Building a Successful Manufacturing Marketing Plan Step-by-Step

A well-crafted marketing plan isn't just a good idea—it's absolutely essential for a manufacturing company that wants to achive long-standing success. Without it, your manufacturing business risks being overshadowed by competitors and losing valuable opportunities for growth and expansion.

Unlike other business sectors, manufacturing companies often face unique challenges that can affect their marketing strategies such as complex supply chains, long sales cycles, technical products and adherence to strict safety regulations. An effective and comprehensive marketing plan will address these challenges head-on, providing a roadmap for reaching target customers, increasing brand visibility and driving sales despite these challenges.

This article offers actionable insights and strategies for creating a marketing plan that's specifically designed to propel your manufacturing business forward. From market research to goal setting and budget allocation to tactical execution within your internal teams, we'll cover all the essential steps to ensure your manufacturing marketing efforts are not only effective but also sustainable for the future.

Market research is the foundation of any successful marketing plan. By gathering data and insights about your manufacturing business’s current target market, competitors and industry trends, you'll be equipped to make informed decisions and shape your marketing strategies for maximum impact.

Take, for instance, a manufacturing company looking to expand into a new geographic territory. Through thorough market research, they discover untapped opportunities and unforeseen potential barriers to entry, allowing them to adjust their marketing approach accordingly and avoid costly mistakes. 

One opportunity they uncovered is that the territory was experiencing rapid residential and commercial development due to several large corporations moving their headquarters nearby. The manufacturer decided to create a marketing strategy for wholesale and bulk purchases and shifted their target audience towards the major developers. 

A potential barrier to entry they discovered was that the area’s manufacturing competition was far more intense than what their business was typically used to navigating. They found that in order to be competitive and make a profit, they would have to be strategic with their pricing models, offer payment plans and advertise new financial flexibility and partnerships with buyers.

Conducting market research is not a one-and-done endeavor; Ideally, it’s a consistent and fluid part of your manufacturing business’s day-to-day operations. Keeping a pulse on the market and your ideal buyers’ new wants, research methods and purchasing behaviors is the key to creating products and marketing strategies that offer both profit and business expansion. 

Here’s a quick list of how to conduct market research: 

1. Identify your manufacturing business’s target market.
2. Define a S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable relevant, timebound) goal for your marketing campaign(s).
3. Analyze competitor strategies to find inspiration and holes.
4. Leverage tools and resources for data collection and analysis.
5. Test, experiment and iterate. 

Depending on the marketing campaign’s goals, the data you look for when conducting market research may differ. 

If your manufacturer wants to increase sales for residential work, it will be important to gather information about local shipping and sourcing costs, what products other competitors are offering and the unique needs of the buyers. Similarly, if your manufacturer wants to increase sales for commercial work, it will be important to identify rapidly developing territories before delving into more detailed data.

While it's important to set ambitious marketing goals that push your manufacturing business forward, it's equally crucial to strike a balance between ambition and what your business is realistically likely to accomplish given its current resources. Before setting marketing goals for the year, assess your manufacturing business’s workforce bandwidth, budget and any other relevant resources.

It can also be helpful to identify the successes and hardships encountered during previous goal periods and plan ahead for similar outcomes and challenges with your business’s current goals.

Well-set and well-defined marketing goals can inspire a company’s employees and generate new momentum and purpose for everyone involved. Ill-defined and out-of-reach marketing goals lead to a burned-out workforce and a frustrated executive team. Taking time to understand the growth that’s truly important for your manufacturing company to achieve next and what resources are realistically at your business’s disposal is crucial to the goals’ success and for your manufacturer’s health.

Granularity in goal setting is one of the best ways to generate meaningful momentum toward success and avoid burnout and frustration. Granularity in goal setting is the simple practice of breaking a larger goal down into smaller, easily attainable goals and actionable tasks.

For example, if your manufacturer sets a yearly goal to increase revenue by 20%, granularity comes into play by setting quarterly, monthly and weekly sales goals. These bite-sized achievements are easier to track, easier for your sales team to work towards and ensure the overall yearly goal is well on its way to success. 

Ideally, each department within your manufacturing business defines its own goal(s) that serve the overall business’s marketing goal(s) sustainably. Department heads and managers know their teams best and their strengths and weaknesses related to meeting the goal(s). In addition to more effective progress tracking, this grassroots approach to granular goal setting creates company comradery and fosters an atmosphere of respect within the workplace that is essential for producing good work and positive business outcomes.

What happens when important deadlines and marketing deliverables get missed? Hiccups and unforeseen challenges inevitably arise with any endeavor. We recommend budgeting in buffer time to deadlines for any unexpected problems and complications. As issues are bound to arise, planning and creating space to deal with them is one of the best ways to keep deadlines and deliverables on track.

Similarly, staying the course requires discipline, focus and a clear understanding by everyone of how each action and task moves the overall marketing goal forward for your manufacturing business. Designing incentive plans and individual recognition within teams can provide the necessary motivation and dedication within team members to continue efficiently working towards the goal(s).

Not all “success” metrics are created equal. Your business’s KPIs (key performance indicators) will vary depending on your manufacturer’s marketing goals. 

