I am excited to see that our efforts in web development are paying off. We are casually introducing new ways to market industrial products, which, let’s face it, are hard to market. Marketing industrial products require a lot of creative energy. Think boring stuff, think a tube fitting or a valve. How do you market a valve? Do you take it to a trade show? Absolutely. What else? We are in a digital ocean of new opportunities here. I am talking about introducing new ways of marketing engineering components.
As an example, we help Swagelok customers find the fittings by creating clear drawings and product pages in a digital format, rather than a paper catalog. I am excited to see that we are receiving very specific questions as opposed to generic ones. Customers want answers for technical questions. What customers do not want is calling for help finding part numbers in the first place. Those should be found using a filter and a no-nonsense catalog layout. Product presentation is key in identifying the exact product customers are looking for.
A quick specific question recently was asked by a caller, if a particular plug goes with a particular fitting. At a glance at both pages on the Encole catalog it was clear that yes, the part numbers do go together. Product page have a drawing, which helps immensely. A quality product drawing is great for the design engineer, and also helps to make a purchasing decision. This is marketing in the digital world. One takeaway from this is for industrial suppliers to take note: turn generic questions into product specific questions by better product presentation.
Case in point: Swagelok tube fitting: part number SS-1610-6; and a plug part number SS-1610-P. They go together. Easy to find, easy to show.