How To Become A Top Manufacturing Supplier (7 Tips)

Most of us know that supplying a quality product or service on time and at a fair price is critical to achieving customer satisfaction.

But what if you're not the only one that can do this for your customer?

Competition is more fierce than ever — with getting new business and maintaining current relationships — so we want to help you become your customer's first choice for their next order and rank as a top supplier.

Read below for our tips on how to become a top manufacturing supplier.

How To Sell Industrial Products Online In A B2C World

The online product sourcing landscape has changed.

B2B consumers are no longer satisfied with data buried in poorly organized catalogs and PDFs. Instead, like their B2C online experience, consumers expect a dynamic, user-friendly experience filled with compelling data.

This movement drives companies to invest in digitized catalogs and create a complete digital customer experience for online prospects, and if you're not on top of it, you're already behind.

Now's the time for B2B businesses, manufacturers, and industrial companies to shift their current online strategies and elevate their existing lead generation efforts to sell their industrial products effectively online. Need help doing so? We'll break it down for you in this post.

New and Noteworthy Categories on Thomasnet.com for April 2022

Since industry is constantly growing and evolving, Thomasnet.com^® is too. Our platform has over 75,000 categories of products and services, from alloy to zinc, for professionals like you to source from. And thanks to our industry specialists, we are constantly researching and adding to our platform with new supplier categories to help you keep up with current market trends. 

New Suppliers on Thomasnet.com for April 2022

Exciting new B2B companies are being established across the U.S. and Canada every day, and every month, hundreds of them are joining Thomasnet.com^®. We're highlighting ten of the most notable and innovative companies below to bring some of the unique services and products they provide to the forefront.

Green Manufacturing: The Business Benefits Of Sustainability

By 2050, the U.S. Energy Administration estimates the manufacturing process will see a 26% increase in emissions, but other high-producing sectors will decrease or remain at their current output. 

It's a shocking figure given that more major players are driving toward a sustainability goal — like McDonald's, who plans to have 100% of their guest packaging come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources by 2025 —but we need to continue seeing this trend moving through supply chain.

If anything, this figure and what's needed for our future presents the opportunity to produce new product options, tap into new markets, and modernize your business.

Let's unpack this together, shall we?

Lead Generation For Manufacturers: 33 Industrial Tips, Tricks, And Ideas

Generating leads is one of the most important aspects of marketing — and frankly, growing your business.

With so many moving parts involved in lead generation, it’s easy to lose sight of some of the digital marketing tactics that should be working together.

That’s where this blog post comes in — we'll cover the most popular and effective techniques utilized by industrial marketers today to increase leads and generate revenue online. 

Marketing Goals vs. Marketing Strategy: What's The Difference

Getting digital marketing right isn’t always easy — especially if that marketing is aimed at the manufacturing and industrial sector, which often involves high-volume, high-cost transactions and very long purchase cycles.

The decision-making process in this field is inherently slow, and oftentimes industrial marketers struggle to connect with their audience in a way that moves them through the buying cycle while providing them with directly useful, engaging content.

Setting marketing benchmarks is the only way you’ll be able to achieve scalable growth throughout the next few months and beyond — it’s never too early to start planning your business goals for next quarter or even next month.

To help you plan, we've outlined the difference between marketing goals and a marketing strategy so you can improve yours and connect with higher-quality prospects.

What Are The B2B Buyer Personas In The Manufacturing Industry?

In today’s increasingly digital world, there are numerous ways for manufacturing companies to reach potential buyers — email blasts, eBooks, blog posts, social media, and even SMS texts can all be used to connect with target audiences and increase brand awareness.

Inbound marketing aims to entice your target customers to come to you on their own by providing valuable content that will help them reach their goals. But before embarking on any of these efforts, it’s crucial to fully understand the types of buyers you’re looking to target.

So how do you go about creating the content that will attract the customers you want? Well, that depends on the customers themselves.

How To Become A Supplier For Big Companies

Becoming an approved supplier for a large global company can change your business dramatically, but landing a big customer takes far more than a hello and a handshake.

If you want your company get selected in the buying process, we have insights and tips to share — below, we'll talk about how big companies choose new suppliers, along with what manufacturers and industrial companies can do to increase their chances of earning new business from them.