Tired of looking for new buyers at trade shows or via supplier directories? There are other ways for Hong Kong-based manufacturers to find new customers online that are both faster and more cost-effective.
These days, everyone from individual Amazon sellers to purchasing managers working for major retailers use the internet to search for new manufacturers.
In this guide, I explain how you can use paid ads and content marketing to help them find you online.
Content Overview
- Google Adwords
- Google Display Ads
- Company Blog
- Free Product Catalogs
Google Adwords
Google Adwords enables you to select certain keywords that your potential customers are searching for. For example, a Watch manufacturer could decide to select these keywords.
Keywords
- Watch manufacturer in Hong Kong
- Watch manufacturer in Shenzhen
- Watch manufacturer in China
- Watch wholesaler in Hong Kong
- Watch wholesaler in Shenzhen
- Watch wholesaler in China
- Best watch suppliers in China
Your advertisement will appear at the top Google.com whenever someone is searching for these keywords.
Even if you’re not a wholesaler, you may still turn people searching for ‘watch wholesalers’ into your customers.
The key here is to figure out what your potential customers may be searching for while ensuring that you don’t waste money on keywords that are not relevant to your products.
Countries
You can also set which specific countries you want to target. For example, you can select to only show your ads in these countries:
- United States
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- Singapore
You should start with a few countries first to see if your ads work. Keep in mind that you can keep adding countries later.
How to create the ad
You need to ensure that the ad copy of your advertisement is clear. Primarily, it should signal to your potential customer that you are indeed manufacturing the type of products they are looking for.
Ad objective
You must decide what your ad should be all about. In other words, it must be clear what happens once someone is clicking on your ad.
Here are a few examples:
- Book free call
- Download free product catalog
- Download free whitepaper
Google Display Ads
Google Display Ads enable you to show your ads on different websites, for example, newspapers such as the New York Times or even SCMP. In a way, you follow people who have recently searched for relevant terms (e.g. Watch factory in Shenzhen) around on the internet.
That way you keep appearing, and will hopefully get a call booking.
Content Marketing
a. Company Blog
Another way manufacturers in Hong Kong can get more customers online is by creating a company blog. This company blog should cover articles related to your product.
These days, everyone from individual Amazon sellers to purchasing managers working for major retailers use the internet to search for new suppliers.
It takes a bit of time before you will start seeing traffic
Topics
Here are a few topics that could work for Bluetooth speaker manufacturers:
- What to think about before importing Bluetooth speakers
- Best trade shows in China for Bluetooth speakers
- Top 10 Bluetooth speaker factories in Shenzhen
- Top 10 Bluetooth speaker factories in Dongguan
The key is to select the topics that your potential customers are searching for.
Content quality
Customers can see through self-promotion these days. It’s essential to take an editorial approach to create B2B content. You will ultimately be judged based on the quality of your content.
- Educate your customer about your product and technical details
- Educate your customer about product customization options
- Write extensive guides (at least 1000 words)
Languages
If you’re looking for international buyers, you should also consider getting your articles translated to other languages, such as Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Luckily, you don’t need full-time staff for this but can find qualified translators on Upwork.com.
That way you can slowly start to gain exposure in completely new markets.
b. Free Product Catalogs
As a manufacturer, you can easily stand out by offering digital product catalogs, or even offer your website visitors to order free paper catalogs delivered to their address.
You can also take it one step further by adding information to the catalog about material options, design customization options, customer case studies and much more.
