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Marketing for Manufacturing: 3 Key Strategies & Examples

Article Outline

Jargon. It’s easy to get lost in it. The world of heavy industry is full of manufacturing marketing strategies and advertising examples that show what happens when jargon distracts from clear communication.

Marketing something incredibly technical, scientific, or just plain complicated presents a serious challenge for marketers. It takes not just great communication skills and marketing savvy, but also a system that makes it easy for your brand to create consistent and reliable campaigns and initiatives. How do you do it? Well, marketing automation for manufacturing definitely helps.

You may have created the most user-friendly explainer video, or the most insightful industry case study, but without the right marketing strategy for manufacturing, your efforts will fall flat. Marketing automation can change the game for the manufacturing industry. Read on to see some of the best manufacturing marketing and advertising examples.

What Makes Marketing For Manufacturing Different?

Manufacturing marketing refers to strategies and tactics used to promote products or services offered by manufacturing companies. Unlike consumer-focused marketing, manufacturing marketing typically targets other businesses (B2B) and emphasizes building long-term relationships, showcasing expertise, and solving industry-specific challenges.

Key Features of Manufacturing Marketing

  1. Technical Communication: Focuses on conveying complex, technical information in a clear and accessible way.
  2. Content Marketing: Includes white papers, case studies, guides, and webinars to demonstrate expertise and build credibility.
  3. Industry-Specific Targeting: Uses platforms like LinkedIn and trade shows to reach professionals in specific industries.
  4. Relationship Building: Prioritizes creating trust and reliability for long-term partnerships.
  5. Multi-Channel Approach: Combines digital marketing (SEO, social media, email) with traditional methods (trade publications, exhibitions).
  6. Focus on ROI: Highlights how a product or service can increase efficiency, reduce costs, or solve a problem.

Manufacturing marketing is essential for helping companies stay competitive, build brand recognition, and generate leads in a highly technical and specialized industry.

Advertising Example #1: Publish White Papers

A screenshot of an online content marketing publication from Avery Dennison on the topic of wine manufacturing.
Avery Dennison builds credibility in manufacturing content marketing with Issu publications.

Brands need to establish credibility. And white papers are one of the best ways to do so. The trick is to work in promoting your own brand authentically and naturally, without making it sound like an overt advertorial. Avery Dennison has a simple but effective marketing strategy for manufacturing to establish thought leadership in its field: publishing trend topics with mass appeal on Issuu, a digital publishing platform that looks and reads like a “real” magazine.

Take this article, “Will 2022 be the Year Sustainability Takes Hold in Wines and Spirits?” Avery Dennison may be the listed author, but the brand name doesn’t appear in the copy until the very end, beneath the call to action. The whole article features Avery Dennison products relevant to the topic, while taking a seemingly objective approach to the merits of each offering. The article is easily shareable with options to email the article, copy the link, or post to social sites including Facebook and LinkedIn.

Avery Dennison has also created its own digital magazine for its apparel industry audience called Made to Mention. This level of investment in creating authentic, shareable content makes it a true leader not just in its (many) fields of expertise, but in content marketing as well.

Advertising Example #2: Dominate B2B on LinkedIn

Kris-Tech Wire understood the assignment: to stay relevant on a social network, you have to post constantly. And not just throwaway posts – ones that actually interest your intended audience, whether it’s a link to a blog post on the company’s website, a news article that affects your industry, or a plain ol’ holiday greeting (in this case, a fun photo collage of colleagues decked out in Halloween costumes). The point is to show up in your customers’ and prospects’ feeds as often as possible (without being annoying), which Kris-Tech’s LinkedIn page pulls off with aplomb.

A screenshot illustrating Kris_tech Wire's manufacturing marketing strategy utilizing a LinkedIn post and good humor.
The best social media accounts by manufacturing marketers post frequently, and don’t take themselves too seriously.

For manufacturers and other B2B entities, an active presence on LinkedIn is crucial. That’s because it’s become one of the go-to ways that professionals stay in touch with each other. Kris-Tech sells industrial-grade copper wire, so they understand that their customers might not make regular transactions. It’s all about staying top-of-mind when the need arises. Keeping active on LinkedIn is a no-brainer when it comes to fostering customer engagement and developing new leads.

Advertising Example #3: High-Quality, Multi-Channel Content

A manufacturing content marketing example from Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science, a hub website with links to videos and other assets.
Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science has built an impressive B2B manufacturing content marketing program complete with case studies, video, and guides.

In terms of breadth of content, Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science has the best manufacturing markering, hands-down. Their site has everything: case studies, guides, blog posts, company news, product demos, and webinars, covering every conceivable angle of the 21+ applications of their products.

Not only is the content extensive, it’s high quality and multichannel. Their white papers often include original Youtube content. Their case studies consist of short blog posts with links to the full text case study in PDF format. Last but not least, their product demos can be scheduled live or viewed on-demand. Watching a video or reading a case study frequently requires an email capture prompt. Their Learning Hub page features this trove of information that might be overwhelming, if it weren’t organized so well.

Um, it’s official. We’ve got a content crush.

Learn (or Steal!) from the Best

We subscribe to the adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The manufacturing companies killing it with their manufacturing marketing are the ones worth emulating. They’ve figured out how to launch and maintain robust content marketing programs in a challenging industry. In the world of manufacturing, reaching the right audience requires you to showcase your expertise in a way that’s accessible, trustworthy, and consistent.

Learn how Act-On can help marketers like you optimize your programs with manufacturing automation for manufacturers.

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