The Thomas Blog

5 Trade Show Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Buyers

It’s that time again. 

You’re registering for conferences and figuring out which ones will be worth exhibiting at. Crunch time has arrived and there are a lot of decisions to be made in a short window of time.

To make this the most productive trade show season ever, here are some tips to make the shows work for you while you’re workin’ the shows.

For Manufacturers: 11 Steps To Begin Your First PPC Campaign

More manufacturers and industrial companies are investing their time and budget into paid marketing  — it's a model that targets consumers online based on their interests or intent using different tactics like display ads or pay-per-click (PPC). PPC is a must-have for any inbound strategy — over time, B2B marketers are able to effectively reach their target audience and drive leads based on their searches. One of the most compelling characteristics of paid marketing is the tremendous amount of data you’re able to collect in order to make decisions and improve the performance of your campaigns. The more you learn about your audience, the easier you can market and sell to them effectively. Who doesn't want that for their business' bottom line? But getting a conversion through PPC that justifies the expense takes careful planning and precise execution.

Also referred to as "cost-per-click" or CPC, PPC can be challenging to begin. Especially when you don't have any data, how do you get started? We put together this list of 12 PPC tips that will give beginners the best chance of starting off on the right foot. And we'll address one of the main challenges of managing PPC — how to target business customers when there is a large volume of consumer or retail traffic searching similar keywords. 

WordPress vs. Wix: What's the Best Website Platform for Manufacturers?

Consumers buy differently today than they did 10 years ago.

Before the Internet, sales teams relied on cold calls, print advertising, and word of mouth to grow their business. Today, the marketing and sales landscape offers a virtually endless number of platforms and channels to reach buyers.

However, none of those digital marketing channels are effective without a strong website.

What To Do If You Lose A Key Customer

Customer retention can often mean the difference between your company thriving or dying. This makes the loss of major customers one of the greatest risk factors for manufacturing businesses. Your consistent goal should be to go to any lengths necessary to retain these keystone clients. However, over the course of even a vastly successful company’s lifespan, this kind of paradigm-shifting customer loss can — and will — occur. 

MQLs Vs. SQLs: What's The Difference

Studies show that 68% of B2B marketers struggle with generating quality leads. And lead generation strategies are successful for only 13% of marketers in the space.

All in all, only a mere 5% to 10% of B2B leads actually turn into paying customers. So what can be done to boost these numbers?

First, industrial marketers must understand that not all leads are created equal — and the industrial buyer's journey is actually pretty complicated. 

Lead Nurturing: How To Convert Website Traffic To Leads

Sellers know all about leads. You know the difference between marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs). You know you need more of the former in order to get more of the latter.

That’s great. You can see the destination. But what about the traffic that's on your website? How can you identify MQLs in your sales pipeline and, more importantly, how can you offer effective nurturing that turns them into SQLs? Let's break down the basic steps.

SEO Vs. SEM Vs. PPC: What’s The Difference?

The industrial manufacturing sector is constantly seeing new technological innovations and advancements as businesses compete to stay ahead of the competition and at the forefront of their industry. Similarly, digital B2B advertising and marketing practices undergo the same rapid rate of change and advancement. But with so many options and platforms available today, getting started can be daunting — especially if you're new to the industrial marketing world.

Some of the most common questions we field at Thomas involve a slew of acronyms — SEO, SEM, and PPC: What’s the difference between SEO, SEM, and PPC, and what can they do for my company?

Green Manufacturing: The Business Benefits Of Sustainability

A few years ago, terms like “going green” and “eco-friendly” were all the rage for businesses. And while those words aren’t quite as buzzworthy today, they are still worth quite a lot to the people that really matter to manufacturers — B2B buyers.

More major players are driving toward a sustainability goal, like McDonald's who plans to use 100% recycled fiber-plastic packaging at every one of its locations worldwide by 2020. What this means for you is the increase of product options in demand and opportunities to tap into a new market and modernize your business.

4 Steps to Expanding Your Industrial Network on LinkedIn

Chances are you’re already using LinkedIn to keep an up-to-date roster of contacts, check out what connections are up to, scout out potential hires, and send messages.

This powerful tool serves as much more than a social network or recruiting outlet, though — it can play a major role in generating leads and sales for your industrial company.

There are a few steps for you to benefit from using LinkedIn to connect with people in their industry, so we wanted to lay out a few tips on how to get started. 

(We do want to note that although there's a paid version of LinkedIn known as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, we know you’re as budget-conscious as you are business-savvy, so we’ll be solely focusing on harnessing the power of free LinkedIn in this post.)