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The availability of raw materials is a cornerstone of the US industrial sector and is clearly critical to its growth. Steel is still a top product that is obtained from suppliers. Here are some basic marketing strategies you need to grow your business in the steel industry and gain more market share.

Understand the customers you want to reach

Digital marketing ensures that you stay connected with customers and continue to be seen by new prospects – and more and more manufacturers are investing in its technologies. That’s because today’s new age of B2B buyers are tech-savvy millennials and research your services online before contacting you. Studies show that:

• 74% choose the provider who is the first to offer added value and insights into their problems
• 67% now rely more on content and research than they did a year ago
• 80% expect the same shopping experience as B2C customers

Show reports that manufacturers can no longer evade the reach and effectiveness of digital marketing and change their approach from outdated tactics such as print ads to generating new customers through their website and digital advertisements.

Is your marketing strategy aligned with the needs of your buyers?

Planning a basic marketing strategy for the steel industry

An important part of any marketing strategy today is a website. To see if you have a strong platform to reach more buyers and get a marketing plan off the ground, start with a competitive analysis of your website.

Go to your reporting tools like Google Analytics and take a look at key website components like:

• Keyword performance
• Optimized images
• Page titles and descriptions
• Contact buttons
• Mobile site speed

If you’re not sure how to analyze your website efforts, that’s fine! You may need to reach out to industry experts to fully assess your website content, SEO traffic, mobile friendliness, etc., and to understand what all of these details mean.

Thomas’ Free digital health check can review your steelmaking website and see a detailed comparison of your website against competitors.

Optimize your website to deliver the content buyers need

With buyers looking for your services online, your website is an important foundation in your growth efforts. They just can’t find you if you’re not there. [See exactly who’s searching for you with a free Custom In-Market Buyer Report]

Today, 47% of consumers expect a webpage to load in 2 seconds or less, and 33% of users leave a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load. If the mobile version of your website doesn’t compare to the functionality and control of the desktop version of your website, visitors are likely to get frustrated with the poor user experience and turn to a competitor.

Buyers love to research tips in your industry and do their own research before contacting you. Present yourself as a trusted leader by posting free resources, guides, and case studies that address common challenges your buyers face.

Infra-Metals presents all of its material specifications in a catalog format. This helps their engineers and buyers see exactly what Infra-Metals has in stock and how their materials meet their project requirements. It just makes the client’s job easier, which is the key to attracting new business.

In addition to prioritizing your website’s mobile features and content pages, prioritize key components to drive website conversions. This means that potential customers and prospects can easily contact you on your website or submit their information. For example, your contact page offers more than one option for website visitors to contact you; Make sure these are visible at all times.

The Continental Steel contact page is used to generate leads. Note that website visitors have many options to contact Continental Steel depending on their needs – a basic form, an emergency request, a future project request, etc.

Show more examples:

More ideas for promoting your company in the steel industry

To take your website efforts even further, a digital advertising strategy can promote your steel business to the exact audience you want to do business with. In some cases, you can promote your business for free with minimal effort. Submit your company information in online directories such as:

Take the time to make sure your company name, address, and phone number are consistent across platforms. This will ensure that you get traffic to your website, potential customers and prospects find you, and your brand stays professional. The right content, combined with digital strategies like SEO, will help drive high quality search engine traffic to your website and add location-based keywords to relevant pages such as “NY Steel Fabrication Services” or “New England Steel & Metals Manufacturers”. helps you attract buyers in your area who are looking for you.

“Thomasnet.com has brought California Heating Equipment (CHE) over $ 5 million in business and opportunity with major aerospace manufacturers. We are currently working with two major aerospace companies on over $ 3.6 million in the Manufacturing, which is a direct result of our Thomasnet.com program. We currently attribute CHE’s 200% increase in sales primarily to our internet marketing program we developed with Thomasnet.com. “

Learn more: Online marketing for defense buyers

Many manufacturers included paid advertising Strategies like display ads and promoted content to increase their reach, increase awareness of their steel services, and drive traffic to their website. Managing paid advertising campaigns on search platforms can be costly if you’re new to it. There are many filters and factors that you need to consider such as: B. The timing of your ads and the job titles you want to achieve.

Thomas makes it easy for you to advertise to the buyers you want to do business with. Our platform hosts more than 1.2 million B2B experts who source industrial products and services. Manufacturers in the steel industry have the opportunity to announce a new service in our e-mail newsletter (read by more than 300,000 B2B buyers and MROs!) Or to show how proud your family business is with video advertising.

➡️ Thomas fact: Suppliers who advertise with videos (like the one below) on their Thomasnet.com company profile get 32% more engagement and inquiries – for some even up to 70%. When you purchase an advertising program, you can have a video (like the one below) produced for free.

By doing Email newsletter ad Example below, Uber Freight selects the target audience (ex. Agriculture, construction, etc.) that they want to promote their discounted service to. The ad brings the qualified visitors to their website, submit the form and convert it into a lead!

Generate leads with a digital marketing strategy

Today’s business and consumer landscape is changing more digitally every day. A complete digital marketing strategy for steel manufacturers has many components, but you can start with a few website updates. Studies show that 30% of consumers don’t even consider a business if they don’t have a website. Hence, your website should be the foundation of your growth efforts. Our free e-book, The Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide for Manufacturers, outlines all of the steps you need to take to grow your business through 2022 and beyond.

If you have any questions along the way, contact us to learn how Thomas online solutions increase your reach with audiences looking for your steel services and enable your team to generate new leads, sell new business and acquire new customers. We have been connecting B2B buyers with suppliers for more than 122 years and can run a free digital health check on your website to show you exactly what you need to meet your growth goals.

“Through the partnership with Thomas, we were able to build customer relationships that made us more stable in the course of economic growth. Thanks to Thomas we were able to create a whole new company for our business, ”said Ken Carlton VP of Corrugated Metals.

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