We have already ranted about the importance of the internet to the fastener industry so I will cut straight to the point and ask the “big” question….. how visible is your company on the internet?

Do have a website? Do have a blog? Is this enough?

How do you target your market (especially if you are using a genre you may not be that familiar with) as it is no easy task trying to advertise to professionals and your average joe end-users. After all (generally speaking) you rely on the average customer to buy your product/ service yet it is also just as important to have a strong relationship to the fastener professionals.

I do not mean to over simplify the situation as I am aware that many fasteners companies operate in a highly specialised arena. Yet we all know there is nothing simple about the situation, especially in these uncertain times where everyone is affected by the crisis including the highly specialised companies.

So many companies are willing to spend time and money on fastener technology (and rightly so, as this is important to their future business) yet sales and marketing often come as an after-thought. Do you agree that this is true of the fastener industry in general?? Or does your company actually assign a high priority to sales and marketing?? Great if you feel that your company has nothing to worry when comes to this!

Yet if you are using traditional sales and marketing methods are they are working well for your company? How in the long run will you compete with your rivals who have a strong internet presence? If you fail to plan for the long term you may be being short sighted because the internet already holds a high importance and it is predicted that this importance will only continue to grow with time.

One could argue that the danger is that your company would not being competing with your competitors if you didn’t have a strong online presence as more and more companies realise the potential opportunities that the internet holds. If your competitors are more visible on the net than your business then they are reaching a wider market of potential customers and are greater benefiting from the economic benefits of technological investment.

It all comes down to benchmarking your company’s visibility on the internet! How do you rate?

Are you visible enough??

Don’t be invincible….. make your presence felt!!!!

Posted by Katie O’Connor

koconnor@ikalia.com