737: Industrial Strength Marketing: How to Brand, Modernize, and Grow Your Manufacturing, Distribution, or Workforce Recruiting Business with James Soto

Robert Plank 0:00 Marketer of the day. Episode 737. Industrial Strength marketing helps you brand, modernize and grow your manufacturing, distribution or workforce recruiting business with James Soto. Hey everyone, and welcome back to the marketer of the day podcast, we are here with James Soto industrial marketing pioneer. And James is the founder and CEO of industrial which is one of North America's top B to B marketing agencies. He brings 17 plus years of experience and perspective from working with iconic industrial brands, media and trade organizations, to help them address the challenges they face in this new era of disruptive business models, generational change, digital marketing, transformation and industry for prenell, so James, glad to be talking to you.

James Soto 0:53 Hey, thanks for having me, Robert.

Robert Plank 0:56 So just to make sure that we're talking about the same thing, like we've mentioned in your bio, your intro, about industrial marketing. And so, what the heck does that mean? Just so that we all are talking about the same thing?

James Soto 1:09 Yeah, so, so industrial marketing, you know, obviously there's, you know, business consumer and, you know, CBG and business to business. But in industrial marketing really, is different in really matter of interdependency and scale. So essentially, if you think about the stakes of building, you know, a very important, you know, product, let's say iPhone, if you specify the wrong lens or circuit to run that thing, you have, you know, hundreds of millions of problems and so. So when we really look at any kind of amazing technology product, you know, that's really where manufacturing and the, you know, industrial supply chain comes in. And essentially we are helping industrials be better marketers and sellers of their industrial products and services. And so when you look at the hundreds and hundreds of parts that go into an iPhone. You know, that's a whole marketplace of suppliers and technologies and companies that need to really be involved in what is critical, you know, industrial design and innovation. So we're part of that process that really brings together those industrial, you know, buyers, brands, technologies, to really create some of the most amazing things that we use every day. And so what makes it different is is really, ultimately, you know, one interdependence on each other two. Typically, we're dealing with not just like a buyer or buyer journey. We're really dealing with the decision making unit. And so there's, they're looking at finance, they're looking at business case, they're looking at technology and innovation. They're looking at the ability to deliver, right? You have to keep those, you know, production lines going. You don't want, all of a sudden not be able to deliver your iPhones. So everything that goes into the that process, from design to ultimately getting it to the end user. You know, that's that's really what the industrial sector does, and then it's industrial marketers. That's what we're involved with.

Robert Plank 3:08 So all those things that we take for granted, with the 1000s of parts in an iPhone, if that one little lens or that one little circuit board or that one little piece wasn't working, the whole thing would be bad. So it's important that there's that quality control and that it's all working. And so with these industrial companies, like, what's the starting point? Where are they at? Because as someone who knows nothing about this, I imagine that maybe, maybe they don't market like they should, or maybe they don't have as much of a web presence or as like a forward facing as maybe you would imagine, like a company does that has things to market, or maybe they're dependent on one client for a lot of their their sales. I mean, am I on the right track or off the right track? Like, where are these industrial companies at? They're all over the place.

