Trade shows can be one of the biggest investments in an industrial marketing budget, requiring significant time, money and resources. So how can marketers make sure that investment pays off? This week, we discuss everything from the 18-month planning cycle, to prepping your sales team, to accurately following up and reporting on quality leads.

In this episode, Wendy Covey is joined by TREW Marketing’s Kara Koch and Vicki Klanang Pfister to break down how industrial marketers can take a more strategic approach to 2026 and 2027 trade shows, from deciding which events deserve a spot on the calendar to creating an experience that attracts the right people.

The conversation starts with strategy. Rather than attending an event simply because the company has always been there, marketers should consider business goals, target audiences, past performance and the desired outcome of each show. Those factors should also determine the level of participation, whether that means exhibiting, speaking, sponsoring or simply walking the show.

They also discuss why successful trade show planning starts earlier than many marketers realize. Major events may require commitments 12 to 18 months in advance, while detailed booth, messaging and promotional planning should begin months before the show.

But logistics are only part of the equation. Kara and Vicki share ways to build pre-show campaigns, align marketing and sales, establish clear lead qualification criteria, tailor booth messaging to the event audience and give attendees a compelling reason to stop by. They also cover common mistakes, from scanning every badge to staffing booths with disengaged employees.

Whether you're planning one major trade show or an entire event calendar, this episode covers all the bases to a successful industrial B2B tradeshow strategy.

Resources

• Connect with Vicki on LinkedIn
• Connect with Kara on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about TREW's Marketing Strategy Service
• Explore TREW's Case Studies
• Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report

Quarterly marketing reviews are more than a chance to report results. They're an opportunity to align leadership, evaluate what's working, identify what needs to change, and prioritize the initiatives that will drive the next quarter forward. TREW Marketing President Jennifer Dawkins shares her framework for running productive quarterly marketing reviews that keep teams focused on business goals, spark meaningful discussions, and ensure future decisions are backed by data.

In this episode, TREW Marketing President Jennifer Dawkins shares her framework for running productive quarterly reviews. She explains that effective quarterly reviews should begin by revisiting the marketing goals established during planning. Rather than diving straight into dashboards, she recommends reminding stakeholders of the objectives everyone agreed upon and highlighting the major initiatives executed during the quarter. From there, marketers can review high-level health metrics before taking a deeper look at significant campaign performance, unexpected trends, and lessons learned.

One of the episode's key takeaways is that marketers don't need to report every metric they track. While detailed data helps marketing teams optimize their work, leadership is primarily interested in metrics that influence business decisions. Jennifer encourages marketers to tailor reporting to their audience by focusing on business outcomes, meaningful anomalies, and initiatives tied directly to strategic goals. The result is a more collaborative discussion that leads to informed decisions instead of simply reviewing numbers.

The conversation also explores several trends TREW has observed across industrial marketing clients. While organic website traffic continues to decline, AI referral traffic is steadily increasing. More importantly, the visitors who do arrive are proving to be higher quality, spending more time on websites and converting at higher rates.

Whether you're reporting to executives or leading your own marketing team, it's critical to define success before campaigns begin, measure what matters most, and use quarterly reviews as an opportunity to refine your strategy.

Resources

• Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about TREW's Marketing Strategy Service
• Explore TREW's Case Studies
• Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report

Breaking into a technical industry can feel intimidating for marketers, especially when you're surrounded by engineers, product experts, and complex technologies. But you don't need to become an engineer to become an effective industrial marketer. In this episode, you'll learn practical strategies for building confidence, creating stronger content, and connecting with technical audiences. \

In this episode, Natae, Content and Brand Marketing Manager at Novaspect, shares how she immerses herself in new industries and markets by interviewing customers and subject matter experts, joining industry organizations, reading trade publications, and learning the language her audience uses. She explained her goal isn't to know every technical detail. It's to understand why customers care and what challenges they're trying to solve.

The conversation also explores the growing importance of authentic, human-centered content. While product specifications and technical capabilities still matter, the people behind the brand often create the strongest performance across social media platforms. From showcasing company culture to capturing unscripted interviews with sales engineers at trade shows, Natae has found that genuine content consistently outperforms overly polished marketing.

The episode also highlights why content creation shouldn't be limited to the marketing department. Encouraging leaders, salespeople, HR professionals, and technical experts to share their knowledge helps build trust, supports recruiting, and extends a company's reach. Marketing's role becomes one of enabling, amplifying, and repurposing that expertise across channels.

Whether you're new to industrial marketing or looking for fresh ways to strengthen your strategy, this episode offers practical advice for building credibility, creating better content, and connecting with technical audiences in a meaningful way.

Resources

• Connect with Natae on LinkedIn
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• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
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• Learn more about Novaspect
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• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report
  
  
• Related Episode: AI Visibility: The Future of Search Optimization

If your content strategy still revolves around publishing endless "what is" and "how to" articles, it's time to update your strategy. Learn why taking a clear point of view, investing in original research, and building credibility beyond your own website are becoming key differentiators in the age of AI search.

In this episode, Sooraj Shah, Content Marketing Lead at Aikido Security, shares why thought leadership and PR are becoming more valuable than ever and how companies can create content that both audiences and AI trust.

Drawing on his background as a technology journalist, Sooraj explains why Aikido has shifted away from producing generic "what is" and "how to" articles in favor of opinion-driven content backed by evidence. Rather than publishing the same advice as their competitors, the team focuses on taking clear positions, sharing original perspectives, and supporting those viewpoints with research and real-world expertise.

The conversation also explores how AI search is changing content strategy. While SEO remains an important foundation, Sooraj believes brands need to think beyond rankings and create content that offers unique insights, original data, and credible perspectives that large language models are more likely to surface. He also shares why third-party media coverage, annual research reports, and strong relationships with industry publications play an increasingly important role in building authority.

