An industrial manufacturing marketing strategy isn’t just a to-do list filled with tactics like “update the website” or “send an email campaign.” If you’re a product manager at a manufacturing company, your responsibilities extend beyond managing a team of design engineers. You also need to effectively position your products, promote them, and support them throughout the buying journey—a more digital, complex, and engineer-driven journey than ever.
According to Gartner, 75% of B2B buyers now prefer a sales experience without direct interaction with sales representatives.
The same report said, “It’s projected that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur through digital channels.” (Gartner)
For a quick overview of manufacturing marketing strategy, read my post, “Why Is a Marketing Strategy for Manufacturers Critical? Your Questions Answered.”
In this blog, I’ll walk you through 17 strategic questions every industrial product manager should ask before developing a marketing strategy for their manufacturing company. These questions are grouped by topic to help you see the bigger picture—and uncover what might be missing from your current approach.
And if you don’t have all the answers yet, that’s okay. That’s where I can help.
I have written this post from the perspective of a Product Manager, but you can switch roles to Marketing Manager or Director at a manufacturing company. Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage, and let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
Defining the Right Industrial Marketing Strategy for Manufacturers
Who Are We Selling To—and Why Should They Choose Us?
If your product team is busy innovating the next-generation valve or process automation device, and if marketing still feels like a disconnected effort, you’re not alone. I’ve seen this time and again: product managers understand the technical landscape but often underestimate the strategic depth required to market to industrial buyers.
This first group of questions lays the foundation. Before you dive into tactics, you must clarify who you’re trying to reach, what matters to them, and how your product addresses their needs better than the alternatives. Here’s where to begin:
1. Who exactly is our target audience—and what roles do they play in the buying process?
This seems like Marketing 101, but the buying process is rarely linear or single-threaded for manufacturers. A plant engineer might influence the specs, maintenance managers care about downtime and durability, while procurement focuses on price and delivery. Do you know which personas matter most at each stage of the buying journey? If not, you’re flying blind.
! Tip: Identifying buying roles early helps ensure your messaging, content, and sales tools speak directly to each decision-maker’s concerns and challenges.
2. What industries and applications are our products best suited for—and which verticals should we prioritize?
Not all market segments offer the same growth potential or margin. Are your valve and actuator lines gaining traction in hydrogen production or better positioned in water/wastewater treatment? Are you being proactive in targeting emerging applications or simply reacting to RFQs?
! Tip: Industrial marketing strategy for manufacturers starts with a thoughtful focus. Trying to be everything to everyone often results in shallow engagement and a wasted budget.
3. What are our core differentiators—beyond just technical specifications?
Let’s be honest—most technical buyers assume everyone meets the minimal specs. So, what makes you stand out? Is it the responsiveness of your engineering support? Shorter lead times? Proven lifecycle performance under extreme conditions? These kinds of differentiators matter in a crowded, commoditized industrial market.
Suppose you can’t clearly articulate why someone should choose your solution over a competitor’s, especially during early-stage research. In that case, creating the right messaging on your website and communicating it to the sales team or distributors will be challenging.
4. Is our messaging aligned with our positioning, or are we blending in with commodity providers?
Too many manufacturers bury their value proposition under generic language like “high-quality,” “cost-effective,” or “durable.” Those words don’t differentiate; they disappear. If your messaging sounds like everyone else’s, it’s probably not driving engagement or building trust. (Read parity in value propositions).
! Tip: Remember: engineers want substance, not slogans. Clear positioning supported by evidence makes your brand memorable—and credible.
These four questions are at the heart of your industrial marketing strategy for manufacturers. They help product managers step back and evaluate not just what the company makes, but why it matters to the people who buy, use, and recommend it.
Supporting Sales Through Marketing for Product Managers in Manufacturing
What Does Sales Really Need From Us—and Are We Delivering It?
In many manufacturing companies, there’s a disconnect between product management, marketing, and sales—especially when it comes to complex, engineer-driven buying decisions. As a product manager, you’re uniquely positioned to bridge that gap. But you need to ask the right strategic questions to do that effectively.
These next four questions focus on aligning your marketing efforts with the realities of industrial sales, not just generating leads but enabling your sales team with the insights and tools they need to convert them.
You may want to read my earlier post, How Can Manufacturers Align Sales & Marketing to Improve Lead Conversions in Complex B2B Industrial Sales?
5. What role does marketing play in supporting our sales team through complex, technical sales cycles?
Manufacturing marketing isn’t just about brand awareness or trade show displays. It’s about supporting a high-consideration sales process with technical content, ROI justification tools, and sales enablement resources that help buyers make informed decisions.
! Tip: If your sales team is still creating their own slide decks or forwarding outdated PDFs to prospects, that’s a red flag. Marketing should actively enable sales, especially for long-cycle, specification-heavy decisions.
6. Are we providing the right tools and content to move prospects from awareness to decision?
Marketing content must do more than attract attention—it must educate, guide, and support buying committees. Do you have:
- Application notes or case studies that prove field performance?
