U.S. manufacturers continue to adapt to a business landscape radically altered by COVID-19, with many struggling with supply chain gaps caused by widespread closures in China and across the U.S. Some industrial companies have remained open, their products deemed critical by the federal government, while others have overhauled their facilities to produce completely new parts and products needed in the coronavirus fight.

It is no exaggeration to say that supply chains are upended at the moment. As manufacturers focus on retooling, saving money and keeping their employees safe, it can be difficult to see the value in maintaining other business responsibilities like marketing and advertising initiatives. Here' why that's a mistake.

The machines and accessories used in mining are some of the most rugged in the world, and capable of withstanding tremendous abuse. This article will take a look at the nine largest mining equipment companies as measured by number of employees

A company's public image makes a world of difference in achieving real success. Knowing how to address the public in clear, informative press releases will help your business cultivate an image of professionalism and reliability. IndustryNet now offers industrial companies the opportunity to submit press releases to the IndustryNet blog. With thousands of industrial buyers visiting the blog each week, the IndustryNet blog is the ideal platform for suppliers to get their new product announcements, upcoming events, or any other exciting news about their business in front of the right audience. However, if you have never written a professional press release, the process may seem daunting. These tips will help you formulate the perfect press release to communicate with current and potential clients and share your company's news.

As industrial businesses draw up their marketing budgets for the year, a common question among B2B marketing execs is: are these banner ads really worth the money? As it turns out, that is becoming an increasingly important question. And the answer is: probably not. According to this study, as reported by IndustryNet in January 2018, approximately 26 percent of Americans used some form of ad-blocking software. This software usage resulted in a loss of around $15.8 billion in ad revenue in 2017. That figure has been increasingly on the rise, with the latest data showing 30% of users are now employing some sort of ad-blocking software in 2018.

Getting the message out about your company and its many strengths can sometimes be difficult. Budgets aren't always available for marketing efforts. In fact, a recent survey of industrial marketing experts showed only 38 percent of respondents expect their spending to increase in 2018. Nearly half say it will likely remain the same as last year. Even with great marketing strategies, many companies have difficulty understanding how much their efforts really help the bottom line. The industrial sector has somewhat complex sales channels that make it difficult to attribute sales directly back to marketing efforts. Thus, correctly calculating ROI continues to pose a challenge as it has been for many years. In fact, more than half (52 percent) of survey respondents do not measure ROI because they feel "we need an easier way to do this" and "we don't know how to do this." Even when 70 percent of respondents note they can provide solid numbers for how marketing has increased audience engagement and number of leads, they are less likely to be able to show how it has increased sales. Marketing is evolving because consumers don't simply want things to be sold to them. Many B2C brands are getting innovative with their efforts. They understand that banner ads don't pull in results. Furthermore, technology is blocking many of those ads. The industrial sector is B2B, but that doesn't mean engineers are suddenly influenced differently just because they are at work. They look for things in the same way B2C buyers might. In fact, research shows 60 percent of engineers find information from digital publications and another 53 percent find it on vendor websites. It's important to note that final decision makers are the heaviest consumers of this content.

While a high number of website hits looks nice on paper, numbers do not necessarily lead to sales. In fact, many visits to a website may simply be bots, which have zero intention of purchasing the company's product or services. As companies work to drive traffic to their website, the focus should be on quality over quantity. Bot traffic has skyrocketed in recent years. Research from Distil Networks found that nearly 60 percent of web traffic in 2014 was automated code. Out of those bots, 23 percent were targeting websites maliciously. Such bots are designed to perform illegal actions such as skimming credit card numbers or copying portions of blogs for use elsewhere. Other bot visitors are helpful. Google bots, for instance, crawl websites in order to index them so they can be searched by internet users. Facebook bots reduce long articles to an image and a snipped so they can be easily shared on the social media network. Regardless of the purpose of the bot, their traffic to a website does not constitute quality traffic. Any evaluation of analytics based solely on quantity fails to account for these bots. This lack of consideration results in over-inflation of the numbers, leading a company to believe it is performing better than it actually is.

So you think that your company would sell more left-handed widgets if it created a catchy banner ad? You might want to re-think that position. According to recent research, approximately 26 percent of Americans already use some form of ad-blocking software. This software usage resulted in a loss of around $15.8 billion in ad revenue last year alone. Still not convinced that you should rethink your banner-ad concept? Consider this - Google Chrome plans to launch its own integrated ad-blocking software with its upcoming release. And since estimates range from as low as 66 percent to as high as 90 percent of all internet users turning to Google as their primary search engine, you really should rethink the impact that banner ad blocking could have on your marketing efforts. Google's newly integrated software will automatically block ads that do not meet the coalition's minimum threshold, including banner ads. Perhaps you are counting on the fact that mobile searches have overtaken desktop searches, and your banner ad will be mobile friendly. Think again. While it is true that mobile searches are on the uptick while desktop searches have basically flat-lined over the past few years, Google plans to introduce its ad-blocking software on Android as well. Instead of throwing your marketing dollars away on banner ads, consider turning to a company that specializes in working with and for the manufacturing industry for assistance.