Finally, Wendy and Sooraj discuss a challenge many marketers face today: measuring the impact of thought leadership. Unlike traditional SEO content, success isn't defined by rankings alone. Instead, marketers should look for signals such as media citations, industry engagement, social sharing, and whether their ideas are influencing conversations within their market.

Resources

• Connect with Sooraj on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report
  
  
• Related Episode: AI Visibility: The Future of Search Optimization

AI search is changing how buyers discover and evaluate vendors, yet many industrial companies have no idea whether they're being cited in tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. Over the past few months, we've conducted AI visibility audits for several clients to uncover exactly how often their brands appear in AI-generated responses, and why. The findings revealed clear patterns separating brands that are consistently recommended from those that are virtually invisible. In this week's episode, we share what we've learned and outline four practical strategies that can help increase your visibility, authority, and chances of being cited by top AI platforms.

In this episode, TREW Marketing's Kara Koch joined Wendy Covey to discuss the growing importance of AI visibility and the strategies industrial marketers can use to improve it. The conversation also explored the differences between SEO (Search Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). While traditional SEO remains foundational, marketers must now optimize content to become trusted sources for AI-generated answers.

To assess visibility, Kara recommends conducting AI visibility audits that evaluate brand mentions, citations, content structure, and competitor performance across AI platforms. She emphasized that many industrial companies possess deep expertise but fail to package that knowledge in ways AI systems can easily understand and cite.

When it comes to improving visibility, the most effective strategies include strengthening technical SEO fundamentals, creating problem-focused content, organizing content into topic clusters, earning third-party validation through PR and industry publications, and showcasing authentic thought leadership.

Resources

• Connect with Kara on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report
  
  
• Related Episode: AI Visibility: The Future of Search Optimization
• Related Episode: Evolving Your Website Alongside AI and Shifting Buyer Expectations

How do European engineers research, evaluate, and purchase technology today? How do these behaviors differ from their North American counterparts? I sat down with Udo Bormann to discuss the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research report with a European lens.

In this episode, Wendy Covey connects with Udo Bormann, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager at Elektor, to talk about the Europea-specific insights from the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers research report. One of the most important findings: European engineers complete approximately 64% of their buying journey online before ever speaking with a salesperson. This is slightly higher than their North American counterparts. This means manufacturers must focus on becoming part of the research process rather than interrupting it.

Udo explains how engineers are skilled at filtering out promotional messages and quickly identifying content that lacks substance. He says successful marketing strategies provide practical, in-depth information through articles, webinars, videos, datasheets, and demonstrations that help engineers evaluate solutions on their own terms.

The research also revealed an interesting contradiction around artificial intelligence. While nearly 70% of engineers report using generative AI during the buying process, trust remains low particularly in Europe. Bormann noted that engineers often use AI as a starting point, but they still seek validation from credible sources before making decisions. That emphasis on credibility helps explain another surprising trend: the growing influence of trusted technical publications. Engineers have been increasingly gravitating toward sources they trust to provide accurate, verified information.

For marketers targeting European engineers, it's important to prioritize technical accuracy, invest in trusted content channels, and focus on building credibility at every stage of the buyer's journey.

Resources

• Connect with Udo on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report
• Watch the Research Webinar
  
  
• Related Episode: What Surprised Us Most in the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report

For the first time in the report’s nine-year history, technical publications surpassed vendor websites as engineers’ top source for researching purchases, signaling a growing demand for trusted, third-party content. Listen to the latest episode of Content Marketing, Engineered to hear what we found most surprising in this year's State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report.

In this episode, Wendy Covey and CJ Haight pull back the curtain on the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report and explore the trends reshaping technical buying behavior. The conversation dives into the growing role of AI in the research process, revealing a fascinating contradiction: engineers are increasingly using generative AI tools, yet trust in AI-generated information remains low. Wendy and CJ discuss how technical buyers may be leveraging AI as a shortcut for discovery while still relying on verification from credible, independent sources.

The episode also explores why online technical publications overtook supplier websites as the preferred research destination for engineers. CJ suggests this may reflect a desire for less biased information and frustration with overly generic or AI-generated vendor content.

Wendy and CJ share practical advice for industrial marketers: invest in credible third-party visibility, maintain a strong and unique market position, and prepare for continued disruption as AI changes how engineers discover information online.

Resources

• Connect with CJ on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Download the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report
• Watch the Research Webinar

When was the last time your updated your visual brand? An outdated visual identity could be costing you more than you realize. From lost sales opportunities to recruiting challenges and diminished credibility, visual branding isn’t just about looking polished; it’s a strategic tool for building trust, standing out from competitors, and attracting top talent. Paul Kiesche shares how to know when it's time to give your brand a refresh and the best practices to consider.

In this episode, Paul Kiesche, President and Creative Director of Aviate Creative, shares how an outdated visual brand can be detrimental not only to your sales and marketing efforts, but your company's internal culture and external recruitment efforts as well.

Paul shared that one of the biggest misconceptions in industrial marketing is the belief that buyers “don’t care” about creative. While technical buyers may prioritize seeking out technical content, they still make judgments based on professionalism and trustworthiness. A dated or amateur-looking brand can create hesitation, especially when prospects are making large purchasing decisions.

Employee recruitment and retention is also a major reason to modernize you company's visual brand. Modern, polished branding can energize internal teams, attract younger talent, and help manufacturers compete for skilled workers in a tight labor market.

So, when companies should consider a brand refresh? According to Paul, businesses that haven’t updated their branding in 10 years or more are likely already feeling the effects of an outdated brand. Signs can include declining engagement, difficulty hiring, or slower lead generation.

Resources

• Connect with Paul on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Aviate Creative