Most industrial companies are not prepared for digital transformation

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92% of industrial companies do not know how to do business on the Internet. The industrial sector is not yet ready for digital transformation, since most companies have “obsolete” customer acquisition and loyalty strategies .

Companies sense that there is an opportunity to do business on the Internet, but they do not fully understand how to achieve it, since 78% have invested in a new website in the last 3 years but this is not bringing them commercial results.

These are the conclusions reached at the meeting 'The state of marketing in Industry 4.0' , organised by the Inbound Marketing agency Connext and the innovative group Valmetal . The event, supported by FEMEVAL, brazil email list was attended by Marcel Cerveró, head of management and quality at Valmetal, and Marcos García, co-founder and strategy director of Connext.

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García has announced the results of the study ' State of Industrial Marketing 2017-2018 ' prepared by his team of industrial marketing experts and with a qualitative sample of Valencian companies.

"If we take into account that 54% of purchasing processes originate from an informal enquiry on the Internet , digital transformation allows us to connect these searches with the digital department to make the sales process of industrial companies more efficient"

The report's conclusions include the fact that the main objectives of industrial marketing are to support and boost sales and improve its presence in its market. "However, it is contradictory that neither retaining current customers nor attracting new ones is considered essential to this end," says García.

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In fact, 65% of the origin of commercial contacts is obtained through commercial prospecting, a traditional technique that wastes the resources of the Internet . The same occurs with loyalty actions, which 92% of companies still carry out through commercial contact, ignoring the new digitalized consumers and the new trends of the online market.

Marketing teams are also concerned about effectiveness, as they cannot invest in more resources or equipment. However, they do not know how to be more effective, as they do not have a CRM system that helps them “save effort in their customer management” and establish synergies with sales, which does have “significant weight within the company.”

Need to compare your strategies with the sector? Download the full report on the State of Industrial Marketing 2017-2018
Opportunities of digital transformation
Connext stresses that “the opportunities for digital transformation in marketing and sales are immense.” To boost this digital revolution, García and Cerveró have shown the solutions available in the Valencian landscape.

These include the creation of a 'Roadmap ' that establishes the initial work plan for the digital transformation of marketing and sales; the 'Client Generation Machine' - to optimize the digital presence - and the design of a 'Acquisition Model'. With these tools, companies can begin their digitalization in approximately 6 months, and in 18-24 months they can complete this 4.0 change , reducing their cost per sales contact by up to 62%, achieving 54% more contacts and being able to increase their sales by up to 47%.

Valmetal explains that, to help promote the digital adaptation of Valencian companies, IVACE has deployed different aid programs, which companies can obtain advice on through this association.