In 2020, due to the spread of the new coronavirus, many things in business and daily life have become online and digital. “Online exhibitions” by companies are one example of such digitalization.
Is digitization progressing even in the manufacturing industry, which is generally seen as an analog industry? In November 2020, Markerize Inc. investigated the current state of digitalization in sales and promotions in the manufacturing industry.
The results revealed that digitalization is viewed positively in the manufacturing industry as well, and that companies that have already experienced digitalization are realizing its benefits.
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Sales and promotions in the manufacturing industry are also becoming digital. About 40% of companies exhibit at online exhibitions, and about 70% use online business negotiations and e-mail newsletters.
39.6% said they had exhibited, and 54.3% said they would like to exhibit in the future.
The graph below shows the results of a survey of companies in the manufacturing industry regarding their participation in online exhibitions.
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Sales and promotions in the manufacturing industry are also becoming digital. About 40% of companies exhibit at online exhibitions, and about 70% use online business negotiations and e-mail newsletters.
A total of 39.6% said “I have exhibited and would like to exhibit in the future” (24.8%) and “I have exhibited in the past but have no plans to exhibit in the future” (14.8%). Overall, there are many companies that have never exhibited before.
However, a total of 54.3% of companies answered, “I have never exhibited, but I would like to exhibit” (29.5%) and “I have exhibited and would like to exhibit in the future” (24.8%), and more than half of the companies said that they would like to exhibit online in the future. It became clear that they were positive about the exhibition.
The following comments were received from companies that had exhibited.
[I would like to exhibit in the future]
- Both exhibitors and participants were not used to it, and it was difficult to prepare and operate it. I would like to get used to it now for future use.
- I was able to get leads without spending a lot of money. Creating the video required time and cost during the preparation period.
- The effects have not been felt compared to face-to-face (offline exhibitions). However, I feel there is no harm in exhibiting as the preparation costs are lower than face-to-face.
- I think there will be more opportunities to use online exhibitions in the future. I would like to use both online exhibitions and face-to-face exhibitions.
- The number of leads obtained is approximately several times that of face-to-face meetings. But I can’t see the reactions of the visitors.
[There are no plans to exhibit in the future]
- Not a hot lead. At this stage, know-how is limited.
- Even though the exhibition period is longer than that of face-to-face exhibitions, the effect of exhibiting is hardly felt.
- Exhibitions do not offer the benefits of “serendipitous encounters”.
- I think it will be necessary in the future, but I haven’t been able to keep up with the consideration.
- Searching for effective content and presentation methods
- I felt that the effectiveness was not fully evaluated and the appeal effect was weak if the booth was not worth seeing.
There were probably many people in charge who were not used to online exhibitions and found it difficult to prepare. On the other hand, the low cost seems to be viewed positively. It can be seen that some companies achieved better results than face-to-face meetings, while others did not.
Face-to-face exhibitions and online exhibitions have different characteristics, and in order to make the most of online exhibitions and achieve results, it seems necessary to devise strategies that are suitable for online exhibitions. Of course, it is important to consider the characteristics of both face-to-face and online exhibitions and use them accordingly.
Digitalization is progressing even in the manufacturing industry. What are the benefits of digitalization/systemization?
Next, we conducted a survey on the positive aspects of digitalization/systemization, and the results are shown in the graph below.
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Sales and promotions in the manufacturing industry are also becoming digital. About 40% of companies exhibit at online exhibitions, and about 70% use online business negotiations and e-mail newsletters.
The most common answer was “I can hold meetings and business negotiations from anywhere” at 69.8%, followed by “I was able to make my work more efficient” (43.0%) and “I can do the same work by teleworking” (42.3%). Ta.
The manufacturing industry generally has a strong impression that many operations cannot be digitized. However, looking at the results, it seems that telework is progressing even in the manufacturing industry, and that “the same work can be done by telework” and other benefits have been discovered.
In the future, more companies may pursue online, systematization, and remoteization in search of benefits such as improved operational efficiency, rather than going online because they have no choice but to do so due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Publishing on your company’s homepage” and “email magazine” are the top methods for introducing content.
Finally, the graph below shows the results of our research on how to guide content to customers.
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Sales and promotions in the manufacturing industry are also becoming digital. About 40% of companies exhibit at online exhibitions, and about 70% use online business negotiations and e-mail newsletters.
The top choice was “posted on the company’s website” (89.3%), followed by “mail magazine” (74.5%). “Free video sharing services” accounted for 38.3%, and “WEB advertising” accounted for 34.9%, indicating that various methods using the Web are used in the manufacturing industry as well.
As consumer behavior is shifting online due to the spread of SNS and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of sales and promotions using the web will continue to increase.
summary
Some companies may have had no choice but to promote digitalization due to negative reasons such as the spread of coronavirus infection. However, in the end, multiple benefits were discovered, including improved work efficiency.
In the manufacturing industry as well, it seems necessary to advance online and digitalization, and to use offline and online differently based on their respective characteristics.