Sparking customer interest through up-to-date digital marketing

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Sparking customer interest through up-to-date digital marketing
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Barnes MetalCrafters has been built on a foundation of quality, craftsmanship, and expertise in delivering metal fabrication services. However, as the digital landscape and modern-day consumers have evolved, it’s become very clear that our online presence needs a significant update to remain competitive and visible to our target market.

While our company has continued to grow and develop, barnesmetal.com has lagged behind. It’s been many years since we last updated our website, leaving our online image outdated and disconnected from the high standards we uphold in our work.

We realized that an outdated website isn’t just about us; it’s about our potential customers and their businesses as well. A neglected website can lead them to overlook our capabilities and leave them unaware of what we can help them to achieve. I’ve seen some pretty lousy websites in my day, and they made me want to do nothing more than close the tab and move on.

But at the same time, our sister business, Mountains2Metal, has thrived online, evolving consistently to engage its customer base and maintain relevance in an increasingly digital world. Since both businesses operate under the same roof, we know it’s time to show an equal dedication to Barnes MetalCrafters’ online presence. There is room for improvement all around, so we plan to upgrade our marketing and website efforts with a goal of growing and positioning ourselves for success in 2025.

Guidance for Online Success

Luckily, representatives from the marketing program at NC State University recently approached us with an offer to provide new insights and strategies for boosting our sales and expanding our reach. Our initial conversations with them highlighted something we already knew—our business growth depends on updating our marketing approach and positioning our services in a way that speaks directly to our ideal customers.

So how do we go about doing that?

With guidance from the NC State team, we aim to reassess our approach, update our messaging, and rebuild our visibility. It’s funny when you get put on the spot with questions about your business and you have a hard time answering them. Especially when it is something you do every day. Sometimes you have to take a step back and really ask yourself what you are doing in your business.

Our company has experienced a noticeable slowdown recently—not surprising, as election years are historically challenging for spending. But we see this as the perfect time to lay the groundwork for an upswing as 2025 approaches.

Website Effectiveness

A website overhaul is our primary focus in this transformation. By updating our online presence, we can effectively showcase the full range of our capabilities, from our precision metal fabrication to our shop equipment, which now includes an industrial 3D printer and high-quality laser engraving machine. Our equipment list on the website is outdated, missing this valuable information, and updating it is essential to show potential customers the modern tools we have that can help meet their unique needs.

We plan to capture better-quality images that reflect our people, capabilities, and equipment. Our goal is to communicate visually the dedication and skill we put into each project and give visitors a clear picture of why they can trust Barnes MetalCrafters for their custom fabrication needs.

The homepage of the Barnes MetalCrafters' website is shown.

Left: The home page for the Barnes MetalCrafters’ website is in much need of updating. Right: The outdated equipment and services page shows a couple of machines that were purchased in 2008 and earlier.

This sounds a lot easier to do than it will be. Like most small businesses and fab shops, we don’t have the means to staff a marketing person. That’s why we need some help, and we’re grateful for the NC State team’s assistance. This is an entirely new animal for us, but we know we have to put in the effort to grow.

The Case for an Online Overhaul

A strong social media presence is more critical now than ever. It’s the platform where our audience communicates and consumes information, and it’s the ideal space to showcase our projects, engage with potential customers, and build awareness about our services. Expanding our reach on social media will help ensure that our name is top of mind whenever businesses or individuals in our target market need metal fabrication services, especially in our local area.

By sharing updates on our capabilities, equipment, and completed projects, we can demonstrate the scope and quality of our work, attract new customers, and make it easy for our audience to share and recommend our services. You never know who is looking for a job to be done—or who may not know what job they need done until they see a picture or video clip. Every little bit helps.

Adapting to the new-age digital presence is pretty dang important. This updating of our brand is both a necessary step and an exciting opportunity to make our mark online and remind our target market that Barnes MetalCrafters is here, ready to deliver for any project within our wheelhouse. This is definitely a change we are excited about. Things have been stagnant at the shop lately, and a nudge to the workflow will do us all good.

But our investment in a stronger online presence and more strategic marketing is not only a response to today’s market challenges; it’s a preparation for more opportunity. As we head toward 2025, we’re confident that by refreshing our website, updating our social media, and implementing a more targeted marketing strategy, we’ll ensure Barnes MetalCrafters is well positioned to thrive in the post-election economy.

Check out this related episode of The Fabricator Podcast

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