James Soto 3:57 Yeah, I think when you look across the you know the segment. So if you look at like just the manufacturing segment, you know, there's 258,000 manufacturers of all shapes and sizes in North America. And you know of them, it's still, you know, almost primarily small businesses, you know, and medium sized businesses make that up all but about 3800 of them have more than 500 employees. So when you think about Apple, and you think about, you know, Nissan, and you think about, you know, these Tesla and SpaceX, you know, those are the companies that have those employee counts. But it's, it's amazing to think how few of them there are out there, and so, so for us, you know, when we, when we look at the sector and where folks are, we really find that, you know, in the industrial sector, we're still selling to humans. So we may be selling, getting our part specified by an industrial design engineer. We may be really making the business case for transformation of an organization that really wants to go digital, and that could be marketing transformation too, right? Marketing and Sales and digital marketing operations. You know, we may be looking at someone who really needs to, you know, produce things better and their maintenance, repair and operations. So when we really look at how the industry formed, it was a heck of a lot more directory focused, you know, connecting buyers with suppliers and but as humans, we all use the same channels. We're on LinkedIn, we're in Facebook, we're on Instagram, where we are still using YouTube, the primary channels and podcasting that everybody else uses. But for the most part, in the manufacturing sector, marketing is really missing, mismanaged or misunderstood, and where that starts is really at a leadership level, because the way they built their business was through distribution or manufacturers reps or in house sales organizations, or because people would build things they, you know, they would produce, or their catalog of widgets or screws or gears or anything that goes into a product, or The production of a product. And so companies really, you know, had to really transition and go through those phases, electrification of automation. And now, whereas we're looking at, you know, the the really, the convergence of these technologies and the promise of AI and automation, and, you know, companies are having to make their way of doing business obsolete, and marketing plays a critical role and so. So what we're finding in our sector is that manufacturers, yes, it's missing mismanagements Understood. As leaders start to kind of get the light bulb coming on, they have to realize, Wow, we have to market because, you know, when it comes to our product, if our brand isn't the first one that comes to mind, we have a brand problem when people are looking for something, whether it's an end product for an industrial application, or something they're going to build, if you're not discoverable right in search, that's important and and when people are really looking at entering that sales cycle and how they really develop, which could Be a law, a long lead time. You know, they produce a car every three years, and, you know, the redesign cycle, the all new whatever right model years. You know, those are the times where companies are really now at various phases of transformation and really reckoning with the role marketing plays in their business. And that's a big part of what we do. We really, you know, focus on helping them be a better marketer and seller of their industrial products and services, and they're doing some of the amazing stuff we do as marketers. Now, I actually Robert, I kind of, I envy what you do, like you're a person that understands and has that ability to have that agility, to find ways to all things digital, to make, you know, everything from direct the passive income sources. And what's really exciting now is every one of these channels is opening up and manufactured. Everything that you do in some way is being considered or being done, whether it's early stage or, you know, being heavily adopted in an organization. So it's a fun time. And manufacturing is pretty amazing, because we're not just selling an iPhone, like, you know, the coolest campaign. We're figuring out how to sell the hundreds of things that go into it and and that's the magic for us. And it's, you know, people say it's not sexy man, it's all business, and that's really kind of cool about it.

Robert Plank 8:26 And so what? What I'm getting from your answer here, like you said, that some of these businesses that are all over the place and they could really use some transformation, and if they don't, then they're at risk of just being replaced by the next the next manufacturer, right? If someone's a little bit cheaper, or someone does something similar that, like, what, what has brought them here might not continue to bring them forward. And as you were kind of explaining some of those things that you were explaining, what came to mind for me was that sometimes it helps to look at other industries, or look at other businesses that maybe have no relation to us, and say, oh, yeah, I should begin to market on LinkedIn. I should populate the YouTube channel. I should do some of these, these, uh, these podcast interviews, just things that maybe, maybe your own competitors, or that people in your own bubble or your own industry don't do. But then you can, like, look at what's working with someone else and and model that, and notice that, sort of along those lines of, of, like marketing these manufacturing businesses, you have this thing called Manufacturing Day, which you say is the largest industrial sector promotion in US history. So what the heck is Manufacturing Day? And why should all these, these industrial companies be excited about it?