For example, if your manufacturer has a marketing goal to 2x its email list by the end of the quarter, then tracking purchases wouldn’t be a helpful KPI–even though increased revenue would be a positive side effect from the email marketing efforts. Better KPIs to track would be contact form submissions, direct email sign-ups and email campaign performance. 

Here are some universal KPIs that every manufacturer can track, regardless of their marketing campaigns’ goals: 

• Conversion rates
• Click-through-rates (ads, emails, website)
• Email list growth rate
• Social media follower growth rate 
• Website traffic 
• Qualified lead generation 
• ROAS (return on ad spend) 
• Website session time and page visits 

Remember that KPIs can be flexible. If your manufacturer begins a goal cycle tracking certain KPIs but then realizes other KPIs would be more useful to track, don’t be afraid to switch what data you’re paying attention to. 

Lastly, because manufacturers typically experience a lengthy sales cycle, it’s important to create strategic checkpoints within your marketing plan that efficiently move leads further down the sales funnel. Expecting your business’s clients and buyers to continue that downward movement without marketing that compels them to do so is leaving too much up to chance and leaving room for a competitor to step in and steal leads. 

Creating email segments based on previous interactions with your business, retargeted paid advertisements and special discounts or offers for particularly hot leads are all effective ways to create consistent movement through the sales funnel, even over a lengthy sales cycle.

Your manufacturer’s marketing budget should align with your overall business goals and market research findings.

When allocating budget and deciding on marketing spend, it’s helpful to segment needs by looking at different marketing channels. Allotting the same amount of budget to social media, paid ads, email marketing and website search engine optimization (SEO) might not be the most effective strategy. Instead, identify which channels generate the most meaningful conversions and business for your manufacturing company and consider increasing spend in those areas.

Keep in mind that just because one marketing channel doesn’t prove to be the highest performer doesn’t mean that its budget should be cut or should remain the same as previous seasons. It could be that an underperforming channel might become a top performer if more budget were allotted. Consult department heads and marketing experts to identify your manufacturer’s true top-performing marketing channels and how an increased budget could support them.

A clear, actionable plan is essential for success. Using the S.M.A.R.T. and granular goal-setting strategy will ensure a foolproof marketing plan that everyone can easily follow.

Use this quick checklist to make sure that your manufacturer’s next marketing goal is S.M.A.R.T. and granular:

• S: is the goal specific? Can everyone involved easily repeat the goal in just one sentence?
• M: is the goal measurable? Does it include percentages and numbers that are easy to quantify? 
• A: is the goal achievable? Does everyone involved have a strong confidence that this goal can be met without stretching the business too far beyond its means? 
• R: is the goal relevant? Will meeting this goal provide lasting value to your manufacturing business and offer a new foundation for new growth? 
• T: is the goal timebound? Is there an overall deadline and smaller deadlines for everyone to work towards? 
• Granular: is the overall goal broken down into smaller, bite-sized goals? 

In addition to creating a granular and S.M.A.R.T. marketing goal, building in routine team accountability and celebration is key to ensuring that everyone within your manufacturer is pulling in the same direction with efficiency and purpose.

Accountability can look like regular performance reviews, one-on-one checks ins as well as peer-to-peer reports and collaboration. If a personalized incentive program is in place, having an easily accessible dashboard where employees can monitor their progress toward the earning the incentive is an excellent addition.

Celebration can look like team outings, individual rewards and company-wide recognition for hardwork. It’s important that celebration be valued and communicated at every level of the business. This creates an overall work culture of appreciation which can boost morale and thus productivity within the workforce.

Two more important elements for remaining on track with your manufacturer’s marketing plan are Incorporating feedback loops and clearly stating superfluous goals.

Continuous improvement is essential for long-term success. Feedback loops between peers, employees and managers, department heads and executive teams and so on can highlight problems as well as showcase what’s working when headed towards a specific marketing goal. Without continuous feedback, testing and experimentatiton, marketing campaign choices may not be effective.

Stating what marketing goals the manufacturer is not trying to meet within a specific goal cycle can also be helpful in keeping everyone laser-focused on what’s important. Particularly for long-term goals that span many months or years, it can be easy to forget what matters and to swerve into superfluous work that doesn’t directly serve the overall marketing vision of the manufacturer.

Having a clear list of what’s less important until the goal is achieved can create mental space for everyone to be able to work on what’s most important.

Feeding into your manufacturer’s workplace culture during intense goal times is imperative for achieving success. Your manufacturer’s employees are its greatest asset and investing in them is the same as investing in your company and investing in achieving its goals.

It's time to put marketing plan theory into practice. By following the advice and strategies outlined in this guide, you're well-equipped to develop a marketing plan that drives growth, enhances brand visibility and sets your manufacturing business up for long-term success in a competitive market.

The principles outlined in this article will not only prepare your manufacturing company to create and meet ambitious goals but will also strengthen the business’s workforce and overall company morale for future endeavors. Remembering to pair S.M.A.R.T., granular goals with team accountability, celebration, feedback and clear communication will increase company ROI on all fronts.

Venveo is a full-service marketing agency that can turn your manufacturing business’s marketing into a growth machine. Contact us today or leanr more about manufacturing marketing services that we offer to help our clients ensure steady online growth in a competitive market.