The industrial buying process has evolved. Customers (architects, engineers, designers, contractors) design their products using 3D CAD (computer-aided design). They search online for parts and components to incorporate into their designs. By the time you get there, your part either doesn’t meet their design specifications or they’ve already completed their evaluation and chosen one of your competitors.
As an industrial supplier or B2B product manufacturer, you need to focus your marketing on three things:
1) Help your customers find your part. This can be done through digital parts catalogs and SEO.
2) Allowing customers to download CAD models from your website so they can specify parts or incorporate them into your products.
3) Influence the buying process by getting the right information to designers at the right time.
Customers want to know as much as possible about your products before they sign a contract, and they want complete control over their information. They expect you to make product CAD models and specifications available, and they expect a complete customer experience. This is an increasing challenge for manufacturers who deal with complex products, multiple distribution partners, and different file formats.
The bottom line? You can’t generate leads or get on board with projects by following old, worn-out methods. Now is the time to focus on sharing valuable information. Here are the top three areas to consider to improve your B2B marketing:
1. Get the “specs.”
“Specs” means that a designer or architect incorporates product specifications directly into the design. Imagine how much easier it would be to sell if this happened. Designers are the primary decision makers who decide what components to include in a design. Once the design reaches a certain stage in each project, the designer or architect starts thinking about materials and products to use. Once he knows that your products meet his design vision, voila, you have the specifications and the chances of him reaching out to you for a quote increase dramatically.
3D CAD models save design time as they can be downloaded instead of creating drawings from scratch. Designers are under pressure to complete design projects on time and on budget, so they rely on their suppliers’ online catalogs and CAD models to do so.
Being in the right place at the right time:
How do you reach out to a designer or architect during the design phase of your project? Be where they are. The design phase should take place in CAD and BIM software and your product catalog should be accessible from there.
2. Get high quality at low cost:
Giving your customers access to product information in the form of 3D models along with detailed specifications and information has many benefits. On the other hand, giving your customers self-service options can save you a lot of effort yourself. Information is accessible 24/7, even when your sales team is not working. Providing information in a variety of formats and structures reduces the number of technical sales inquiries and allows designers to focus on developing new products instead of emailing or sending CAD models to customers to help with product selection.
Sales leads that you receive instead of downloading CAD models convert faster and cost less. This is not surprising, considering that your customers have already selected a product and integrated the CAD model into their design.
Be accurate and available: When customers want to know if your product is right for them, a long, verbose description is not enough. You expect them to be able to see and touch your products as much as possible. Customers expect to be able to download 2D and 3D CAD and BIM files directly from your website in formats compatible with their configurations.
However, with a large and evolving product line, maintaining a single version of the truth can be difficult. Imagine a customer visits your website and what they see there doesn’t match the e-catalog they received in the mail from the retailer. Part numbers and product dimensions may be different, or they may not correctly imagine the product from the description. Of course, they won’t stop and will take the time to work things out. They remove you from the shortlist and move on. Meanwhile, you are still waiting for the phone to ring and never hear anything about it.
Unfortunately, many manufacturers present outdated, inconsistent and sometimes contradictory data and don’t understand why they were left out of the selection.
We have helped manufacturers create rich, dynamic databases of product information that are accessible to customers in any market. Input/output plugins allow designers to output CAD/BIM files in any format their customers use. 3D viewers on your website allow
customers to view your product models without needing any software. Providing information at the right time and in the most usable format is essential to creating a positive customer experience.
3. Get more sales:
Ultimately, it all comes down to sales. Let’s assume you’re doing all of this right. Your customer has access to your 3D model and your product is incorporated into the design. Now what? How do you ensure your sales team hits their targets? How do you help your resellers grow their customer base?
When someone uses your plugin or downloads a CAD model from your website, a sales event is triggered. Your part could be on its way to being built into a product. The tip is passed to the sales team or distributor and they strike while the iron is hot. The only thing you have to worry about now is making a strong impression.
Be attractive:
It’s often overlooked how much customers care about appearances. If your sales and marketing materials are unpolished, they will think you are unpolished either. Imagine a customer who has been reviewing and rating companies like yours all day. His eyes are misty-eyed and he can’t wait for the day to be over. Will your product catalog really capture their attention? With a vast product line, it’s impossible to create quirky and engaging content for every product. But does that mean it has to be boring?
We had the opportunity to help suppliers create beautiful, interactive 3D product brochures that could breathe the necessary vibrancy into conversations with sales partners. Customers can experience your products and at the same time get a positive impression of your innovative brand. Sending your customers a 3D PDF means they’ll spend hours flipping through virtual pages and tinkering with drawings.
Conclusion:
Competing in this digital world requires innovative and coordinated efforts. Customers want instant, diverse information that makes their lives easier. Providing insufficient data is missing out on an opportunity.
