The Thomas Blog

How To Grow Your Manufacturing Business By Connecting With Engineers On Quora

Quora, the social media platform where people ask and answer questions, challenges the old saying that no one likes a know-it-all. Active community members (you can call them "Quorans" if you want) have earned the respect and deference of their peers by providing thoughtful and useful responses that demonstrate skill, experience and wisdom. There are thousands of influencers who have built a following on the network by regularly engaging with threads related to their passions and areas of expertise.

Introducing Thomas WebTrax 3.0: Opportunity Intelligence for Industry

When you have data that tips you off to a buyer’s interest early on in their buying process, that data is priceless. Without it, those buyers are as much as 70 percent of the way through their buying journey before you find out they’re interested in products and services like yours — if you ever find out at all.

Thomas WebTrax: How Industrial Suppliers Can Get More Leads

To the casual observer, today’s strong economy and booming manufacturing sector might give the impression that landing new customers in the industrial space is easy. As an industrial supplier, you know better.

How To Use Reddit For Industrial Marketing

In the hypercompetitive industrial marketplace, it’s important to look for every edge you can in order to connect with more buyers. That means branching out beyond traditional marketing channels to connect with more prospects in more places.

4 Things Manufacturers Should Look for When Hiring New Employees

With the manufacturing sector on the upswing and reshoring initiatives continuing to add new jobs, unemployment within the industry is at a historic low. In fact, research shows that 2 million new manufacturing jobs will be created over the next decade.

4 Myths About American Manufacturing

As advanced and innovative as manufacturing is today, many people still hold outdated beliefs about the industry, the opportunities it presents, and its future in today’s shifting landscape.

Three Secrets of Industrial Marketing That Everybody Overlooks

The world is full of advice, and there's certainly a lot of it out there. However, when it comes to industrial marketing, there are a few facts that people aren't sharing. 

Fortunately, we're here to fill you in. Here are three industrial marketing secrets that can help set your manufacturing company up for greater success.  

Getting To Know The Future Of Supply Chain

The fact is that the procurement and supply chain profession is in the midst of a revolution, getting more global, analytical, and tech-savvy than ever before. It’s also getting younger — 40% of the buyers on the Thomas Network at Thomasnet.com are between the ages of 18 and 34.

This emerging generation of professionals aren’t just up-and-comers — they’ve arrived. Many are in leadership positions, heading up initiatives and driving discussions on the other side of your negotiating table. Knowing what makes them tick can help you forge better relationships with these important players in the supply chain.

Leads By Association: How To Leverage Professional Trade Groups To Connect With Buyers

Long before there were LinkedIn Groups, people who wanted to get together to discuss similar interests or professions did so by actually getting together. In person. Really!