The Crucial Need For Innovation In The Field Of Industrial Marketing
By Conrad Bailey If your company manufactures or sells industrial supplies, equipment or machinery, and you are the person responsible for sales, then undoubtedly, you know how competitive the industrial marketplace has become over the last few years - especially on a global scale. Because of this, the need to gain competitive advantages through profitable marketing innovation is greater today than ever before. A company can no longer ignore innovation if it expects to gain or maintain its competitive edge in the marketplace. What Is Marketing Innovation? Marketing innovation is when a company creates or discovers a unique way of promoting their products, not necessarily through an entirely new channel or medium, but certainly different nonetheless. In many cases, marketing innovation can result from the integration of several existing resources and tools that can be utilized to help a company reach their target market in a more cost effective manner. Marketing innovation does not just happen. It must be connected to competitive issues the company faces in the marketplace. It is these issues that impact a company's bottom line as much as anything else, and if not addressed, through marketing innovation, it will spread like cancer eating away, piece by piece an organization's existence. Marketing innovation can only happen in an entrepreneurial climate which allows a person to unleash their creativity and spawn new ideas and strategic methods to reach their target audience. The task could be as simple as designing a more client centered Web site, or re-think pay-per-click strategies, or perhaps even re-define an entire marketing campaign. The Mind Of A Marketing Innovator In general, there is one path every marketing innovator takes, and it all starts with skepticism, a natural reaction when entering the unknown. Soon after skepticism follows enthusiasm because with focused effort you start to see the potential of your new marketing strategy. Thus, you excitedly start to put your plan into action. However, as weeks and perhaps months go by you start to realize that your idea will take more time and money than you initially expected... You press on but still see no visible results. You begin to question if it's worth it. You feel like giving up. It is at this point you have reached the dark night of the marketing innovator. At this stage is when most people give up on their new marketing plan. They take their losses and just move on in hopes of creating another, more profitable strategy. Ironically, they usually but unknowingly will return to the same path of resistance, and once again give up on their ideas only to find "better ones." In contrast, the marketing innovator that stays focused on his or her plan, despite the dark nights, will often start to see pay offs and thus, push further ahead. Even the slightest payoffs will significantly shift an innovator's thoughts from despair to thinking it's not a bad idea after all. The success itself is the driving force that will guide an innovator forward with more motivational energy than at any other point on the path of innovation. The Co-op Industrial Advertising Network One example of marketing innovation is the Co-Op Industrial Advertising Network which I partially created with the assistance of IndustrialLeaders.com, a Global Industrial Supply Directory. Together, we've designed an innovative but yet practical lead generation program for manufacturers and suppliers of industrial products. Moreover, the entire program is free. The Co-Op Industrial Advertising Network is a Web based industrial marketing program which was founded on the principle that generating pre-qualified sales opportunities for your company is more important than generating traffic to your Web site. The Co-Op Industrial Advertising Network does generate traffic, but emphasis is primarily on increasing sales opportunities for members. What makes the Co-Op Industrial Advertising Network unique is you don't have to offer or share any ad space on your Web site. The reason is because we create for each member a fully optimized Presell page which is hosted by us and accessible across our entire network by utilizing an in-house linking system. Therefore, members automatically share traffic and sales opportunities with one another in a completely effortless manner - and without exchanging ads. It is a very effective and popular coop advertising program. Some Last Words About Marketing Innovation Don't wait for innovative marketing opportunities to arise - create them. To do that you must leave behind specialized thinking when it comes to marketing, which traps you in a rut mode. You must determine you are ready for marketing innovation and focus on how you can reach your target audience more productively. You should expect and be prepared for obstacles to arise within the marketplace as well as within yourself. Remember, the greatest and most memorable marketing accomplishments were due to someone taking a big risk. With proper research and various testing of different ideas, you can eliminate most and sometimes even all of the risk and prosper substantially. About The Author Conrad Bailey is co-founder and vice president of www.IndustrialLeaders.com, and author of the popular Co-Op Industrial Advertising Blog at: http://www.IndustrialLeaders.com/blog/
