“When doesn't money matter?” exclaimed one of my clients during a recent conversation about the merits of industrial internet marketing. His company, a medium-sized electric motor supplier, was earning approximately $15 million dollars in annual revenue – a long way from 1991; his first year in business and sales of $145,000. We were discussing the company's 15 year history and looking over his portfolio of trade journal advertisements and tradeshow booth pictures. Many of the trade journal ads were proudly displayed in the front lobby, laminated on beautiful wood plaques with brass plates denoting the magazine issue and date. Whereas most of the tradeshow pictures were kept in a leather binder, casually surfacing at the end of facility tours with vendors and distributors.

My client was proud of his company's success and prominently showcased his yesteryear marketing memorabilia. At a glance, most people would suspect his industrial company spent a good deal of money advertising in multiple trade journals. Additionally, it would seem a safe bet that his Sales team spent the better part of their time on the road attending tradeshows. Both assumptions would be dead wrong. For the last couple of years, my client's focus has been squarely set on his company's web presence. While it's no secret that smart B2B suppliers and manufacturers harness the Internet's flexibility to save money and bolster sales, there are a large number of industrial companies behind the proverbial curve.

About three years ago his company saw a trend emerging – “no name” competitors were cropping up, seemingly out of nowhere, and reaping the rewards of a strong web presence. Some of these online competitors were headquartered overseas, however the majority of them were U.S. based manufacturers who creatively stretched their modest marketing budgets on the Internet. During this time, my client ignored the “hype” surrounding the World Wide Web and stayed the course, attending his usual roster of tradeshows and advertising in a faceless number of trade journals.

About one year later, my client began rethinking his hasty disregard for everything Internet. After all, several of his largest suppliers were now offering web-based e-catalogs in lieu of print literature and many of his customers were requesting .pdf versions of his motors' specification sheets and user manuals. The writing was on the wall…or monitor if you will.

Once my client moved past his apprehension surrounding the world of web marketing, he quickly realized two things. 1.) The Internet is an incredibly powerful sales tool, capable of delivering unmatched return on investment and unbeatable market penetration 2.) Industrial marketing on the Internet enabled him to easily measure and track the performance of their marketing dollars, making it possible to systematically improve the company's ROI vs. a “gut feel” approach.

After some time and effort, my client's industrial Electric Motor Company had developed their first website and posted it live to the Internet. From a Customer Support standpoint, it worked like a charm. Visitors could access the company website and locate distributors, download user manuals, email tech support, and so much more. However, my client's website had a very big problem - the only people logging on were existing customers. How could he drive qualified visitors to his company's website, creating product awareness and generating online requests for quote (RFQ)?

Allow me to introduce Pay Per Click advertising – arguably the most targeted and cost effective form of direct marketing available. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, as the name suggests, charges a pre-determined fee every time someone clicks to your website from an advertisement placed in a search engine's results page (e.g. Google or Yahoo). Because the majority of web surfers use search engines to find products and services, it makes a lot of sense for companies to place their advertisements on these pages. Consequently, it also made a lot of sense for my client.

For over a year and a half my client's business has been using Pay Per Click marketing to target online prospects searching for electric motors, specifically the type that his company manufactures. Furthermore, his marketing dollars are producing a handsome return on investment – remember he only pays on advertisements that were clicked, sending a visitor directly to his website. Compared with tradeshows and trade journals, Pay Per Click marketing is a tough act to follow.

Let's assume that the average industrial tradeshow costs around $4,500 to attend and that the average half-page, four color advertisement in a single trade journal issue costs approximately $3,900. Turning our sights to Pay Per Click marketing, we'll assume that the average cost per click is somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.35 cents…now let's work out the math.

If my client attended a tradeshow ($4,500) instead of Pay Per Click marketing (0.35 cents per click/website visitor), he'd have to showcase his entire product line to at least 12,857 expressly interested people ($4,500 / 0.35 = 12,857). Furthermore, Pay Per Click marketing only requires a fraction of the resources and manpower that go into planning and attending a tradeshow. Lastly, Pay Per Click marketing is completely measurable, capturing real time marketing data through web-based reports.

Applying the same logic to a single trade journal advertisement ($3,900) vs. Pay Per Click marketing (0.35 cents per click/website visitor), my client would have to ensure that 11,142 qualified prospects found his ad page, read his advertisement, and then immediately logged onto the Internet to access his company's website for more information on the product in question. Additionally, he'd have to account for the cost of designing a printed advertisement too. Lastly, the costs associated with this inflexible marketing channel are difficult to justify since there it is virtually impossible to measure return on investment…there is no mechanism in place to track leads, RFQs, and sales generated from this advertisement.

Fast forward to present day and I am happy to report that my client's electric motor business is booming. His annual marketing spend has been slashed by 45% and company wide sales are up 18% over last year. Furthermore, his Sales team spends less time “speculating” on their next marketing expenditure and more time following up on leads and closing sales. In my client's words, “growing sales becomes a lot easier when you can track the marketing responsible for your success”.

All of my clients share one thing in common – they're forward thinking businesses, facing today's stiff competition. They recognize the winds of change and don't turn a blind eye to any advantage in the marketplace. No matter if it's driving sales, generating leads, or simply building product and brand awareness, progressive companies will always be a step ahead of the competition.