The Thomas Blog

2014: The Year In Industrial Marketing

From ice buckets to selfies, there was no shortage of big events, trends, and news to define marketing in 2014. As digital media continues to expand the opportunities for the industrial b-to-b space, the line between marketing in general, and the specifics of our industry, is becoming increasingly blurred – and there’s more and more overlap in what’s effective. So today, I’ll take a look back at some of the biggest stories and developments in marketing in the last year, and what they mean to you.

How Manufacturers Can Improve Lead Time? Ask These Questions

Whenever a buyer purchases a product, whether it be industrial, wholesale, or over-the-counter, one of the most important factors is lead time.

The fastest manufacturing and delivery services are always in high demand, and leaders from all levels of business are interested in providing faster lead times. It can be tricky, though, when your company is a distributor.

A manufacturer can always implement lean manufacturing methods to increase lead times, but what if your business relies on other manufacturers to provide products for customers?

Four Ways to Be “King of the Jungle” in the Marketing Ecosystem

At this point, the question has been answered: Yes, content marketing works. The tactics aren’t revolutionary or unorthodox. They simply follow the ways that buyers today consume information and gather research for decision-making.

The Secret to Staying Ahead of Google’s SEO Updates

Search engine optimization can seem like an impossible game.

New updates everywhere you look, and what I like to call the “caffeine conundrum:” the so-called experts tell you something is good for you one day, and bad the next. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that one of the earliest Google algorithm updates was, in fact, dubbed "Caffeine."

From the Big Green Books to Digital Dominance: One Engineer’s Take on Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

Full disclosure: I jumped at this opportunity to guest blog for ThomasNet, and not simply because of my relationship with the Thomas team (I am their HubSpot rep). From my past life as a chemical engineer, I have fond memories of sourcing suppliers in the company’s “big green books,” the Thomas Register — just as my father did as an engineer before me.

Breaking the Glass Case: Generating Interest from New Industries in Custom Manufacturing

Recently I attended IMTS 2014 on behalf of Thomas and had the chance to speak with many custom manufacturers looking to grow their businesses. During one of these conversations, as an attendee was describing his product, I asked if he had it on display in the glass case at the office.

Why Aren’t Your Site Visitors Submitting RFQs?

Wouldn’t it be frustrating if qualified visitors were coming to your website, but few, if any, of them were actually converting to leads? If you’re not providing the right information that buyers are looking for, you may be in that very situation without even knowing it — after all, no one’s sticking around to waste time telling you why they’re leaving.

HubSpot Announces New Free CRM Software

Psst! Hey! Yeah you. When was the last time the marketing department got a high five for saving the company money? Doesn’t happen, right?

Well that just changed.

Prepare yourself for a possible parade in your name put on by the accounting department and the VP of Sales, because you are about to deliver a brand new CRM system to them for free.

The 3 Facts You Need To Know About the Export-Import Bank and U.S. Manufacturing

The Export-Import Bank is up for reauthorization this month, and it may be in as much trouble as it’s ever been.

Not familiar with it? The ExIm, as it’s known, supports U.S. exports by providing credit, loans, guarantees, and/or financing to suppliers that wouldn’t be able to get it otherwise. It frequently acts as a lender or insurer to companies with a lot of foreign customers who may not have the on-hand capital to fulfill orders, or who can’t get financing from private lenders. Credit from the ExIm also lets suppliers sell to foreign buyers on favorable terms rather than requiring upfront payment.