Engineers and engineering professionals work in a wide array of industries, but to marketers, they have more than a few traits in common. Whether they work with electrical systems, computer hardware, chemical processes, or municipal infrastructure, engineers deal with objective thinking. They respond best to offers that answer practical questions and fill clear needs.
Years of STEM classes have taught engineers to be methodical thinkers, and they apply that same approach to buying decisions. Once they identify a need, they are tireless in finding solutions through a step-by-step search. To make decisions, they take in volumes of concrete knowledge, so give them the information they seek to earn their business. They care more about features and spec sheets than benefits; they prefer to draw their own conclusions about benefits instead of being sold on them.
In a sense, the best way to market products and services to engineering professionals is not to sell them much at all. Instead, focus on informing an audience. Case studies, efficiency ratings, white papers, product demonstrations, and sample versions of software do more to interest a prospective client in an engineering field than advertising copy. Many engineers take a skeptical view of claims and require proof before they accept them; give them the proof they need to make purchasing decisions, and they will make their own progress through the sales pipeline.
Because engineering professionals are a motivated and highly educated audience, it is essential for marketers to give them the right information at the right time. Articles and newsletters aimed at an entry-level audience won’t reach them, and messages geared to transition leads from marketing to sales may strike them as a hard sell before they are ready to buy. When selling to engineering professionals, market segmentation and customized messages are key to earning their business.
Engineers tend to be a tech-savvy audience that readily searches for information online. Reaching them through blogs, email, newsletters, mobile apps, educational downloads, and webinars will typically produce good results. They’re particularly receptive to technology-related offers and look for sellers who are as comfortable with state-of-the-art technology as they are.
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