The Thomas Blog

The Manufacturer’s Playbook for Shifting to Direct to Customer Selling

How Manufacturers Can Build a Strong Direct to Customer Sales Model

For many manufacturers, leveraging a network of distributors and resellers has historically been the simplest way to get their products to the end-users.

Working with third-party distributor groups has provided logistical support & warehousing, sales support, and existing relationships with regional end-users to allow manufacturers to focus on other pressing matters like product design, process development, and quality control.

However, in the face of COVID-19, the shift toward direct-to-consumer sales has accelerated.

The Importance of Marketing and Advertising for Manufacturers During Economic Downtimes

Almost without notice, COVID-19 changed the way businesses operate and how individuals live. The manufacturing industry has shown inspirational resilience throughout historical times, yet the continuous effects of COVID-19 on the economy have pushed the manufacturing industry to reimagine the way they do business. 

5 Steps To Get High-Quality Leads With CAD Assets

If you're keeping up with the latest manufacturing lead generation strategies, you may have already heard that up to 88% of businesses ultimately buy the part after downloading a CAD model. CAD files are proven to generate high-quality sales leads. But are you fully embracing them as a marketing asset or are you only sending them by request from sales? Not sure? Let's walk through the basic model of using CAD files for high-quality lead generation. 

New Suppliers on Thomasnet.com for May 2020

This past month, we've seen a surge of companies joining our platform, many to become badged suppliers as part of our vetted COVID-19 Response System. From the 950+ new suppliers added to Thomasnet.com® in April, we've picked out our ten favorite unique companies to share. 

New and Noteworthy Categories on Thomasnet.com for May 2020

In addition to the launch of our continuously updated and vetted COVID-19 Response System (which your company can apply to join here), and our new COVID-19 Partnership Program, we managed to add over 100 new categories during the past month. Many categories are for products and services that have gained sudden prominence during the pandemic. Others, like social distancing decals, are products that were invented specifically in response to it. We cover thirteen of our most recent categories below to help you source more effectively.

Choosing A B2B Marketing Automation Platform: HubSpot Vs. Pardot

To stay ahead in today’s increasingly competitive B2B marketing landscape, automation is vital. Marketing automation software allows companies to automate various marketing tasks, such as emailing specific contacts or posting on social media.

Not only is this great for eliminating the boredom factor (no more repetitive emailing jobs that leave you blurry-eyed and dazed), it’s also great for creating a more dynamic, multichannel marketing strategy. And through automated tracking and data collection, companies gain better insight into prospects, enabling them to fine-tune and personalize their offerings as needed in order to reach valuable leads.

Top SEO Questions Manufacturers & Industrials Ask

Recently, we hosted a webinar SEO 101 for Manufacturers: Targeting The Right Google Traffic. We went back to the basics and discussed the important steps manufacturers should take to get the most out of their website, content marketing, and SEO efforts. Let's take a look at the questions our audience of manufacturers and industrial companies asked at the end of the webinar and how we answered them.

Top 4 U.S. Manufacturing Challenges And How To Overcome Them

American manufacturing stands at a critical point in its long history — and how industry leaders view and react to the changing landscape will influence its future. As technology, demographics, and economic climate shift, manufacturers must innovate in order to stay competitive. Manufacturing in particular is positioned for domestic growth and, more than ever, industry leaders must guide their organizations strategically. Let’s take a look at some of the issues facing the industry through the lens of both challenges and opportunities.

How To Keep Up With Changing Technology Trends

There's plenty of coverage and chatter on IoT trends, being replaced by robots, and legacy equipment vs. digital manufacturing in our industry. That's a good thing because technology becomes more integrated with every aspect of our lives each day.