May 2019 Volume 1

MARKETING

Digital Marketing for the Forging Industry by David Underwood Whether you’rewearing your forginghatMonday – Friday, or your consumer hat on the weekends, it’s safe to say you’ve come to expect a specific level of interaction, follow-up, and customer experience from businesses you’re evaluating. Those searching for a forging manufacturer expect the same. This is even more true when considering the growing millennial workforce that is most accustomed to conducting business online. Is your digital strategy catching their attention andmeeting their needs?

throughout your website content, pay per click ad text and organic results. For example, do you have a robust metallurgical testing department, in-house tooling or heat-treating services that set you apart? Is your equipment, superior customer service or business tenure what differentiates you? Showcasing your differentiators through video, images, content, etc. is how youwill stand out from the crowd. Step 3: Evaluate Your Customer Experience When asking yourself who your business competes with from a customer experience standpoint, it’s important to think about how your own expectations have changed over the years. When it comes to providing a great customer experience, your business is being compared to every other company your potential new customer has enjoyed working with over the years, not just other forging companies. Let’s say you’ve gone through Steps 1 and 2 and are confident your site provides a great user experience and your content is meeting the needs of your visitors and setting you apart from the rest. Great! Now, what are your users experiencing once they call your business or submit a form? From how promptly your team responds to a potential customer’s inquiry or how helpful they are on the phone, doing a thorough audit of what a customer experiences with your company can help you gain business. Typically, customers are requesting quotes from three to five vendors before choosingone 2 , so howwill you standout?

Step 1: UnderstandYour Search Landscape To be successful online, you must consider your competition on all levels. For example, your local competitors may be different than who you see at industry trade shows. Additionally, the competitors you see at industry-wide events aren’t always who you’re going up against on Google or Bing. You’ll even find a difference in the landscape when searching on your computer versus aphone. Someof your competitionmay not even be another business! Keeping an eye on indirect competition in your online space (like Wikipedia) is also important when determining your digital marketing strategy. Your landscape is always changing, so regular searches for your key products/services are necessary to stay ahead. TOPSPOT INTERNET MARKETING CUSTOMER STATISTIC How often do you search for your own products or services to identify new competitors?

Daily Never

Monthly

Weekly

< Monthly

Customer Experience The sum of all interactions a person has with your company —Roy Barnes, Author of Customer Experience for Dummies

35 %

30 %

28 % 4 % 3 %

Attract • Organic/Paid Search

Inform • Case Studies • Technical Data • Pricing

Service • Customer Experience • Response Time

• Social • Offline

100%

Step 2: Highlight Your Differentiators Next, consider howtobest showcaseyour differentiators Source: TechValidate. TVID: 581-723-266 The search landscape is constantly changing & there are many factors that influence the results your target audience is seeing when doing a search for your products & services, so it’s important to revisit this process frequently. You’ll be in good company as well! Nearly 70% of our surveyed clients stated that they search for their own products & services at least monthly (some doing so weekly or even daily). 1

Engage • Mobile-Friendly • Ease of Use • Helpful Content

Connect • Clear CTAs • Easy to Use

One of the simplest adjustments a company can make to its customer service is to respond quickly. Eighty-six percent of customers surveyed expect a response from

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2019 12