- Selection guides or comparison matrices for evaluating your product against alternatives?
- Engineering calculators or configurators that simplify decision-making?
- Downloadable CAD files to shorten the design process?
These assets are not just helpful—engineers and technical buyers doing self-guided research expect them.
! Tip: If your website doesn’t provide content that aligns with the buying journey, your competitors’ sites will.
7. Are we aligned on what defines a qualified lead—and how to nurture it?
Lead quantity means very little if Sales doesn’t trust Marketing’s leads. Do you have a shared definition of a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)? Are you scoring leads based on engagement with specific technical content, not just form fills?
Lead nurturing also can’t stop at the first email. In long B2B industrial buying journeys, you need a multi-touch approach that keeps your brand top of mind through useful, relevant content over time.
! Tip: Ask Sales what would make a lead “sales-ready.” Then, reverse-engineer your lead nurturing process to match those criteria.
8. Do we have a feedback loop between Sales and Marketing, and are we using it to improve lead quality?
Too often, the handoff between Marketing and Sales feels like a black hole. Without regular feedback, Marketing can’t optimize campaigns or content, and Sales doesn’t get better leads. Are you holding joint meetings? Reviewing what content supports conversations? Sharing wins and losses?
! Tip: A closed-loop system between Sales and Marketing isn’t optional—it’s how high-performing teams continuously improve results.
As you can see, this group of questions shifts the focus from surface-level marketing activity to meaningful sales alignment. As a product manager, you don’t need to own every marketing tactic—but you do need to ensure the strategy connects the dots between product value, buyer needs, and sales success.
Generating High-Quality Leads Through B2B Manufacturing Marketing
Are We Getting the Right Leads—or Just More Clicks?
Traffic isn’t the problem. Even small to mid-sized manufacturers can generate website visits, email opens, and ad impressions. The real question is: Are you generating leads that convert into real business opportunities—or just filling the top of the funnel with noise?
Manufacturing marketing is not about casting the widest net; it’s about generating qualified leads who are ready to engage in meaningful conversations. And that means evaluating not just how many leads you generate but whether they’re the right ones for your business.
This group of questions is designed to help product managers assess the health of their lead generation efforts—because more isn’t better if it’s not moving the needle.
9. How can we generate more qualified leads that match our ideal customer profile?
Most manufacturers say they want better leads, but few have taken the time to clearly define their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)—the industries, company sizes, job roles, and applications that align best with their product and sales goals. Without that clarity, even the best marketing campaigns result in low-quality leads that Sales won’t pursue.
I’ve also seen a trend across the B2B space, especially in industrial sectors, of shifting the focus from lead quantity to lead quality. It’s not about filling your CRM with contacts—it’s about attracting the ones that are most likely to convert.
! Tip: When Marketing and Sales are aligned on the ICP and focus on targeted campaigns, lead quality improves—which matters far more in long industrial sales cycles.
10. What’s our strategy for long-cycle lead nurturing—especially for engineers and decision-making committees?
Long buying cycles with multiple stakeholders are the norm in industrial sales. You often deal with engineers, plant managers, procurement professionals, and compliance teams, all of whom play different roles in decision-making.
That’s where Account Based Marketing (ABM) can make a real difference. ABM allows you to focus your marketing efforts on a specific set of high-value accounts and tailor your messaging to each decision-maker involved.
According to a joint Marketo and Reachforce study, companies that implement ABM become 67% better at closing deals when they align their sales and marketing teams around shared account-based strategies. Source: RollWorks—17 ABM Statistics.
For more details on using ABM in manufacturing, read my post: How Manufacturers Can Win Big with Account Based Marketing (ABM) and Industrial Content Marketing.
11. Are we tracking lead quality and marketing ROI or measuring the wrong things?
It’s one thing to count leads. It’s another to track how they move through a complex sales cycle and eventually turn into revenue. Attribution is one of the biggest challenges in industrial marketing. When buying decisions involve months of research, multiple touchpoints, and various influencers, how do you know what really moved the needle?
If you only measure top-of-funnel activity like clicks or downloads, you’re missing the bigger picture and potentially undervaluing Marketing’s real contribution to revenue.
These three questions are critical to shifting your marketing from a volume game to a value-generating engine.
As a product manager, you can’t afford to rely on vanity metrics or assumptions. You need visibility into lead quality and confidence that your marketing investments are driving real business outcomes.
Elevating Visibility with Digital Marketing and Thought Leadership
Are We Getting Found Online and Are We Trusted?
Most industrial buying journeys these days begin online, and they start long before your sales team ever gets involved. If you’re not easily discoverable—or if your online presence doesn’t build trust—you’re at risk of being eliminated from consideration before you even know you were in the running.
This section focuses on how to raise visibility with the right audience and establish credibility with the engineers and technical buyers who matter most to you.
