Marketing
Industry and workshops: marketing when your customer is another business
· 4 min read ·
In and around Aveiro, more businesses sell to other businesses than to the public, and almost everything written about digital marketing was designed for the opposite: for selling to people who buy on impulse, decide alone, and settle everything in two minutes on their phone.
None of that applies at an industrial firm, a workshop, or a maintenance company. The decision takes weeks, passes through several people, and whoever signs the order has often never seen the product — they go on the recommendation of whoever uses it. Every playbook changes.
People search by reference number, not by adjectives
Someone who needs a part doesn't type "quality part for industrial machine". They type the code, the standard, the size, the model of the equipment it's for.
That has one practical consequence that changes the whole site: those reference numbers need to be on the site, as text, on a page that can actually be found. A catalogue that exists only as a forty-megabyte PDF is invisible — to search engines and to someone with three minutes between two jobs.
It's the least glamorous work there is, and it's what brings in qualified enquiries. A site with reference numbers, compatibility details and spec sheets you can actually reach is worth more than any campaign.
The user and the decision-maker are different people
The technician wants to know if it fits, if it'll hold up, and how soon it arrives. The buyer wants to know the price, the lead time, and whether there's a cheaper alternative. Management wants to know whether the company is serious and whether it'll still be around in five years.
That's three different conversations, and a site that only speaks to one of them stalls with the other two. In practice: full spec sheets for the technician, clear terms and lead times for procurement, and an about page with history, facilities and clients for whoever decides.
The proof has to be real
Stock photos of smiling workers in white hard hats in a spotless warehouse don't convince anyone in this sector. Everyone can tell that isn't your factory.
What convinces is the opposite: your workshop as it really is, the work done, the part fitted, the team. One afternoon of photography in a real space is worth more than a year of stock imagery — and it's one of the fastest ways to change a new client's impression of the company.
The same goes for case studies: the problem the client had, what was done, how long it took. With their name attached, if they allow it.
Where it isn't worth spending
Posting every day on consumer social media is, for most of these companies, time wasted. Their customers aren't scrolling there looking for suppliers.
There are exceptions — recruitment is one, and it's a real problem in the sector. But if the question is "how do I get more clients", the answer is almost always in the site, the catalogue, and showing up in the right searches, not in how often you post.
Make it easy to get in touch, and reply fast
In these sectors, whoever replies first often wins the order. Not on price: because the machine is standing idle.
That means a phone number visible on every page, a short form, and someone actually answering. A reply in two hours with a rough estimate beats one in two days with a perfect quote.
What Contágio does in this sector — branding, website, catalogue and technical material — is on the industry and motor page, and the part about showing up in search is under SEO and SEM.
Is your catalogue working for you?
Tell us what you make or repair, and how clients find you today. We'll see what's missing for them to find you on their own.