The Thomas Blog

Product Sourcing Trends For Q1 2019, As Told By Game Of Thrones

Winter is here (seriously, spring, where are you?), and the first quarter of 2019 is officially over. 

As an industrial company, you are always looking for ways to connect with B2B buyers. But what are those buyers looking for? With less than one week before the final season of Game Of Thrones premieres, we took a look at sourcing activity of some of the most useful elements of Westeros and beyond the wall on the Thomas Network at the end of Q1 to help you answer that question (and possibly win the Game of Thrones).

Industrial Marketing: Train In-House vs. Hire An Agency vs.  Freelancer?

Has one of your key marketing/sales employees resigned and you're out in the wild trying to find a replacement? Industrial marketing requires a lot of time and expertise. If you don’t quite have either, you’re not alone. Many manufacturing companies don’t have in-house marketing departments, and those that do often have limited budgets and personnel.

Or if you're beginning your first industrial marketing plan, how do you go about it? Your options are likely to train current employees, seek out freelancers, or hire an agency — and this could be one of the most important decisions you'll make on the path to growing your business. Let's look at the pros and cons of each.

Everything Manufacturers Need to Know About Paid Marketing

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog posts, you’ve been staying up to date about our marketing best practices for manufacturers.

We’ve covered a range of marketing topics:

• How to grow your business with inbound marketing
• Content marketing ideas for each stage of the marketing funnel
• Email marketing campaign best practices
• 77 percent of B2B buyers utilize search engines when sourcing new suppliers
• 61 percent of B2B industrial buyers utilize word-of-mouth referrals
• 33 percent of B2B buyers use internal company-preferred databases.

Is The Next Digital Marketing Battleground In Your Living Room?

The old marketing rules have changed to meet the needs of consumer behaviors. From establishing an online presence (73% of industrial buyers pay attention to your website!) to optimizing your website to offer a mobile version, it's important to update your marketing strategy based on user activity. Content marketing for manufacturing companies have incorporated mobile search and mobile ads built specifically for interaction on mobile devices.

But what about one of the most influential communications inventions of the 20th century — the television. The first TV advertisement aired in the 1940s, so traditional commercials have been around for a long time and has grown steadily. While mobile optimization and advertising are still important elements to target users, let's take a look at how the traditional TV set has evolved to consumers' behaviors and what it may mean for industrial marketers.

Battling The Bots On Twitter

In the arena of digital advertising, bots cost companies nearly $17 billion a year by generating billions of fake clicks on ads. However, ad fraud isn't the only way that bots are wreaking havoc on digital marketing strategies (not to mention digital marketing budgets); they also play a massive and malignant role when it comes to social media.

Using Google Docs, Slides, & Sheets For Marketing

Word documents, slide decks, data spreadsheets. What do these things have to do with industrial marketing? You might be surprised.

If you’re in charge of content marketing for your business, chances are you’re writing a lot of the copy in Word documents, presenting your ideas from slide decks, and analyzing data with spreadsheets.

The Marketing Conferences You Should Attend In 2019

As the year begins, industrial companies are beefing up their marketing plans and mapping out goals for 2019. To be successful, you must be aware of the latest technology and trends that will help your business grow, and marketing conferences can be a huge help.

Not only do these "meetings of the minds" help keep marketers up-to-date on the latest innovations, but they provide a valuable opportunity to network and commiserate with others in the field. 

10 Reasons Why Nobody Is Reading Your Emails

When it comes to your industrial marketing strategy, well-thought-out email marketing campaigns must be a part of your approach. 

If you’re not getting the engagement you want from your email marketing campaigns, it’s time to reevaluate your tactics. Below are 10 common mistakes you may be making with your industrial marketing emails.

Never Trust a Marketing Agency that Tells You…

When searching for a manufacturing marketing agency to work with, it’s important that you ask all the right questions to determine if the relationship is a good fit for your business. It’s just as important that you weed out the bad answers you receive.