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Expand and Grow
With the help of: Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC)
About
The Challenge
Advantage Components connected with IMEC, part of the MEP National Network™, back in 2014. ACI and IMEC have worked on a variety of projects together since then, but there was one area yet to be discussed - marketing. While Advantage Components knew the positive impacts marketing could have on their business, they had yet to make a conscious effort to dive deep into creating a marketing strategy. Once they began to look into growing their marketing and focusing on the digital landscape, they decided it would be best to start up a marketing department at their organization.
Continuous Improvement Coordinator Diana DeLucio met IMEC Technical Specialist Jaclyn Kolodziej through a mutual connection. This new connection led to a discussion about the marketing department at Advantage Components. Jaclyn was able to connect them to a grant program, which would help them create their marketing plan and have Jaclyn train the team to carry out the plan after the completion of their grant.
It was a pleasure collaborating with IMEC on our project. The expertise and support from the IMEC team truly accelerated our efforts.
MEP's Role
Creating Advantage Components’s marketing strategy was the purpose of the project. The main goal from Advantage Components, as said by Diana DeLucio, is that when people hear the name ACI, they know what the company does and how they can help. The new strategy includes initiatives ranging from website revamping, social media, SEO, and a variety of other aspects.
After creating their plan, Diana and Jaclyn met consistently and collaborated on content and schedules and then analyzed the results. Throughout the process, Advantage Components was able to start and utilize their social media outlets, revamp and improve on their website, create targeted email campaigns towards their audience, and create an SEO plan, among other things. The results were great, as they noticed leads generating from their social media, improved website experiences, and a larger audience online. Diana added, “IMEC made me fall in love with manufacturing!” The connection between IMEC and Advantage Components' marketing department still continues today.