial buying cycle and the challenges facing manufacturers and industrial companies.
That’s why we developed Evaluation Driven Retargeting, which was built specifically for B2B suppliers. With Evaluation Driven Retargeting, your ad only retargets Thomasnet.com users that visited our platform and viewed pages that indicated they were evaluating suppliers who offer the specific products and services that you do.
As a result, you can stay top of mind with potential customers across the web throughout the supplier evaluation process without wasteful spending.
There are lots of tools in the B2B marketer’s digital toolkit – a great website, a strategic supplier discovery program on Thomasnet.com, display advertising, etc. Adding Evaluation Driven Retargeting to your toolkit may be the best way to stay top of mind with your best prospects and generate more sales. To learn more, download our eBook.