B2B Growth Blog

B2B manufacturing has long relied on traditional sales and marketing approaches. These include networking, print ads, and trade shows. But the market is changing – and quickly. New buyers are entering decision-maker and leadership roles. Those buyers grew up on the internet and have totally different expectations. And as the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on traditional marketing, these changes only accelerated.

Many IT Managed Services Providers (MSPs) struggle with using marketing to grow. And it's not surprising!

Because if you search Google for “marketing strategy ideas,” you’ll often get ideas like “post on social media,” “run LinkedIn ads,” or “create content for SEO.” But here’s the problem: None of these are marketing strategies. They are marketing tactics – what we like to call "random acts of marketing."

This approach fails to attract and convert leads into sales and can be unsustainable in the long term. Without a solid marketing plan, you risk wasting time and money on tactics that may not work. 

Between the pandemic and the fear of a recession, these recent years have left many B2B manufacturing companies struggling to grow. Traditional techniques like trade shows and print ads are no longer delivering needed growth. In turn, many manufacturers have turned to new ways to attract and retain customers in order to grow their business, like publishing on social media and email marketing.

It can be frustrating when you google something related to your business and you’re hoping to see your website, but instead, you find one of your competitors atop the rankings.