A.I. Digital Marketing for Manufacturers: Niching Down Til It Hurts

What happens when two manufacturing growth fanatics turn the spotlight on themselves to unpack the real A.I. digital marketing strategies driving results today? In this special Stop Being the Best Kept Secret episode, we reveal why niching down til it hurts might be your smartest move in the age of AI.

Expect straight talk on how manufacturers can harness AI tools, sharpen their niche, and create digital strategies that attract right-fit leads, without wasting time or money. You will walk away knowing exactly where to focus and how to make AI work for you. Don’t miss this powerful, no-fluff conversation packed with strategies you can put to work immediately!

Key Highlights for Niching Down Til It Hurts

• Niching Down in Digital Marketing 0:01
• Positive Aspects of Niching Down 2:15
• Analogy of Dog Breeds 2:27
• Applying Niching Down to Business 8:14
• Keyword Strategy and AI Tools 9:47
• Resisting the Temptation to Be Everything 11:39
• Final Thoughts and Call to Action 12:28

Wrapping It Up

Lastly, thank you for taking the time to read this post.

If you found this information valuable, check out some of our other blogs. 

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To learn more about SEO for Manufacturers, check out SEO for Manufacturers: Foundations, Strategy & Implementation. 

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Transcription of Niching Down Til It Hurts

Curt Anderson  00:01

Hey guys, welcome to Stop Being the Best Kept Secret. Damon, how are you? My friend?

Damon Pistulka  00:06

I’m doing great. Curt, ready to go? Hey, man, we

Curt Anderson  00:09

have a lot to cover in a short period of time. You’re ready, you’re ready to rock and roll. Did you get a good night’s

Damon Pistulka  00:14

sleep? You good? Let’s get after this with intensity. That’s,

Curt Anderson  00:20

you know what? I like that. Let’s get intensity going. So yeah, today we’re talking about AI, digital marketing strategies for manufacturers in particular. There’s this little word, this phrase I absolutely love. You know, I’m going to take zero credit for it. As a matter of fact, I have two books sitting right here. It’s niching down till it hurts. And for every entrepreneur out there. This, if you haven’t read this book, I was just with a client this morning. I’m like, this is really, it’s a great book. It’s a like, this is a must read if you’re an entrepreneur. Yeah, the E Myth by Michael Gerber. Strongly encourage you check this out. This is the first time I ever heard niche down until it hurts. Was from this gentleman here. And another phenomenal book the guys that have right here, 37 signals, Jason freed in rework, these guys talk about niching down right. Mm, hmm. And so, you know, great, two great books right there. And like, focusing on niching down till it hurts. And when, when people, if you hear that for the first time, I remember, I shared that with Dory Clark one time, and Dory was like, you know, Curt, I love that phrase. However, people don’t want to be in pain, right? So let’s spin this into a positive demon, like talk about some of the positive things when you really focus a niche down till it hurts, so good. Let’s go there.

Damon Pistulka  01:35

Yeah, yeah. Well, I think, I think when you the initial reaction is, if you only want to service this type of really perfect customer, then I might be missing other customers, right? That’s everybody thinks that it went in first and then. And it is true, because you you won’t service some of the customers that you would if you tried to do a bigger reach, right? But the customers that you do get are going to be better customers, longer lasting customers, and happier because what you do really hits to their heart of what they need, and that that’s, that’s the difference, I think, in it. When we first look at that, we go, oh, wow, you know we want to do, you know, everything for everyone, because we could. But when you realize it, and you and you go down business, you’re going to find that, yeah, we took that customer, but we really didn’t give them the value we could if they would have been this kind of customer, right? And that’s great that you had that customer, but I’ve often seen that turn out with that customer is not quite as happy as they could be, either, and you really have to understand that effect over the long term,

Curt Anderson  02:41

right? And exact, and I think you’re hitting on the head right there, where you, you know, you get into with a customer like, Man, I’m going to crush it. Hey, we’re going to try something new, something different. Because here’s the pushback, here’s, you know, play a little bit of the devil’s advocate is, how do you know your next great service, your next great solution, unless you stretch yourself or get out of your comfort zone. But, man, as long as you stay, you know, like, so for a restaurant and we’re cooking, you know, man, we got the best burger in town. Does it necessarily mean that we’re gonna make the best sushi in town?

