Photonics West 2017: Marketing Wins for Optics Companies

Our team had the honor to teach a course called “The New Sales Model” during this year’s Photonics West industry track. We shared sales and marketing “wins” from our clients in the industry and asked participants to do the same.

Marketing Successes

When we asked business leaders what sales or marketing experiments they were proud of, here’s what we heard:

• Visited all of our customers to understand their needs and deepen the relationship.
• Increased engagement with prospective customers as well as existing customers through publishing blogs, eBooks, white papers and press releases.
• Promoted technical papers through simplified blog posts.
• Broadened our marketing efforts so we’re not reliant on one or two activities: email, PR, video, SEO and trade show presence.
• Improved our trade show promotion for better visitor turnout.
• Sponsored a video product review on the Discovery Channel.
• Generated an RFQ for a 6-figure project with long-term 7-figure potential through a blog post.
• Secured 40 qualified leads within four months of undertaking an inbound strategy.
• Improved our lead follow-up process and achieved 3x our pipeline value.

Have questions on how? Check out the Q&A or download the slides.

A Shift in Thinking

In years past, the majority of the wins and questions have been tactical. Do Google ads work in this industry? How do I identify the right keywords? This year’s discussion demonstrates a real, welcome shift to thinking of marketing and sales strategically and systematically.

Why is this? Perhaps it’s the industry drivers—growth is slowing to single digits in many optics applications. Companies looking to maintain double-digit growth will need to make a shift.

• 1% medical device growth expected for 2017
• 5% growth in oil & gas
• 7% growth in night vision

Business leaders are also recognizing the shift in customer buying behaviors and expectations. 

• 40% of your customers (baby boomers) will retire in the next 2 years
• 70% of the purchase decision is already made before contact with sales

Learn more about what’s required today, and where your peers are winning.