Whether you’re a sports enthusiast or not, most of us are aware that the Super Bowl took place last weekend. The championship game is about much more than just football, so even if you don’t know the difference between the Carolina Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes, you’ve probably seen, heard, or discussed some of the clever advertisements that ran during the game (Helen Mirren’s Budweiser advertisement seems to be a standout). In fact, in many cases, these ads are so popular that they drown out the results of the game itself.

However, the popularity of advertising has become somewhat of a problem for those of us working in industrial marketing, since it creates some confusion.We regularly hear from industrial businesses that they hate marketing, they don’t trust it, and they don’t think it works.

In reality, though, most businesses have industrial marketing confused with advertising.

Now, Super Bowl ads may be an extreme example, with ad space selling for millions of dollars, but they have a lot in common with advertising on a smaller scale. Traditional radio or trade magazine advertisements are hard to measure ROI, and as a result, many industrial businesses are skeptical of industrial marketing for their company.

And to be fair, they are right. It is difficult to expect businesses to invest in something without proving its effectiveness. Luckily, though, marketing is not advertising, and in the industrial sectors, this is good news.

Industrial businesses generally offer very specific services or build highly specialized products. This results in businesses with very targeted markets, which can be difficult to reach with traditional advertising techniques.

Advances in online marketing technology have made it easier than ever to connect with these targeted audiences. Instead of blanket advertising in an attempt to generate interest in a product or service, online marketing focuses on making those products and services easier to find for customers who are already looking for them. This can save a lot of time and money in the sales cycle, especially in highly specialized industrial sectors.

More importantly, online marketing generates plenty of data, making it possible to measure the exact impact campaigns are having.

This means businesses can better understand their customers, how they are being found, and help sales teams to realize marketing’s role in generating qualified leads. The end result is that industrial businesses are able to generate predictable revenue streams through their industrial marketing efforts.

So it is important to be clear, industrial businesses do not hate marketing. Instead, they are skeptical of investments which provide no clear return on investment, and rightly so! While Helen Mirren may be an effective brand building tool for the world’s most established companies, traditional advertising does little to generate sales leads in the industrial sector.

Industrial Marketing increases sales leads by helping businesses be found by customers who need their products or services, and that is something every industrial company should love.