James Soto 9:40 Yeah, yeah, so, so, um, so, yeah, I so about 12% of our economy is made up. Is comes from manufacturing and and, you know, if you really think back, you know, you know, 100 and plus years ago, you know, our our economy. You know, coming into the Industrial Revolution was 97% agricultural. And you know what happened was the industrial revolution happened changed a lot about what we do, and as we've moved over to these days, you know, the folks that adopted the principles of the Industrial Revolution, they industrialized the farm, and now the farm became 3% of, you know, the economy. Not everybody, you know, not everybody was wanting to be a farmer anymore. You know, the Homestead Act failed. And the urbanization movement, due to industrial invest, you know, the industrial revolution came in. So they came back, you know, into the urban centers, because there was, it wasn't dependent on weather, right? You can work all year round. It created the middle class, and so, so that was a big, big moment in time. And, you know, so now sudden, when you look at the industrial age now going from, you know, being the biggest part of, you know, the American, North American economy, now it's, you know, essentially 11, 12% you know, you can see, what are those forces that impacted that happening, and that was, you know, computer technology, automation, and so many other forces. So if you adopt those things, you know, and bring them into the new way, that's how you move forward, whether you're a farmer, industrializing a farm, or whether you're an industrial really, ultimately, making your way of doing business obsolete before generational technology market forces or the competition does. So what's our problem? The Industrial Revolution brought some baggage with it, and it brought the perception that manufacturing was dirty, it was kind of boring, it was repetitive work, and yes, that's part of it, but, but that's changed incredibly. It's, it's kind of, you can go sit in the cubicle.com company, or, like, you can make Teslas or rockets that go to Mars, you know, like, there's, there's some cool stuff. So Manufacturing Day was a combination of organizations, the National Association of manufacturing, the fabricators and Manufacturers Association, the think tank and the government coming out of Department of Commerce, NIST, National Institute, standards and technology, and they're addressing this kind of generational, kind of Crossroads we're at. And so Manufacturing Day was formed because there was already some grass movements, things happening in about 2012 where they were starting to do like, you know, like this state or this city or this area was doing like, a manufacturing week or a manufacturing month or a Manufacturing Day, and they realized, like, what if we can bring the industry together and really center it around a definitive, like, actual day? And so these organizations got together, they did a Manufacturing Day event, and it was all focused on our youth because parents counselors were actually saying, Hey, we didn't raise you to go to a technical college. We raised you to go to college or a technical school. We raised you to go to college. And what? What people don't realize is manufacturing folks make, on average, they're approaching $70,000 a year. It's one of the most stable jobs out there. And, you know, versus retail paying nothing, it's not a bridge to the middle class, manufacturing is paying over 20, what like 23 to $26 an hour. So, so when you really think about it, we had a lot to do to change perceptions of manufacturing and manufacturing, you know, careers. And essentially what happened was we saw them. I saw them come together, and I was looking at the Manufacturing Day this year, this in, you know, 2012 was like, Oh, that's really cool. Like, wow. Those organizations, they're the big ones. They got together. I said, Wow. Like, and it was just, like, kind of a quick landing page they put up. And it was, and I'm like, Whoa, these folks are getting together. I literally called the fabric the FMA that was leading it at the time. And I said, You know what? This could be a movement. This is something that we would love to see if we could support, because if you're looking to reach the next generation, you got to meet them where they're at. And so what we did is it didn't have a brand, didn't have a logo, didn't have, you know, communications Foundation, didn't have positioning, didn't have playbooks for people to follow, because the goal was to get manufacturers to open their doors so that, you know, organizers like schools and colleges and technical programs and communities and, you know, and legislatures could actually promote and get people to organize events touring these manufacturers that were doing open houses. So that's how it happened, and we built the brand. I went to DC, all these folks at one of the Department of Commerce's facilities, and they're all kind of like saying, how do we do this? We want to own this thing. And we're like, we need to create a movement. And so what was it? How it's made? You know, Discovery network came on board 80 million viewers. We had, you know, we went to, I believe it was 800 events the first year, and now it's up to about 3000 you know, 10s of millions of people watching it. Trending on Twitter. So much content created, and now it's considered at. Holiday, and we don't made the biggest pro bono donation still to this day in the history of the company, and we've been doing it for years, because this is kind of what we're all about. It's part of our you know, our purpose is to better those who design, make and move the world. And we really believe that our body of work, you know, changing perceptions and moving the needle on manufacturing is what it's all about. And fast forward, our study showed Deloitte came in, did studies and students coming in left differently at different perceptions. And I think if you look at some of those coolest companies that are out there, you know they're they're actually, they're technology companies. And manufacturers have always been technology companies, and so we just need to make people help them understand that this hope podcast or zoom, it's all because of the Industrial Revolution. It's all because of manufacturing. Take take all these manufactured products away, and the technology goes away. And so we want to make sure people know that and you so it's the first Friday of every October. Is Manufacturing Day. MFG. MFG day.com. And you should absolutely attend the event, whether it's looking at robotics and whether it's looking at automation or companies that are leveraging software and AI, it's all part of it. It's really kind of cool, and it's totally fun work, and it's great to see kids minds being blown.