Damon Pistulka  03:09

Yes, yes. And I think really, when we’re talking about niching down, what it will allow you to do is, if I like your example, if I’m, if I’m really, really good at burgers. What’s the best thing that I could offer with a burger? Right? Is it right? Kind of a unique fry situation, right? No, is it some other kind of unique addition to the burger? Maybe we make potato salad that nobody else covers potato salad in it, right? You know? But just get a few really cool things. I mean, we have five guys here, and one of the things that they have is they have the the the roasted peanuts at the door. You just load them up and wait. While you’re waiting, you never worry about waiting, because you got some penis eat so many things around. What you do when you’re niching down on that perfect customer and really know them? Because if they didn’t know their customer, they didn’t know what their customer would really like and appreciate that, right? They would have made a big mistake, right? You

Curt Anderson  04:02

know? Yeah, I remember years ago, first time my wife and I went to Five Guys, we’re like, you know, hey, we each get a fry. The the woman at the she was like, No, you just need one fry. Yeah, right. So, you know, again, focusing on what your best is, you know. So if we’re crushing on the grill. So when my daughter was young, you know what she would love at Five Guys, she loved their grilled cheese because, you know, they’ve got the grill going. Well, hey, if we can make a burger, we can make it. You know, she always claimed they made one of the best grilled cheese when she was a little girl. So, you know, again, staying at Lane, being laser focused. How can we diversify but stay in a niche? You know, we’re big, we’re big dog lovers. Like, I do, like, do you like dogs? Steven, little bit, it’s like, it’s like, borderline obsession, right? So probably almost like borderline unhealthy, but we’re huge dog fanatics, right? So just think about this, right? You know, think about the dog that kind of represents you. Do you want, like a small, tiny dog? Do you want a giant Saint Bernard? Do you mind something in the middle, like that dog kind of represents. You, your family, what’s a good fit for you? Maybe your neighbors, that type of thing,

Curt Anderson  05:03

right? What’s What kind of dog do you have? Damon, we have a Westie.

Curt Anderson  05:08

You have a Westie, right? So you niche down, though you’re a dog lover, you got a Westie, right? Yep. And it’s got a brand new dog, totally different breed for us. We’re, we were always a Rottweiler family. We left. I man, it like breaks my heart. We left the Rottweiler. We just got like, a little English Bulldog, right? So, all right, what on earth does this have to do with niching down until it hurts? It’s like, it’s that mantra speaks to you and your wife, that type of dog fits you, right? This type of dog fits is fit. You know, we’re going through the whole puppy thing, right? Now. I’ll let you know how it goes, but it’s like, laser focus on that. I can’t, you know, I don’t have a little time right now. He’s a little puppy guy, right? Little tiny guy. But being focused on, like, what you do best, to me, it’s almost like the dog situation. I don’t know. What do you think is that? What

Damon Pistulka  05:55

do you Oh, I think it is. I think it is because, you know, you, if you want to really speak to someone and and you want to, and you are a, you’d say, Westy, you provide products at Westies. Work out with Westies really well. Or work out with English Bulldogs really well. Or a big breed of dog really well, right? You can, you can get into that and, and really speak to those people. I mean, a big dog, right? Your dog before, I’ve got some friends that have, you know, the massive dogs too. You know, it’s like they can relate to buying big amounts of food and big amount of cleanup in the yard and all that kind of stuff. Whereas someone with a 25 pound dog or a, you know, even smaller, 30 pound dog, 40 pound dog, get they that’s not nearly a concern as it is for a big dog, or even just, how the heck do you walk 150 pound dog, right? How do you walk them without them just tearing you down? Do you have, like, a special harness to hold on? And that’s what I’m doing, you know? So there’s so many differences in the way that, in the way you can niche down into this is where our product or service really fits,

Curt Anderson  07:00

yep. So focusing on your core strengths, what’s a good fit for you? And I do, I’ve seen about the dog, and now I know we’re coming to this great conversation today, and I was, I love the dogs. You know, we’re going through, like, the whole puppy training thing. And you know, my neighborhood is just full of dogs up and down the street, all over, yeah, you know, neighbor two doors down, like two huge Newfoundlands. You know, neighbor across the street, they’ve got dogs similar to, like your your little Odin guy across street, he has a lab, you know, like, you know, person next door, two different, you know, like every person has a different dog that kind of represents them, right? And it fits them, fits their family, fits their needs, their personality. It’s, it’s in i I’m hoping that analogy spoke to me. So I’m hoping this speaks of folks, yeah,

Damon Pistulka  07:45

yeah. I think it does. I think it, you know, and before this, I had a hunting dog years ago, and it’s a completely different type of products and services you need for something like that, and it really speaking to them. It’s just like any business, right?

Curt Anderson  07:59

So let’s all right, so take it now that for our dog lovers out there, hope that’s sung to you or spoke your light, your love language, uh, diving into, you know, think about the dog that you have and how that just really and because the thing is, like, if your dog’s a customer, right? Like this, like this is what works. So we have a little David, did you ever got new software tool that came out?

Damon Pistulka  08:18

Yes, we do. We have this, what is called the digital game plan right here.

