Every business and brand is different, but depending on your industry—that broad category your company belongs to—some marketing makes more sense than others. In this podcast episode, Stop Taking Whatever Walks in the Door, co-hosts Laura and Julia tackle what type of customers you should market and sell to. Today, we’re flipping the script and focusing on what kind of industry marketing you should target as a customer, depending on your industry.
The Major Types of Industries & Their Clients
While all industries would be difficult to cover in a single blog, industries can be broken up into major categories by the product (or service) they produce and who they sell it to (consumers or other businesses):
- Professional Services: Your product is your service. This tends to be businesses that provide multiple services, including physical products, which are then rolled into a quote for a business or consumer.
- Examples: Landscaping, Home Remodeling, and Waste Removal.
- Industrial & Manufacturing: Your product is producing products. This tends to be businesses that provide services to other businesses, including raw materials, parts, and finished product manufacturing.
- Examples: Injection Molding and Food Waste Recycling.
- Hospitality: People come to your location to do something. This includes consumables like food and drink, entertaining or relaxing activities, or places to stay. Generally, it is a consumer-focused service.
- Examples: Restaurants, Spas, and Hotels.
- Retail: Instead of selling a service or location, you sell products. Generally, this means an online or in-person store, often both for larger businesses. Also generally a consumer-focused service, but not always.
- Examples: Grocery Stores and Specialty Electronics.
There can be overlap, such as an outfit that creates and sells their products or a service-oriented entrepreneur providing e-content people can buy.
The Types of Marketing to Match with Industries
With those ideas out of the way, below are some of the most common types of online marketing, with their focus for each industry.
- Website Design: If your business focuses on lead generation or sales on your website, make sure you’ve got the right industry pages for customers.
- Blogs & Content Marketing: Blogs are a great way to show expertise, especially for service-focused businesses. Almost every industry can write blogs.
- SEO & Search Engine Ads: If you rely on people searching for your services via Google, make sure your website has good search engine optimization and have the right landing pages for Google Ads.
- Social Media Engagement: Almost any demographic can be found on the right social media platform. Know which and engage with the right posts and ads.
- Email Marketing: If you collect emails from clients and have specific businesses you want to focus on, email campaigns such as newsletters and drips might be right for you.
- Reputation Management: Do clients check out your reviews on Google, Facebook, or Yelp before they visit or make a purchase? Make sure you’re on top of them. This is especially true for the hospitality and retail sectors.
If you’re unsure about the right type of industry marketing for your business, a good place to start is with a marketing plan as part of a business consultation.
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision Advertising CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox. Interested in working with Vision Advertising? Learn more about our services and contact us today.
