Inbound Marketing for Manufacturers Blog

North America's largest metal fabricating and finishing event is back in-person! 

While the incoming new technology and networking is exciting, the biggest goal for manufacturers in 2022 will be recalibrating their marketing and sales practices post-COVID*.

Change happens daily for marketing and sales teams, and it can be difficult to keep track of every single contact and their information. And once you combine the number of contacts you have with the different stages of the sales cycle, you can quickly become overwhelmed.

This is where B2B marketing automation tools come in.

The HubSpot CRM can be most likened to an onion; tons of layers to peel back and discover, and almost endless uses in recipes (in this analogy, recipes = marketing / sales strategies). 

You attend trade shows to obtain valuable leads for your company. But do you have a plan in place for what to do once you’re back in the office from the trade show so you can move those leads through the funnel?

Now that you’ve become a master of trade show email efficiency by utilizing pre-written trade show email templates and leveraging HubSpot’s email platform to send them, it’s time to take the next step: analyzing the email results. 

This year (on October 17, 2019 to be specific) marked the first year of the Manufacturing Marketing World conference in Jamestown, NY. 

protocol80, in partnership with MAST, the NWIRC, and the SBDC, worked to create the first educational conference geared toward helping manufacturers reach more prospects and generate more sales. This goal was achieved with the help of dedicated speakers, covering an array of topics throughout the day.

To say “you had to be there” would be an understatement. But, for those of you who couldn’t make it (or for anyone who wants a refresher), we’ve put together this recap guide with the key takeaways from each session, and a video glimpse of the day.

You’ve explored pre-trade show email templates and templates to send after the show is over (and if you haven't, what are you waiting for?!) to help become more productive and save time reaching out to trade show leads.

Social media for business can be daunting when you're tasked with creating relevant, engaging posts that will draw your audience to your site. We all know the feeling of sitting in front of an empty Facebook post composer, not sure where to go next!

When you get stuck, use this checklist guide to keep your gears moving, and your leads flowing.

There is a misconception that email marketing is dead. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially when it comes to manufacturing marketing emails.

The truth is, when email is leveraged properly as a part of a larger trade show strategy, it is one of the most powerful tools for connecting with leads and informing them about how your company, product, or service can help solve their problems.

We’ve put together this guide to serve as a general overview for trade show marketing emails -- and the general cadence to follow before, during, and after the trade show to increase your ROI.

Finally manufacturers, the spotlight is on you.

October 5th is Manufacturing Day in the United States. The intention of the day is to celebrate modern manufacturers and inspire the next generation of manufacturers. As the founders of the day put it:

“MFG Day is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges.”  

What are these challenges that manufacturers will address?

• Skilled labor shortage they face
• Connect with future generations
• Take charge of the public image of manufacturing
• Ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry

Pretty cool, right? Here’s how to participate.