Many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODM), original brand manufacturers (OBM), and industrial companies don’t have much experience working with a marketing agency.  But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t benefit from one.  

Echo-Factory has been working with industrial and manufacturing companies for 15+ years.  Today, we will look at what drives industrial and manufacturing companies to look for a marketing agency partner, what makes advertising in this space unique, and what those companies should look for in their partner.  

What Qualifies Us to Give Advice on Picking an Industrial Marketing Agency? 

The internet is full of people advising without a basis for giving.  What makes us any different? We’re a marketing agency that has worked with manufacturers and industrial companies for over 15 years.  

We know what’s unique about this space and what it takes to create successful partnerships that drive growth.  

Here are a few examples of some of our recent relevant work with manufacturers and industrial companies:

  • We helped two $500M+ industrial manufacturers, Unifrax and Lydall, come together to form Alkegen, developing a new brand in record time when other marketing agencies said it couldn’t be done. 
  • We helped the Gill Corporation, an aerospace composite manufacturer with a 75+ year history, create a digital presence that lived up to the innovative nature of their products.  
  • We helped CPM, a global industrial processing equipment manufacturer, unify 16+ brands and thousands of employees across multiple continents. 
  • Oh, and one of our industrial clients was named the 3rd fastest growing privately owned company in the country.  

And we’ve worked with dozens more industrial and manufacturing companies in our 15+ year history.  We hope this makes us qualified to help you pick the right manufacturing marketing agency. 

What Motivates Industrial Brands to Look for a Marketing Agency? 

There are many things, but in our experience, a few common reasons might motivate a manufacturer to seek out a marketing agency or replace the partner they already have. 

An Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Event

Acquiring a competitor or forging a partnership can often drive the need for effective internal & external marketing communications and updated branding. 

Expanding Into a New Market

Whether that’s a new segment of an existing market or an entirely new geography, expansion often comes with a need for marketing and communications, such as brand awareness.

Launching a New Product or Service

Whether entering a highly competitive segment or introducing an entirely new product category, effective marketing, and advertising can often be the difference between success and failure when launching a new product or service. 

Increased Competition

In some markets, industrial manufacturers can operate without serious competition for years or even decades.  When that changes, marketing is often essential to regaining lost market share and sometimes customers. 

Changes in Leadership or Ownership

Whether it’s a new CEO, a new owner, a new partner, or a new marketing director, changes in leadership and ownership in industrial and manufacturing companies often come with a desire for increased growth that can be supported by the right manufacturing marketing agency. 

Of course, this list isn’t comprehensive.  Whatever’s driving your search for a marketing agency with experience in manufacturing, there are some reasons to pick an advertising agency with experience in your industry, and we’ve got some tools to help you find the right one.

What’s Unique About Industrial & Manufacturing Companies’ Marketing Needs? 

An illustration of long sales processes

When it comes to marketing, are industrial and manufacturing businesses unique? 

In our experience, yes.  Certainly, the core principles of good marketing can be applied universally.  But, many companies in this space will pose a challenge for many “typical” marketing agencies. 

Here are a few unique factors we commonly encounter relative to marketing for companies in other industries. 

Smaller Marketing Teams

It’s not uncommon for manufacturing and industrial companies to have small marketing teams relative to their size.  A $500M industrial manufacturer might have a single marketing director and a couple of dedicated marketing employees. In contrast, a similarly sized B2C  brand would have a marketing department with dozens of employees. 

This means that industrial and manufacturing brands often need a more hands-on, integrated approach from their marketing agency partners. One that takes on many of the tasks that might typically be handled by an internal marketing department and puts them in the hands of the manufacturing marketing agency. 

Longer, More Complex Sales Cycles

Industrial products and manufactured goods often have complex sale cycles involving several decision-makers over a long period, especially with large opportunities and average contract value (ACV).  Many marketers focus on sales cycles that last minutes, hours, or days.  They might not have experience with sales cycles that can last days, weeks, months, or years.  