Robert Plank 16:31 And I mean, I mean, you giving that answer makes me think about how, how important it is to number one, like raise that awareness of whatever it is that we're doing, and to do our best to to make anything fun right, to make the things that we'd normally think of as kind of boring typical every day, and find a way to differentiate it. Find a way to explain to people how it's how it's changing the world, how it's keeping the world running, how it's different. Like you said, there's that aspect of it's it's a better path to middle class and some of these things, how it's changed in history. Anything that we do, we can make it exciting, if we find the right hook or the right angle to get people interested, to show how it is being used. And you're totally right that right now we're recording this podcast on a Zoom meeting. But it's not like zoom has whole they don't build servers. They don't build computers. They run it off Amazon, right? Amazon has their whole server farms, their AWS and all. A lot of these companies do, like Netflix or like Airbnb or Uber, they don't own anything. They just plug into the infrastructure that's already in place and, and like you said, there's the world is changing with, you know, there's, there's factories out there where they don't even have indoor lighting, because it's all robot arms and conveyor belts. There are self driving trucks. The world is going to change, whether we like it or not. And, and it would make a lot of sense for a lot of these industrial companies out there to maybe make the change before they have to, before they get put out of business. So along those lines, in these last few minutes of winding down it with all these companies that you work with for Manufacturing Day and clients, you have people like that, do you see maybe one or two things that a lot of these industrial companies are missing out on that they should be implementing right away.

James Soto 18:23 I think, I think what the industrial companies really need to focus on, I think especially now, is being of service. And I think that you would think that that's just, you know, that's a no duh thing to say. But I think we're in a moment in history where we have to really, you know, really look through the eyes of of any individual we're trying to, you know, deliver value to. And if we don't have that empathy, we really, don't really ask those questions, what are they what are they really dealing with? What are they up against? I think we're going to really struggle as marketers. And so I think the second thing the the industrial sector needs to do is really endeavor to continue to do inspiring work. It's not just trying to deliver value, but, you know, the amazing thing about, you know, industrials and manufacturers in particular, is they actually design and make the stuff. This isn't some middle marketing person that knows nothing about it, like they can be the end should be the best content marketers. So I think they really need to do inspiring work, because they bring all of the knowledge, the science, the thinking and the reason for being of things. And I think ultimately, if they do those things, you know, when technology evolves so much, it appears as if it's magic, right? Because how did you do that? Go back. Take half our technologies. Go back. 100 years. And I think we are entering now the age of touchlessness. We are going to have to really be somewhat connected but separated from our technologies. And the world's going to be forcing upon us like 911 did not just a lot of security, but a lot of distance and safety. And so I think we're going to be an era where hopefully we'll be a little bit more disconnected to the technology. To the technology. And I think that's, that's what those two things are going to bring. We're going to bring that value and bring that empathy, and we're going to bring that sense of the fact that we, we're the stuff that, you know, we're the folks that make this stuff, and we can make the future. And I think it's a very happy future. I believe every challenge has its the silver linings and all things. So we started our conversation with that. And I'm excited about, you know, things getting better in the world, but I'm also exciting about the things we're doing now that we otherwise wouldn't know that will change the world better.

Robert Plank 21:03 Fantastic. I agree. And I mean, if it wasn't for World War Two, you wouldn't have computers, right? Like we had like that. That bad thing forced us to make the like those, those good actions that improve the world. And just the other day, I was talking to someone about how how weird and how magical it is that an iPad, a tablet, it doesn't really get hot and doesn't have a fan. But then a computer, a laptop, if you need a fan to run it, and somehow, with the chips, they made them run fast and made them be cool enough and and he was, I was reading the other day about contact tracing, right? We're going through a pandemic right now, and there's all this, this technology that's being used to, as you say, keep us safe, keep us distant, to to make take those actions we need to take. But then there's also kind of the being careful about it and designing it in such a way that that's, there's still the privacy, and so, yeah, there's, there's a lot to think about, but we have the best minds on it, and it's not, as you said, it's not just creating things for the sake of it. It's not just making the computer that runs twice as fast. It's accomplished these really cool things. I mean, all these, these kids, I mean, your kids is included, who can't go to school, right? And then they have distance learning to complete their education. I mean, it's not just about the things, but the things that you can accomplish with that, and you've given us and these industrial companies a lot to think about. So what's the next step here? If these people say, well, I need to contact James and his team, or I need to find some more resources. What sorts of websites or what sorts of places should they be going to get more information? Well, there's

