Sarah is a sales & marketing content writer, with ten years of experience within the engineering & manufacturing industry. Working both at Qimtek and on a freelance basis, she can usually be found hammering away at a keyboard or with her head in a pile of engineering drawings.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the course of 2020 beyond recognition, which means that a lot of companies have had to adapt to an uncharted business landscape. Inevitably, many of the exhibitions that the industry relies upon to market and advertise their brand have had to be rescheduled to 2021, leaving a lot of engineering and manufacturing companies to wonder how they can boost their brand awareness through other means.
If you were hoping to exhibit this year but your show of choice has been rescheduled, then here are five other ways to increase your brand awareness in the meantime:
Be Active on Social Media:
There's no denying that in this day and age, social media is the most powerful brand awareness tool that a business can use. This goes for companies in every industry and engineering is no exception. By using social media effectively, you can reach thousands of potential customers with just a few clicks, which is what makes it so effective.
Social media is the most powerful brand awareness tool that a business can use.
There are many different social media platforms you can use, all of which have their own niches and benefits. From corporate platforms such as Linkedin, through to more personal sites such as Facebook, many engineering companies use multiple social media platforms as part of their marketing strategy. Whichever social media sites you choose to use, an online presence is invaluable in modern business and offers a loudspeaker with which to reach your prospects.
Consistent use of social media is essential for its success - it's not enough to simply have a profile and hope that people find you. Luckily, tools such as Hootsuite allow you to schedule social media posts in advance, which means that you can put the effort in at the start of a week or month and leave your profiles to work their magic. With that being said, it's important to interact with your followers, which means timely responses and reacts to any replies or posts on your page.
If you're interested in finding out more about how to use social media to grow your engineering business, then check out the links below:
Using Linkedin to Grow Your Engineering Business
Using Facebook to Grow Your Engineering Business
Using Youtube to Grow Your Engineering Business
Update Your Online Directory Listings:
A lot of people use online directories to find their next supplier, so it's crucial that your listings are kept up to date to ensure that you're not missing out on potential business opportunities. Contact details such as addresses and telephone numbers should all be accurate and you should also take the time to list your company on as many online directories as possible. Simply put, the larger your online presence is, the more chance you have of new customers finding and approaching you regarding new and upcoming projects.
If you're wondering where to start, the Qimtek directory serves engineering companies and manufacturers exclusively. It's absolutely free to list your company provided that you fall under the engineering and manufacturing umbrella, or if you have a budget for online marketing, then a Preferred Supplier Profile will also provide you with a range of additional features such as a prominent listing, image/video uploader and much more. For further information, please click the links below:
Qimtek Free Listing - How Can I Make It Work Better For Me?
Preferred Supplier Profile: How Can Qimtek Help You to Improve Your SEO?
Refresh Your Website:
Your website acts as an online shopfront, allowing prospects to see what you have to offer and whether or not you're a company that they would like to work with. Potential customers will form an impression of your company based upon what they find on your website, meaning that it's absolutely essential to have a site which portrays you as a professional and reliable business.
Why not put the time you would have spent exhibiting towards refreshing your company's website?
Why not put the time you would have spent exhibiting towards refreshing your company's website? You can be absolutely sure that this will be a worthwhile activity - and it doesn't have to be complicated either. Lose any clutter, upload some new images, rewrite your company's 'About' page and ensure that your contact details are up to date. By making your website as easy to navigate as possible, prospects are much more likely to get the whole picture of your company and earmark you as their next supplier.
If you need any tips on building a successful website for your engineering business, then why not check out the article below?
Engineering Website Design: How to Build a Great Engineering Website
Use Postal Marketing:
Postal marketing can be really effective for boosting your brand awareness.
In light of the GDPR laws which came into effect back in 2018, email marketing has become a bit of a minefield. However, postal marketing can be really effective for boosting your brand awareness. By providing your prospect with some tangible marketing literature to read through, such as a company brochure or capacity list, you can grab their attention without worrying about junk folders or spam filters standing in your way.
It's critical to remember that postal marketing can be expensive, so it's best to ensure that you qualify your prospects prior to sending them anything. Call the company and confirm their address, as well as the correct purchasing contact, so that you can be sure that your literature will land in front of the right person. It's also best to reserve postal marketing for prospective clients that you're really keen to work with - the cost of postage could quickly spiral out of control if you start sending brochures to all and sundry!
Harness the Power of Video:
Video has become an essential part of an effective marketing campaign within recent years and there's no reason why it can't work for you too. By creating a high-quality video that captivates your audience, you could receive thousands of views. Videos are also incredibly versatile - they make for great social media posts, can be embedded within your website and included within email marketing. Therefore, the production of a great company video (or even several) is a good investment of time and money.
Although your company video can be as professional as you would like it to be, fun, quirky videos have a higher chance of being shared and commented upon, resulting in more views. If you would like to find out more, click the link below to find out how Youtube can be used to promote your engineering company to a huge audience.
Using Youtube to Grow Your Engineering Business
If you require any further advice or information on increasing your brand awareness, Qimtek is more than happy to help! Leave a comment below, or get in touch via [email protected] or call 01256 394 500.