Marketing for advanced manufacturing firms is not an easy task. Besides, it’s no secret that advanced manufacturing firms put little to no emphasis on marketing. Those who prioritize marketing do it either half-heartedly or in a way that doesn’t echo at all with the customers.

Even the conversation surrounding manufacturing media is mostly centered on introducing digital and smart factories, the latest technologies, and IoT. All fascinating stuff, no doubt. But there’s no mention of customers. In other words, advanced manufacturing firms aren’t focusing on the customers as much as they should be. This is true for both B2B and B2C clients.

As a marketing firm specializing in marketing for advanced manufacturers, we understand what manufacturers need in order to effectively build their business and communicate to customers.

These firms need to build a powerful brand, have unique messaging, and carry out marketing to expand manufacturing sales. In talking with clients, we notice how seldom competitive research is requested.

Here’s why competitive research is valuable for advanced manufacturing firms.

Understanding the Driving Factors of Competitiveness in Manufacturing

Generally speaking, we do know from existing research what drives competitiveness in the manufacturing industry:

• Transportation has a significant effect on manufacturing in developing countries.
• Intellectual property has a significant and positive impact on manufacturing in developed countries.
• IT is significant in all countries, but more so in developed countries.

However, this information is mostly generic, and advanced manufacturing firms need to research their competitors to understand what can help improve their market competitiveness on an individual level.

By solely focusing on what you can do, you’re intentionally narrowing your reach. This means you will not be able to capture your share of the market. Why? Simply because you’re not paying attention to your competitors and your industry and the ongoing changes that are happening.

Understanding How You Can Grow in The Industry

We need to better understand why some manufacturers are so successful and why some get left in the dirt. To understand this, let’s examine how Asian economies have developed their advanced manufacturing sector while previously dominant forces like the US and UK are lagging.

There’s a complex and detailed answer to this one but for now, let’s go with the simpler version. Asian economies achieved this by combining their increasing expertise in advanced manufacturing with lower capital and labor costs to hollow out the supply chains.

The lesson here is that Asian economies looked at the competition and leveraged their strengths to dominate the market. This was only made possible by first exhaustively looking at the competition and understanding how they could grow.

In short, advanced manufacturing firms need competition research to better understand where, when, and how they can grow in the market with respect to their competitors.

Gaining an Outside Perspective

Lastly, we believe that researching your competitors is crucial because advanced manufacturing firms mainly focus on what they can do, how great their product is, and how good they are at manufacturing it. All of this might be true, but it doesn’t help gain an outsider’s perspective.

An outsider perspective doesn’t just allow you to look at the market from your competitor’s perspective but their customers’ perspectives as well. After all, their customers can and should be your customers, too, if you want to grow your business.

Competition research allows you to look outside of what you can do and focus on what you should do to dominate the market. It helps you identify improvement areas where your competitors may be doing better than you are doing better than you, whether it’s design or marketing, or customer service.

Moreover, you can also identify opportunities to grow, expand, and compete for customers if you think your product is superior. You also get to identify threats earlier on so you can focus on mitigating them. All of this is possible if and when you gain an outsider’s perspective.

About Millennium Agency   

Millennium Agency is a national, award-winning, digital, creative, content/PR, and video marketing firm. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, our team unites creative branding and data analytics to accelerate our clients’ growth, while combining our clients’ vision with our marketing expertise to increase sales opportunities and drive brand success. From video advertising and web design to social media and PR, Millennium can guide your marketing efforts every step of the way. Contact the professionals at Millennium Agency to learn more!