Driving, tracking, and attributing sales over industrial time scales takes expertise and experience. 

Extremely Niche Audiences

If you’re marketing corn chips, your audience is “anyone feeling peckish.” If you’re marketing industrial equipment, your audience could be “a small handful of people in very specific positions at very specific types of B2B companies.” 

That’s a harder audience to reach and requires specialized marketing knowledge and experience. 

Complex Products

Everyone knows what a sneaker is or what a smartphone does.  Most B2C-focused marketing agencies assume a certain base level of familiarity with the products they’re marketing.  

But, the products and services that industrial companies have to market can be incredibly complex.  A certain amount of skill and B2B experience is required to market a highly technical product or service that very few people understand. 

What to Look For

An illustration of what industrial companies should look for when searching for an industrial marketing agency.

#1: Industrial & Manufacturing-Industry Marketing Experience

Most marketing agencies focus on consumer products. They might be great at selling cars, shoes, hamburgers, or smartphones.  “Typical” marketing tasks. But they might get lost when things get more complex. 

A few marketing agencies focus on B2B clients, and that’s a good start.  However, even B2B-focused marketing agencies tend to have more experience with B2B services, software, and financial products.  

Very few have experience with industrial and manufacturing clients.  This is a shame because industrial and manufacturing businesses have unique needs and can benefit from great marketing and advertising if applicable to the customer journey. 

If you’re in this space and looking for a marketing agency, we recommend you start your search with manufacturing marketing agencies with experience working with customers like you.  

#2: Relevant Clients Who Will Say Nice Things

Stockbrokers like to disclaim that “past performance is not a predictor of future success,” – but it doesn’t hurt.  If you’re looking for a marketing agency partner who can drive your growth, start with one who’s been able to deliver for someone like you. 

Start by looking at agencies with relevant case studies in a similar industry, and once you get further into the selection process, don’t be afraid to ask for a reference or two you can call.  Phone calls are the worst, but sometimes you get a more authentic sense of how happy (or not) an agency’s other clients might be over the phone. 

#3: A Goal-Oriented Approach

Marketing should never be the end goal of marketing. A strong agency partner will help you define exactly what you want from marketing and create a plan showing you how to get there.  Then, they should be able to track their (and your) progress against that goal. 

There’s a reason your business is investing in marketing.  Your agency should help make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. 

#4: Standout Creative

The bar for marketing creative can be pretty low in some industrial settings.  But that doesn’t mean that good creative can’t be valuable or that it isn’t something you should strive for.   Just because your competitors are putting out boring marketing materials doesn’t mean that you should as well. 

There are many good creative agencies, but not all can apply that creativity to these industries’ complex or seemingly “dry” products.  Look for a partner who can translate complex, niche products into compelling creative materials. 

#5: Customized Solutions

There is a certain type of marketing agency that offers a “plug-and-play” solution. Maybe it’s founded in a single marketing platform or CRM.  Maybe it’s a specific model that they believe can be deployed repeatedly.  Maybe it’s a specific piece of software or ad platform. 

There’s nothing wrong with good CRMs, marketing, or ad platforms.  There is something very wrong with a “one size fits all” approach to marketing.  Just because an agency prefers a single platform, model, or solution doesn’t mean it’s right for your circumstance. 

Make sure the agency you choose will look closely at your goals, needs, structure, and capabilities and choose the best solution(s) for you.  

Let us Introduce Our Industrial Marketing Agency

Echo-Factory office and staff

We’ll admit we’re not unbiased.  Echo-Factory is a B2B marketing agency specializing in manufacturing and industrial companies for more than 15 years.  

If you agree with our assessment of what you should look for in a manufacturing marketing agency, you might just be looking for us. 

We’re not the only marketing agency for industrial companies, but we might be the one for you. 

Take a moment to learn how Echo-Factory has driven growth and success as a marketing agency for industrial manufacturers.

Of course, if you are ready to discuss your business goals, let’s schedule a chat.

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