James Soto 22:41 a couple of things we could do that deliver value. If there's any business really that cares about being a great marketer, a great seller, and being able to manage and measure their business and understand where they're strong and where they're weak. We put together a marketing readiness assessment, and we feel this is some of the it's like some questions or 40 questions and and you can find it, get marketing ready.com. And why that is important is because most of the folks who take this Readiness Assessment fail. We feel it's our first job. You know, when we're, you know, meeting someone to to hopefully have them to have some self awareness, and maybe in some things, they can handle it on their own. But also, there's also some folks that can help them figure out that crapola and so, so that's a good place to start. You know, for you as value, and it's a quick survey, it's fun to take. And by the way, if you take it, it's use it for good. It's not to really come down on sales or be a leader and say, Why are we not here? Or someone in marketing saying, why are we not doing that? It's say, let's have really good conversation. So you'll know it. You'll know what I mean when you take it, and where you can find our companies in industrial strength marketing.com and we're launching a podcast by the same name, you know, and that's, that's, that's a great place to go learn about us, your insights. And I'm James, so you can find me on LinkedIn as well. But if I could ever, you know, facilitate an introduction on LinkedIn or something like that, happy to do that. So, yeah, like, just really concerned about folks and hopefully learn about, you know, what if anything I could do to point them in the right direction? Think we're all trying to do that.

Robert Plank 24:32 That is get marketing ready.com. So you can go there and not just pick up some tips and trivia and facts and figures, but take that assessment, take the test, figure out where the pain is, figure out where you're going wrong. That way you can make some corrections, or that way you can maybe beef up some of the turn, some of those weaknesses in the strengths and and make things better for yourself and your company. And then industrial strength marketing.com. Is the place to find the website and that soon to be part. Podcast, and kind of the thing that the comment that I'm getting from our conversation here, James, is that it's really easy to think I'm different, right? It's really easy to think that, well, I'm in some other industry, and I don't need to focus on, like the online marketing, or on the having a cause, or on anything, our network, anything like that, and it's easy to fall into that trap of just thinking that you're different. So then you don't have to market yourself like any other company. But if you, if you do that, it's to your own detriment. So it would be in all of our best interests to to get out there, be proactive, and really push our brands and make people aware of what we're doing, because the right people are out there, right those those buyers or those future employees, or those people who are excited about a career in whatever our specific industrial sector is. I mean, they're out there. And if we don't put our best foot forward, if we don't toot our own horn, then no one else will do that for us. So the place to go is industrial strength, marketing.com, and then get marketingready.com. Is the place to get that assessment. Any final words here as we wrap up wind down,

James Soto 26:11 I think one just to thank you, Robert. I really, I admire you going out there to really just investigate the industrial sector. And I think one of the things that we have to really do is, whether you're looking at, you know, as a marketer, there's so many great things we can do. And I think one of the things we have to go into is, like, you know, have, like, a mindset like, Spotify, like we were willing to enjoy lots of different music. And so for me, what's attractive about what you do is that you know you have this sense of, how do you really leverage ways to monetize great software products, great educational products, and be a kind of a marketer, to innovate, very agile and find revenue streams. That's what I think we all need to do. We need to kind of listen to different tunes and check out industrial marketing, check out different forms of B to B. Check out, you know, an influencer and what they're doing, because that is the way. And if you know, say, Hey, you suck. I don't like, you know, heavy metal music, or, man, you're an EDM, what's up with that? I'm just like, Yes, please. I love music, and I think we need to, we really need to have that, that that that perspective. So I think, you know, definitely check out industrial marketing. It is really, really amazing to to be able to really market something that has such a big impact and something you actually get to see come to life that otherwise wasn't so, yeah, open your mind.

Robert Plank 27:48 Thanks for listening to today's program, start from the beginning or view past episodes at marketer of the day.com/episodes, you.