MM 076 - The Magic Behind Consistent Communication to Increase Brand Awareness

Manufacturing Marketing Matters

This week, we discuss how an outbound, consistent, persistent communication can increase brand awareness and boost your business and make you, personally, better at your profession. Today’s Guest: On this episode of Manufacturing Marketing Matters, I’m joined by Jason Zenger. Jason is the president of Zenger’s and the podcast host of Making Chips. Jason is my first guest that is also a podcaster. Jason and I talk about the power behind consistent, persistent, and frequent communication with your target audience. Zenger’s sells tools, equipment, and shop supplies to manufacturing companies. He explains that his podcast may help him with sales for his company, but it also makes him a better leader, which also adds to his sales. In this conversation, you will learn how sharing expertise through a podcast helps your audience and helps your business. Highlights:

• [00:53] - Jason describes his responsibilities and roles with Zenger’s and describes Zenger’s business.
• [02:27] - Jason talks about his podcast, Making Chips.
• [04:12] - Podcasting is a time commitment, and Jason explains why he does the podcast. Jason explains that he sees the manufacturing as a vital component of the nation’s success.
• [05:20] - Jason talks about how the podcast benefits his business.
• [08:01] - Jason lists some of the benefits to your business by sharing expertise. He also explains how to set expectations for those benefits.
• [11:20] - The sales process involves a lot more people and departments now. Jason explains how he sees the roles broken down.
• [12:44] - Jason shares there is a current culture shift in the way business leaders become the personality behind the business.
• [14:54] - Jason provides some tips on managing time constraints with this changing culture shift.
• [18:22] - Jason talks about the differences between having a podcast or written content through blog posts.
• [19:47] - You may be wondering if taking on this type of venture to connect with your customers is worth it. Jason explains why he believes this difference is measurable.
• [21:04] - There’s a lot of unknowns with podcast statistics. Jason explains that despite the imprecise analytics, he feels that podcasting is a good investment.
• [24:00] - Jason answers this week’s challenge question. This question comes from the CEO of a company that manufactures medical devices. This person says their business has been flat and none of the strategies they have implemented has gained any traction. The sales team is more traditional, and this person wants to know how to transform the group by having them share their knowledge. Jason shares his thoughts and some tips on this situation.
• [28:10] Jason shares his takeaways from this conversation:
  • Start seeing what you can do in order to elevate the manufacturing industry.
  • There are a lot of very wise engineers and manufacturing professionals that are nearing retirement. There’s a lot of intellect that needs to be extracted from these individuals.

Interview Questions: Question 1: Why do you do it? How does it benefit your business and/or your life? Question 2: I know a lot of our listeners wonder about this idea that you can grow a business without pitching the product. You’re a practitioner of this idea. Would you share with the audience how and why the concept of sharing knowledge and expertise can grow a business. Question 3: In the old days of the late 20th century and even early 21st century, the sales team owned the entire process from prospecting, to engaging, to closing the deal; the whole funnel or pipeline if you will. These days, most of us are in agreement that the marketing function is responsible for the top and middle of the funnel and sales is responsible for the bottom of the funnel. Which part of the company is out there sharing the information like a podcast or a blog? Is it Sales, Marketing, PR or some other department? How do you see it working in a practical sense? Question 4: It’s hard for manufacturers to devote the time and resources to a regular blog, podcast or webinar. Marketing and sales are usually very busy and running very lean. How does a manufacturer make the change, commit to a regular communication? Do they stop doing other more traditional activities? Get a loan to hire more people? Or is there another way? How big of difference can it make? Enough to switch resources from print ads or trade shows? Challenge Question: This week our challenge question comes from the CEO of a company that manufactures medical devices. Here it is “We’re a medical device company. Our business has been flat for the past 5 years. We’ve tried hiring more sales people, social media, content marketing and even blogging, but nothing seems to get any traction. My sales team is a bunch of dinosaurs (please keep this anonymous) who can’t figure out how to sell without demanding a rock bottom price. I read your book, The New Way to Market for Manufacturing, and I like the idea sharing expertise. We have 70 engineers on staff, how do I get them to share their knowledge and how do I transfer it to grow the business?” Would you like a complimentary marketing plan evaluation? This includes a 1-hour discover call, a 1-hour post-evaluation analysis, and a comprehensive look at your current strategies. Sign up at MMMatters.com/evaluation. If you have a challenge you’re facing or a problem, when it comes to sales and marketing, send it in as a challenge question, and I’ll pose it to one of our guest experts. Email your challenge question to [e-mail]. You can get a free copy of my book, “The New Way to Market for Manufacturing” by visiting MMMatters.com/ebook