Curt Anderson  08:23

So Damon, I have this new software tool that we have come out, and, you know, as we’re talking about AI strategies for, you know, especially digital marketing strategies for manufacturers, when the very first things is, you know, from a successful marketing standpoint, is we, as Damon said, We don’t want to be everything to everybody. We want to be something to someone. I just listened to a phenomenal interview with a guy that founded, uh, raising canes, and he’s like, what’s your craveable solution, man, I just I thought that was just such a great expression. What’s your craveable solution that customers just love? Well, what you’re looking at here on our little digital game plan is we love to focus on your core strengths first and foremost, right? What are you absolutely best at? And so this is a client that we we’ve had, we’ve been working with for years. And so Damon, let’s talk a little bit. Why focus in on those core strengths will help us get in tune with niching down till it hurts.

Damon Pistulka  09:23

Well, those, those strengths are what your your ideal customers really value. And when you understand those and you find those customers that really value them, you can find other customers that will really value those same things,

Curt Anderson  09:35

right? Exactly. So like for example, let’s take a couple of things that I love with these guys. You know, education, content, leadership. You know, we constantly preach, how do you out teach the competition, as opposed to, how do you outspend? And so this little tool, it’s an AI tool. What it does, it reads a company, goes to their website, pulls out a bunch of information. What I also love here, they are deeply committed to everything that they make is made. In USA. So that’s a huge approach for them. And then they’ve got here, they’ve got innovative online tools. So they have an estimator, they have a quarter so, like, this stuff is, is, you know, this is really their gosh, you know, bragging rights, if you will. You know, you’re and if, hey, it’s not bragging, if you can back it up. Is that what they say? Damon, yes. So it is again. So what they’re, you know, before they used to label themselves as a contract manufacturer, what do you do? Well, we’re a contract manufacturer. Now they started really leaning in niching down into that wire harness assembly space, and in particularly like ground straps, ground wires. So they’re trying to be the authority in those topics. They’re, you know, I’m not giving away any secret sauce because like that. You go to their website, that’s what they’re, they’re speaking that’s their whole jam. Is like diving into those solutions and leaning heavy into it. Now, demon, when you lean heavy into it, that really guides and helps. That becomes your keyword strategy, right? Yes,

Damon Pistulka  11:00

it does. Yes it does. And we’ve got a comment here from Patrick Seaton, looks good.

Curt Anderson  11:08

Hey, let’s pull that up. Hey, Patrick, Happy Monday to you, my friend. Open for clients. He says, Knowing what your niche is and what it is not, are both important. Drop the mic, Patrick, thank you for that awesome comment. Yeah, love to connect with you on LinkedIn. Patrick and again, thank you. Any other comments out there? Drop those in there. Yeah, we’re gonna, man, I’m like, I’m keeping us. We’re gonna start winding down anything as we’re as we’re talking about these digital marketing strategies, especially using AI, okay, so like aI digital marketing strategies for manufacturers in particular, laser focus. How do you niche down till it hurts? Focus on those course ranks, and it’s just going to move your marketing needle so much further. Parting thoughts, words of wisdom. What do you want

Damon Pistulka  11:49

to share today? Yeah, just resist the temptation to be everything to everyone. I mean, you’ve said it before. Curt, you’re nothing to no one. When you try to be everything to everyone, and it’s no different in life, right? You know, you’re not ice cream, you’re not friends with everyone. That’s the way it is. Understand where you’re where you’re really appreciated, and stay there, right? I mean, we all listen, you hear it. And people talk about personal development, they talk about leadership. They talk a lot of places. It’s like, hey, if they’re not the right people around you at the right time, then you need to change that. It’s no different than this. You need to niche, niche down in your business until it hurts, because you will have the right customers around you when that happens,

Curt Anderson  12:25

get those craveable solutions. So okay, we’re going to stop sharing. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Patrick, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for everybody out there you’re catching us on a replay. We appreciate you more than you can possibly imagine. My name is Curt. Got my dear buddy Damon here connect with both of us on LinkedIn. We’d love to hear what you have going on, Damon, I think we have a little newsletter going out there. Do you want to share about

Damon Pistulka  12:48

our newsletter? Yeah, we got the secret sauce newsletter that comes out every Thursday, dripping with goodness, dripping with

Curt Anderson  12:55

goodness. We’ve got a webinar tomorrow that we’re doing at IMEC. That’s the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Partnership. We have all sorts of wonderful information. Check out B2Btail. We have tons and tons of free information, really, I’ll tell you, Amy on our team, has just gone completely wild with content about SEO. Any question that you have about SEO, we have content about that for manufacturers, yeah, so again, connect with us on LinkedIn. We’d love to catch you down the road and check out our newsletter, and we will see you. Damon, we’re back here Friday. Whether you like it. Yes, we are all right, guys, have a great, amazing rest of your week. God bless you. Keep crushing it and we will catch you soon.

Damon Pistulka  13:37

Thanks, everyone. You.