Marketing - General

4-Step Marketing Budget Process That Will Let You Win

By: Juli Durante

The marketing budget. You have it in hand, you look at it, and you think one of a few things. If you’re lucky, you might be saying, “WOW! I have so much extra budget this year – what can I do with it?” If you’re not, you might be saying “HOW can I deliver results like this year’s if I don’t have as much money to spend?” Either way, you’re looking at a challenge: how can you make sure you split up that marketing budget so that you – and your company – win? Here’s how to set up a successful marketing budget.

Web and Digital Marketing

Inclusive Web Design with SEO Wins

By: Kim Krause Berg, Owner, Creative Vision Web Consulting, LLC

Inclusive web design with SEO creates new opportunities for digital marketers and web designers. Website conversions depend on how well webpages assist people with decision making starting from search queries. Your role as an SEO is making webpages appear in search engine results at the precise moment for the exact people requesting them. Inclusive design opens up a world of possibilities to reach a greater target market. Avoiding an accessibility ADA lawsuit is driving companies to seek accessibility specialists. Many SEO consultants and agencies are adding inclusive design and accessibility to prevent the threat of a lawsuit and because their clients are investing in their branding and meeting competitive marketing challenges. SEO and inclusive design provide great opportunities for you in 2020.
#design #webdev

What to Consider When Buying a Machine Tool

By: Jedd Cole, Associate Editor, Gardner Business Media, Inc.

This probably isn’t mind-blowing, but machine tool purchase decisions are not to be taken lightly. A shop looking to acquire a new machine has to weigh its options. This means, among other things, carefully considering the work it needs the machine to do and evaluating any number of financial variables against the machine models available. This Knowledge Center is dedicated to trying to make those tasks a little easier. We'll continue to add content over time. Here’s the basics on What to Consider When Buying a Machine Tool as well as some recent machine introductions from some of the industry's leading players.

Web and Digital Marketing

Why Manufacturers Should Pay Attention to Web Accessibility

By: Jeff White, Co-founder, Kula Partners, Made for Manufacturers

Accessibility doesn’t need to be thought of as a compromise that somehow reduces the aesthetic of your website. All you need to do is ensure that your design ideas are informed by accessibility standards, and you will end up with an attractive and modern website that works for the largest possible number of users.

October Sees Moderate Contraction, but Growing New Orders

By: Michael Guckes, Chief Economist/Director of Analytics, Gardner Intelligence

The GBI for October was 48.3, signaling a fourth month of mildly contracting business activity across the U.S. manufacturing sector. However, total new orders continue to do well. Based on a three-month moving average, the best performing end-market as of October was aerospace, followed by medical equipment manufacturing. The market for construction machinery continued to experience the fastest rate of contracting business activity, mirrored by a similarly enduring contraction in the industrial motors market.
#economics

Content Marketing

Ensure Your Content Strategy is Heading in the Right Direction

By: Elton Mayfield, Co-Founder, ER Marketing

What would your marketing team do if you crashed on a desert island? With no compass, map, or GPS, and no way to know how to find kindling, shelter, or water, you’d be lost. Is your content team on the right path? How do you know when your content team is off the mark? Your content might look sharp and read well, and have racked up LinkedIn likes and other social media attention. But, how do you know if your content is heading in the right direction? Here are four steps to ensure your content strategy is on target.

Web and Digital Marketing

What B2B Sales Prospects Want to See from Your Website

By: Al Davidson, Strategic Sales & Marketing (SSM)

As you walk through the customer’s journey through your website, you should ask yourself: “is this page/landing page/pop-up window/website feature making it easier to convert people into customers?” Here are tips to make your website more sales-focused, based on the most important elements that your prospects want to see.

Marketing - General

3 Major Trends in Manufacturing (And They All Begin with “A”)

By: Peter Zelinski, Editor-in-Chief, Additive Manufacturing and Modern Machine Shop magazines

Peter Zelinski, Editor-in-Chief of Additive Manufacturing and Modern Machine Shop, sees 3 big, major, long-term trends that continue to reshape manufacturing.

Gardner Business Index (GBI) Shows Uneven Contraction Across Facility Sizes

By: Michael Guckes, Chief Economist/Director of Analytics, Gardner Intelligence

While some manufacturing markets have maintained their levels of growth, manufacturing as a whole is in its third month of consistent contraction. The GBI finished September at 48.2, marking its third consecutive month of contracting business activity and falling over 16% from the same month one year ago. While firms of all sizes are feeling the slowdown, manufacturers with fewer than 20 employees have been feeling it less severely than ones with 100-200 employees.
#economics

Marketing - General

Convincing the C-Suite of Long-Term Marketing Plans

By: Elton Mayfield, Co-Founder, ER Marketing

As a marketing professional, how do you convince the decision makers (who don’t necessarily understand your process) that a two-month-long campaign is worth the upfront investment? Here are a few ideas to make your job just a bit easier.

Print Marketing

Buying B2B Print and Digital Advertising. A Common-Sense Primer.

By: Mark Semmelmayer, Chief Idea Officer, Pen & Inc. Marketing Communications

Buying B2B advertising may not be your full-time job, so here are tips to help do it better.

Marketing - General

Marketing Potential with Insights from Industry Experts

By: Cadenas PARTsolutions

This ebook is for industrial marketers, built by industrial marketers. Fourteen experts from manufacturers and marketing companies throughout the industrial sphere share their advice. Inside, you will find practical, industry-specific advice from experts in the field. These nuggets are meant to help steer your marketing strategy toward success.