12. Are we showing up in organic search for long-tail, technical keywords?
Your customers aren’t searching for “valves” or “flowmeters.” They’re searching for phrases like “best valve for cryogenic service” or “SIL2-certified pressure transmitter for hazardous locations.” These long-tail, intent-rich searches align closely with specific pain points and applications.
However, as Google’s AI Overviews and other GenAI-enabled features reshape online searches, traditional SEO strategies aren’t enough. You need structured content that aligns with user intent so that AI can interpret and show it effectively.
For a deeper dive into this evolving topic, read my blog: How AI Overview Is Changing Manufacturing Content Marketing and SEO—And What You Can Do About It.
13. Are we creating application-specific content that speaks to real-world problems?
You can’t win trust with marketing fluff. Engineers want evidence, examples, and technical depth. Yet many manufacturers rely too heavily on broad claims and generic messaging.
What resonates instead?
- Case studies in niche industries
- White papers addressing application-specific performance
- Videos and blogs that demonstrate performance in real-world conditions
So, what sources of information do engineers use when considering products? This chart from TREW + GlobalSpec: 2025 State of Marketing to Engineers explains it well.
14. Are we leveraging technical SMEs to build trust and credibility in our space?
There’s no better voice than your own internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). In industrial and manufacturing marketing, the phrase “one engineer to another” carries a lot of weight.
Your SMEs bring authenticity and technical depth that marketers alone can’t and shouldn’t try to duplicate (Unless you are a Marketing Engineer like me. 😊). But that doesn’t mean they have to write every word. Marketing can and should do the heavy lifting—researching, drafting, and structuring the content—while your SMEs add their valuable insights and lend their names.
SME-driven content builds authority, improves engagement, and builds trust with your target audience.
For more on why this matters, read my blog: Content Marketing for Manufacturers: What Makes It Different and Why It’s Challenging.
Online visibility isn’t just about algorithms and analytics. It’s about becoming a reliable, go-to resource for engineers in the research and evaluation stages. You’re not even in the game if your content isn’t being found and/or trusted.
Aligning Strategy, Execution, and Resources
Are We Equipped to Do This Right—or Spinning Our Wheels?
You can have the right audience, the right message, and the right tools, but your marketing strategy will stall without proper execution and resource alignment. This final set of questions helps industrial product managers assess whether their organization is truly set up for success or merely going through the motions.
15. Is our website optimized for conversion, or just serving as a digital brochure?
Many industrial websites function as static repositories of product information, lacking the elements necessary to engage and convert visitors. An outdated, informational website can be transformed into a robust sales tool by incorporating the right messaging and creating content that engineers and technical professionals seek from their vendors. This includes detailed product specifications, application notes, CAD files, and intuitive navigation that guides users toward logical, actionable steps.
! Tip: Your website should inform and facilitate the buyer’s journey, effectively turning visitors into leads.
For insights on redesigning industrial websites for optimal performance, visit Industrial Website Design.
16. Are we documenting our strategy and reviewing it regularly with data?
A well-documented content marketing strategy is crucial for aligning efforts and measuring success. According to the 2023 Manufacturing Content Marketing report by the Content Marketing Institute, “Only 32% of manufacturing marketers have a documented content marketing strategy.”
Regularly reviewing this strategy against performance metrics ensures that marketing activities remain aligned with business objectives and can adapt to changing market conditions.
! Tip: A documented strategy is a roadmap, enabling teams to track progress and make informed adjustments.
Explore how a strategic roadmap can benefit manufacturers: Strategic Roadmap.
17. Do we have the in-house capabilities—or should we bring in an industrial marketing expert?
Even the most capable product teams may lack specialized marketing expertise. Assess whether your organization has the internal resources—such as content creators, strategists, and digital marketers—with deep knowledge of the industrial sector. If not, partnering with an industrial marketing expert can provide the necessary insights and execution capabilities to reach and engage your target audience effectively.
! Tip: Collaborating with specialists who understand the nuances of B2B industrial marketing can accelerate results and enhance marketing effectiveness.
Learn more about leveraging fractional CMO services: Fractional CMO for Manufacturers.
These final questions serve as a reality check. A strategy is only as effective as its execution. As a product manager, ensuring that your marketing efforts are well-resourced, data-driven, and aligned with tangible business goals is essential for achieving meaningful outcomes.
If this blog has raised questions or addressed some of your concerns, you already know that a checklist of tactics won’t cut it. You need a strategic, data-driven roadmap that aligns with your business goals and speaks directly to your technical audience.
That’s precisely what I do.
With over 35 years of hands-on experience in industrial and manufacturing marketing, I’ve helped manufacturers like you turn scattered marketing efforts into cohesive strategies that generate real results. Whether you need help developing your positioning, prioritizing campaigns, aligning with Sales, or redesigning your website to become a sales asset, I’m here to guide you.
Let’s start a conversation. Contact me to explore how we can build the right industrial marketing strategy for manufacturers.
