We have always had a deep admiration and fascination for the engineering and advanced manufacturing sector, myriad companies both relatively small and global powerhouses, finding solutions to complex problems that improve the lives of individuals and the productivity or organisations.
Why is video crucial for engineering and advanced manufacturing companies?
- the global pandemic will have practical ramifications which will sadly continue for some time to come, with restrictions on visitors to your premises or those of your customers, difficulty in flying across the globe without testing and quarantine and potentially a genuine reticence to travel based on safety concerns. A video can bring your product and plant to your customers mitigating the need for them to come to you in the first instance at least.
- video can travel further and more quickly, reaching more people than a brochure or a sales representative of your organisation, delivering a much higher ROI at a lower cost.
- the implications of Brexit are still being worked out for all British companies, but one thing that should be a positive is the ability to trade more easily with a number of new markets, particularly emerging markets. Having compelling video content that speaks to the needs of these potential customers can significantly expand your potential sales pipeline.
- if you have a factory or manufacturing process that is difficult to show potential customers – perhaps causing downtime or health and safety concerns – why not film it once and combine it with animated or 3D sequences to show internal intricacies, which you can then present to your clients without the need to stop or slow the production process.
- many of your customers will be keen to know that other’s have implemented your technology and understand how it benefited them, making client case studies highly effective.
- the engineering sector is competitive and innovative and as such you need to consider how your marketing can stand out from the crowd to position yourself as the supplier of choice for your market.
- a major issue for many firms in this sector is the difficulty in attracting and retaining talented people, especially with the number of new engineers not close to being enough to replace those that are retiring. While investing in marketing for customers is critical, so is investing in marketing for potential candidates which is where video can be a game changer in reaching a generation of employees who regularly consume high quality video content.
- if you have a technology which requires some explanation in terms of the science, using an animated explainer to get customers familiar with the theory can mean half of the battle is won in terms of the sales process.
- staff training is essential to ensure that at a base level you are compliant with mandatory training but proactively helping to up-skill and develop your teams. This can be expensive and perhaps now presents some additional logistical challenges, particularly with remote working seemingly here to stay any least in part for some staff. Creating a suite of training videos, embedding them in an ‘off-the-shelf’ learning platform and using them across your entire operation can reduce training costs by a significant margin, standardise the quality and be utilised when it suits the business rather than the trainer.
- if you have developed a new product and are looking for investment creating a pitch video to educate potential investors on the technology, benefits and market opportunities is undoubtedly the difference between getting investment or being overlooked. Delivering a simple, consistent and compelling investor pitch is much more easily achieved with video.
- if you are a global organisation with many offices across multiple jurisdictions, why not consider creating content with quarterly updates from the senior leadership team, or presenting a new strategic plan using video to ensure everyone is on board. This can be very powerful in ensuring that every member of a global workforce feels connected to head office and the central strategy and culture of the business.
Omron have worked with Square Daisy on numerous video projects over the last 8 years, ranging from customer testimonials to technology spotlights. The results have always surpassed our expectation and I can only comment that the team are a pleasure to work with. Dan Rossek, Regional Marketing Manager, Omron UK.
