North America's largest metal fabricating and finishing event is back in-person!
While the incoming new technology and networking is exciting, the biggest goal for manufacturers in 2022 will be recalibrating their marketing and sales practices post-COVID*.
(*Hopefully post-COVID.)
The FABTECH 2021 trade show is coming to Chicago from Sept. 13-16, 2021. Attendees will meet with world-class suppliers, see emerging technology and products up-close, and learn how to increase profits and productivity.
That last one is where “Market and Build Your Fabrication Story” will prove essential.
This 4-hour educational block at FABTECH will teach manufacturers how to grow a customer-focused brand amid a changing sales/marketing landscape. Veteran FABTECH speaker Josh Curcio of protocol 80 is back for his fourth year and will lead a ~30-minute segment of this seminar alongside yours truly. I’ll also lead a separate, breakout workshop later in the week to help manufacturers develop modernized marketing practices.
Here are the actionable takeaways you’ll get from each session!
FABTECH 2021 in Chicago: Sales & Marketing Sessions
We strongly encourage growth-minded manufacturers to check out both of these talks:
- 8 a.m. to noon CST (9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST) -- Monday, Sept. 13
- As part of “Market and Build Your Fabrication Story,” Josh and I will present “20 Bulletproof Marketing & Sales Tactics (In Case Another Pandemic Comes).” We’ll be the second of five sessions in this block, so be there on time(-ish)!
- 8-9:30 a.m. CST (9-10:30 a.m. EST) -- Wednesday, Sept. 15
- I’ll conduct a hands-on workshop titled “Creating an Inbound Marketing Action Plan for Manufacturers Focused on Lead Generation.”
‘20 Bulletproof Marketing & Sales Tactics’
COVID taught us that traditional manufacturing marketing and sales tactics aren’t as tried-and-true as we think -- even as we return to “normal.”
Over the past 18 months, Josh (as p80 head of sales) and I (a client consultant) felt this pain just like you did. We’ll review the bulletproof tricks our niche marketing and sales clients used to thrive during the pandemic.
We’ll recommend and dive into 10 points of emphasis for your company:
- Varying Contact Mediums -- Promoting your content with B2B social media, email, and PPC (pay-per-click advertising) best practices. Mixing up sales outreach with email, video, social media, and the ol’-fashioned phone call.
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- Working Smarter -- Automation tools for internal management. Sales automation tools (i.e. sequence emails) so sellers can focus on what they do best.
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- Actually Nurturing -- Streamlining lead follow-up. Learning to actively listen, ask questions, and advise in a genuine, pressure-free way.
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- Sharing Assets -- Producing educational content (blog posts, videos, etc.) for all stages of the modern B2B buyer’s journey. Aligning sales and marketing teams re: what assets are needed, and when they’ll be available.
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- The Path(s) to Success -- SEO (search engine optimization), PPC, and third-party submissions (both from and to you). Don’t rely on just one path to your quota/goal!
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- Updating Tactics -- Preparing reps for digital selling, including proficiency in CRM and other software. Converting physical trade show resources to digital. (If you attend, you’ll experience firsthand what we mean!)
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- Building the Relationship -- Customizing your approach for 1-to-1 and 1-to-many touchpoints. Taking great notes during sales conversations and sending a killer recap.
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- Qualifying Buyers -- Better understanding how to target a niche market. Updating your buyer persona and journey to attract better-fit leads.
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- Before & After Executing -- Before you ever write a single piece of content, building rock-solid content maps and plans focused on evergreen keywords.
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- Top Tips -- [SECRET UNTIL MONDAY]
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‘Creating an Inbound Marketing Action Plan for Manufacturers’
This hands-on workshop will include a complementary workbook so you can do while we teach.
First we’ll share data that proves manufacturers and content marketing are a perfect match -- even for “boring” industries. Then we’ll fill out the workbook to build your new B2B digital marketing strategy. Finally, we’ll ship you off with “homework” -- final touches to tackle when you return home:
- Niche keyword and content topic research
- Buyer persona & journey development
- Competitor stalking (legally)
Together we’ll construct all aspects of your next campaign:
- Goal Setting -- ID’ing how you’ll measure success and plotting single- and multiyear benchmarks. Examining your competitors’ website and marketing efforts (i.e. blogging quality and quantity)
- Buyer Personas -- what makes your top current and prospective buyers a great fit? How can you dig deeper into their pain points, digital hangouts, and purchasing hangups to strike more gold
- Activity Setting -- what’s missing on your site that could turn more traffic into more leads and sales? Options include lead magnets, content writing, automation, and paid Google or social ads
- Content Production -- how content works, how to generate topics, and how to research keywords so the right people find your content
FABTECH + INBOUND
B2B sellers and marketers for complex industries are in the midst of career-defining change. This is a good thing -- as long as you don’t get left behind!
Head to FABTECH’s marketing and sales education sessions the mornings of Sept. 13 and 15, and start your commitment to modernizing your practices for reaching B2B buyers..
You’ll get:
- An exclusive education
- A complementary mini-guidebook to niche marketing strategies
- A workbook to build your inbound marketing plan
- Special access to a resource hub with links to our slides, the workbook, etc.
- Swag (We ❤️ fancy pens)
If you’re a seller or executive struggling to mix COVID-era remote tactics with “the way things were” pre-COVID, check out Josh’s HubSpot’s INBOUND 2021 seminar too. This virtual session (coming Oct. 14) will give sales teams a blueprint for blending remote selling tactics into their legacy tactics (and ID’ing bad habits you can ditch permanently).
To learn more about upcoming and recent events, click below: