Before you spend a dime on advertising—or hire a marketing agency—you need to answer one foundational question: Who exactly are you trying to reach?

In this episode of the Machine Shop MBA series, Nick, Mike, and Paul sit down with Joe Sullivan, co-founder of Gorilla 76 and host of The Manufacturing Executive podcast, to break down the strategy behind smart marketing for job shops.

Joe makes one thing clear from the jump: marketing isn’t just sales turned up louder. Instead, it’s about building trust before the buying conversation even starts. That means identifying your ideal customer profile (ICP), understanding their pain points, and crafting messages that speak directly to them—so when they’re triggered to buy, they already know who you are.

The conversation dives into the practical side of marketing strategy: defining your total addressable market, publishing your ICP, understanding buyer personas, and turning a few high-quality content pieces into lead-generating machines. Joe also shares real-world tips for measuring ROI, why your content distribution matters more than volume, and how even a 10-person shop can build a consistent, credible marketing engine.

Whether you’re starting your marketing journey or rethinking your current efforts, this episode gives you the roadmap to go from aimless activity to strategic growth. Stop being invisible—and start being the shop your best-fit customers call first.

Segments

(0:37) Grow your top and bottom line with CLA
(2:50) Capturing demand vs. creating demand: Where shops go wrong
(5:40) Defining and scoring ideal customers by fit and behavior
(7:24) Why publishing your ideal client criteria helps filter leads
(8:57) Step #1: Sizing your market realistically
(13:00) “Riches are in the niches”: How tight positioning builds credibility
(16:52) ICP vs. persona: company fit vs. human influencers
(20:08) Foundational marketing steps to complete before execution
(26:27) Moving from research to messaging: Strategy before tactics
(30:15) Stay tuned: Top Shops 2025 registration coming soon
(31:30) Playing the long game: Becoming next in line when a vendor fails
(33:44) Content campaign thinking: Repurposing and repeating your core message
(39:20) How to position your machine shop online (i.e. equipment list)
(43:27) Bad blogs and lorem ipsum: When marketing is clearly an afterthought
(44:43) Diving intro distribution—How to make content work for sales enablement
(47:22) How do I know if it’s working? Metrics that matter.
(50:10) The real role of marketing vs. sales
(54:17) The shift from reactive to proactive: Marketing as a strategic function
(58:57) Closing thoughts: Play the long game, be specific, stay consistent
(1:03:57) Bonus question: The importance of personal branding vs. company branding
(1:08:05) Why you need to listen to the Lights Out Podcast

Resources mentioned on this episode

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