3 Big Approaches that Get Results When Marketing to Engineers

How Our Marketing Strategies Connect Your Business with Complex Tech Audiences

Think for a moment about a memorable speech you’ve heard. What made it work? Why was it a success? Now, think about a speech that ended with crickets. Why do you think that speech fell flat?

It’s likely that the reason one speech worked and the other gave you that awkward “I’m embarrassed for you” feeling is whether the speaker considered their audience.

Understanding your audience is the backbone of any successful communication. You may have a great message, but if it isn’t tailored to your audience, it won’t fly. You might have a purpose in mind, but if you’re not thinking about what the audience is expecting, that all-important feeling of connection won’t be there.

Understanding Your Audience Is a Marketing Strategy that Delivers Big Wins

Knowing who you’re communicating with and what they need is the only way you’re going to get your audience’s attention. This is true no matter how clever, creative, or expensive your marketing campaign is. We’ve all seen marketing that sounds great, but for some reason it just doesn’t click. It’s not connecting with its intended audience.

Our Kansas City digital marketing agency specializes in generating big wins for our clients by understanding the audiences you want to reach. And it works. When you work with us on a marketing campaign, you might be surprised how granular we can get and how well we get to know your audiences, no matter how niche your industry might be – including engineering sectors. While we drive growth for many industries, we pride ourselves in specializing in marketing to engineers and other tech-driven roles.

We Deliver for Businesses that Market to Engineers

Engineers and other tech-driven fields are a particularly unique audience that require expertise and industry knowledge to capture. Our depth of experience with engineering industries, including the electronics, HVAC&R, and manufacturing automation segments, has allowed us to develop insights about how to market to engineers effectively.

Read on to learn three key ways we get engineers’ attention in a crowded marketplace, so you’ll be the business they turn to, not your competition.

Do Your Research

When developing a marketing strategy that resonates with engineers, it is vital that you understand the industry in which they work, as well as the factors outside their industry that play a role in how they make buying decisions.

At a minimum, you need to know:

• The economic conditions that affect their industry and their customers’.
• The state of commodity prices, like metals or fuel, as these can affect the materials engineers use.
• Supply chain challenges that may impact how they receive, as well as ship materials.
• Trends related to the applications they build.
• The mindset and context of the customers they build for.

It’s important to think of engineers as part of a market with a never-ending cycle. Engineers are dependent on economic conditions, as well as supply chains, prices of goods, what their customers require, and what their customers are being told they need by their customers, which is usually dependent on economic conditions.

A mouthful? Yes. But here’s a simple illustration.

Imagine you’re an engineer designing sustainable lighting for office buildings. However, the supply chain for the components you need is slow because your country has placed sanctions on the country where these parts are made. However, customers who want your lighting are feeling the pressure to adopt your solution now, and you don’t want to miss out. Your customer’s investors are telling them they must adopt energy solutions in their buildings to benefit from tax credits and contribute to a rebrand as a green business. These investors feel pressure from potential business partners, who are more likely to partner with a green company. In short, the engineer is being asked to deliver under difficult, complex conditions – and several stakeholders’ needs.

Here’s how the engineer is feeling, and what they need from you, no matter what product or service you’re offering:

• They’re feeling pressure to expedite, so whatever you’re selling needs to be marketed as fast and efficient.
• They’re caught in the middle, so your marketing should empower them to make decisions that benefit them and their customers.
• They’re not only delivering to their customer, but to their customer’s customer. You may think you’re marketing business-to-business, but you’re actually best served by thinking of your strategy as a business-to-business-to-consumer position. Let the engineer know you not only understand them, but their audiences as well.

This in-depth understanding is an example of how we market to the engineers you want to connect with. Our Kansas City digital marketing agency goes the distance to ensure your clients feel completely understood. You and your customers will know we’ve done our homework, and that gets results.

When Marketing to Engineers, Take a Direct Approach – Except When You Don’t

Some marketers will tell you that engineers and similar professionals are straightforward, direct, and want the nuts and bolts of what you have to offer. They suggest that this is the only way to market to this audience and that your marketing strategy should leave behind an emotional appeal. After all, engineers are highly technical and feelings aren’t involved in designing a circuit board or hospital operating room, right?

Not exactly. It’s important to avoid stereotyping engineers as mechanical and direct. Otherwise, you won’t connect with them. Why? Because too many marketers go on autopilot and indulge these stereotypes. Their ads all come out the same as everyone else’s who followed the conventional wisdom they heard about who engineers are.

While it’s true that you may not want to create an ad that says, “Buy from us or risk serious FOMO!” and it’s also true that engineers need specific, straightforward information about what you’re advertising, you ultimately remember that engineers are people.

After all, if you’ve ever spoken to an engineer, you know they take pride in a perfectly designed system that is useful for the world we live in. Engineers are artists who find mathematical and scientific solutions to benefit people. They should be treated this way when they’re being marketed to, even as you strive to communicate straightforwardly, delivering the specs and technical details they require.

Our first tactic – doing your homework – is also an emotional gesture to show engineers you get them. If it’s clear that engineers understand that you know what they’re experiencing, that will move them to act. Engineers require a lot of training and education to be successful in their fields. You’re demonstrating that you’ve done the same to help them. That’s an action that goes well beyond marketing to them as a bunch of left-brain thinkers.

Pander to the stereotype and you’ll end up in the middle of the pack. Embrace creativity, humanize your audience, and learn what they wish all marketers would know, and you’ll get engineers’ attention. That’s how we approach your clients when you work with our premier Kansas City digital marketing agency.

Have Your Finger on the Pulse of What’s Next When You Market to Engineers

Engineers continuously have to think about what’s next or run the risk of losing out to an engineer who’s already a step ahead. Innovations occur in nearly every sector of engineering and their customers are always looking for a change that will cut costs and increase quality.

Engineers are often trying to understand how to align their processes with what their customers need, as well as anticipate what their customers will need in the future.

At present, many engineers are considering how the use of AI and automation can benefit their work, as well as how they can align what they design with how their customers may use AI in the future.

No matter what emerging technology, trend, or innovation is on the minds of engineers, the important point is that you know what it is and how your product or service might benefit them in their processes, as well as their customers’ needs.

To reiterate what we’ve explained in the first and second approaches, if you demonstrate that you’ve taken the time to understand engineers’ needs, including their potential future needs, you’re showing them your thoroughness and care. Your knowledge of their industry will matter to them and it will get them to respond. This is the approach that our Kansas City digital marketing agency takes when we consider how to market to engineers for your clients, and it brings the success you’re looking for – with no crickets to speak of.

Partner with iFocus and Leverage Our Strategies for Marketing to Engineers

Teaming up with our agency for marketing strategies that get the attention of the engineering industry includes our insights and analysis of your audience, your competitors, and the tools you need to grow your business. During our meetings, our strategists can show you how we’ve marketed to engineers on past campaigns and let you see the stats that demonstrate our success.

Guided by the three approaches we’ve shared, we can launch omni-channel digital marketing campaigns that harness the power of paid ads, social channels, website optimizations, and more to connect with engineering and tech audiences.

Schedule a discovery call with our Kansas City digital marketing agency team today and get a free digital audit of your business and your competitors. We look forward to providing the marketing strategy you need to take your business to the next level.