Do you have an internal marketing team? How about an internal sales and marketing team? Is your "team" or "committee" 1 person? 

If you don't have anyone in-house that's working on marketing your business, you're not alone. I'm always astonished at the number of decent sized companies that we work with that don't have a dedicated staff for marketing. When a company doesn't put thought into the nuts and bolts of how they get new clients, who they are, and how to best reach them, it creates a challenge for companies like ours.

According to Software Advice's Marketing Automation Buyer Report, 85% of manufacturers cited the need to nurture leads due to a relatively long sales cycle associated with their product. 

You may believe that your inbound marketing tactics will be over at lead generation --  but, you're wrong. In order to carry out a lead during the marketing funnel process, you need to nurture it. Lead nurturing is a vital role for all inbound marketers in order to gain valuable and sustainable relationships.

Manufacturing has a long buying cycle -- which is why lead nurturing is especially essential for this industry. B2B companies should be making consistent contact with prospects at all stages of the buying cycle to receive all of the awesome benefits of lead nurturing.

What does every successful marketing strategy have in common? If you look closely, you'll find these five traits in every aspect of the campaign:

1. Pertinent
2. Profitable
3. Practical
4. Provocative
5. Plugged-in

Everything you create, post, publish, and share should follow all of these P's to make your manufacturing business strategy more successful.

(Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Deb Calvert, founder of People First Productivity Solutions, on the "why" and the "how" of driving employee engagement.)

Employee engagement matters in the workplace. In order to encourage and promote engagement, you need to have the right leadership.

You’ve finished a beautiful new video and you’re ready to share it with the masses on YouTube.
If you’re like me, this is when your workflow is derailed by a daunting blank “description” box.

So I’m getting you back on track with some tips and best practices for getting the most from your video’s description.

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.

In the world of online branding there’s lots of advice to be had from veteran bloggers, marketing firms, and the like. But if there’s one question that’s tough to get a straight answer on, it’s “How often should you blog for business?”

Manufacturers, in general, have been slow to learn and adopt digital best practices like content marketing to stand out in the 21st century. Not being absolutely sure about website traffic isn’t an option in the breakneck speed and high stakes of the digital world.

One of the top concerns among our clients is a lack of brand awareness. They have so many great things to offer, but no one seems to know they exist. Sound familiar?

I have a friend over while sitting down to write this. She’s trying to finish her degree in education. Strewn about the coffee table and couch are textbooks and piles of paper she printed at the library - a crazy, disorganized organization. This cluttered scene makes sense only to overly caffeinated college students and old-time movie detectives haphazardly connecting pictures and newspaper articles on the wall with thumbtacks and string.

Oh, yeah, she’s doing some online research, too. And this got me thinking about blogging best practices and the role research plays in crafting a well-fed, credible, informative, well-performing blog.