Once again we hear that industrial commodities are in short supply and pricing has gone up for any one of many reasons – this is a cycle we have seen before of course and will settle out in time – do you remember the year that the Chinese bought up all the scrap steel on the planet – or the time that copper theft was a major crime wave?
What it indicates of course is that manufacturing has rebounded from Covid and we will now be in a period of shortage with extended deliveries and increased pricing – but it will be important to remember that everyone is in the same situation. So it is not a good idea to stop marketing on the basis that “we can’t deliver” because neither can anybody else.
Now is the time to keep your marketing going, do your best for every customer and they will thank you for it when business rebounds.
industrial marketing
It seems to me that industrial marketing is like talking to an interested audience in a small room – it is not necessary to raise your voice too much to have a big effect.
Trade and tech media are very helpful in this as they specifically focus on the very engineers, specifiers, and buyers who make up this niche.
It is similar in fact to a very large national trade exhibition where all your potential customers come together – but re-run 24/7 using the impact of print media and the convenience of the internet.
One of the things that drew me to marketing originally was the element of planning – and the present situation is a great example. The media are all looking ahead planning what they can do over the next year and that is what we are also recommending to clients.
Marketing is always a matter of trying to understand your market and where it is going – for me the interesting thing often is that industrial markets run differently from the high street. This means that it is important to stay focused on the positive – when business is down then that is the time to make marketing plans and to initiate action.
There are timing lags in every system and industrial marketing is no different – what is the time lag in your business process?
As we all pull together out of yet another major economic downturn it is worth considering the vital aspect of teamwork and the role of respect in that process.
We all have different perspectives which may conflict but need to be respected. For example, the sales team is generally focused on getting orders today – marketing on getting orders tomorrow, or next month, even next year. Because the time frames are variable it is important to respect that difference.
