Member Article

UK farm machinery supplier set for continued success thanks to Clickingmad web experts

The cancellation of trade shows due to coronavirus is having a marked impact on businesses across the agricultural sector, warns a Shropshire company.

In any given year, there would usually be several key events taking place across the UK giving businesses the opportunity to network, meet industry partners and showcase their latest products.

However, the impact of Covid-19 has put paid to nearly all scheduled events for the agricultural sector in 2020 and early 2021, meaning businesses are having to find more innovative ways to maintain their competitive edge.

Bridgnorth-based Danagri-3S Ltd, which supplies specialist fixed-equipment machinery to farms up and down the UK, is one such company.

Managing Director Mark Unitt said the cancellation of trade shows was having a marked effect on business and enquiries.

He also said he feared that it would be some time before they made a return.

To compensate, he has fast-tracked plans to invest in a new website and enlisted the support of digital experts Clickingmad so that he can drive growth through online sales.

“A significant amount of new business, enquiries and contact to keep up to date with existing customers comes from these exhibitions, so I see a real need to diversify and look at new avenues of contact,” he said.

“We also think it’s going to be a good while yet before the key trade exhibitions come back and even when they do, we’re not entirely sure whether people will want to be gathering at such big events.

“We had plans to invest and update our existing website as it had always been a useful sales tool but the pandemic has encouraged us to bring those plans forward and put much greater emphasis on our marketing strategy so that we can continue to grow the business.

“We teamed up with web expert Clickingmad, which is also based in Bridgnorth, and they have completely re-designed the website so that we can showcase our entire product range clearly with all the relevant technical information our customers require.

“Although it’s only been live for a few weeks we are already getting a lot more inquiries than previously, which we are very pleased with.

“We see the website as a key tool in supporting steady growth over the next few years and it will play a significant role in maintaining our presence in the UK as a supplier of specialist agricultural machinery in the continued absence of trade events for the foreseeable future.”

Shaun Carvill, managing director of Clickingmad, said businesses across all sectors were having to rely much more heavily on digital assets during the pandemic and for many their company website was proving essential to survival.

He said: “We’re finding that many businesses have become so much more reliant on their website and digital assets as a result of current trading conditions. With shops closed, events cancelled and tighter restrictions all round, it is vital that companies have a fully-functioning, up to date website so they can maximise sales and growth.

“2020 has been a tough year particularly for the agricultural sector but we’re confident the new innovative website we’ve developed for Danagri-3S will enable it to hit the ground running in 2021 and build on its continuing success.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lorna Mccann .