Why oneninety8
Built by someone who has sat on your side of the table
Most marketing agencies are designers and creators. They learn your industry on your dime, and it shows in the first draft: pretty pages that never answer the question an engineer came with.
Robb Sutton has spent 20 years in industrial sales and supply chain leadership, working with manufacturers and customers across the US, Europe, and Asia. He has quoted complex work, walked supplier qualifications, and depended on marketing to put real opportunities in front of a sales team. oneninety8 runs your marketing the way a sales leader would want it run: pointed at qualified inquiries and reported by source.
Things we won't need explained
- RFQs and quote turnaround
- Drawings, specs, and tolerances
- PPAP and first-article inspection
- ISO, AS, and IATF quality systems
- Supplier qualification and audits
- Tooling and landed cost
- Reps, distributors, and line cards
- Trade shows and plant visits
- Long, multi-person buying cycles
Who you're really selling to
One sale. A whole buying committee.
An industrial purchase rarely has one decision maker. A buyer may read five of your pages over six weeks before anyone calls. We write for each person on the committee, so the page an engineer finds answers the engineer.
What the engine does
Built around how industrial buyers buy
Six parts, run every month as your marketing department. A person reviews every piece before it goes out, because a wrong spec in front of an engineer costs more than a missed post.
Capability & spec pages
Pages that answer the questions buyers ask before they call: processes, materials, tolerances, equipment, certifications, lead times, and industries served. Spec sheets and capability statements they can download and forward.
An RFQ path that converts
A clear quote request page with drawing uploads and the questions your estimators need answered up front. We track which pages and channels produce requests, so you know what's working.
Search & AI visibility
Built to rank for the processes buyers search, like "contract manufacturer near Atlanta," and to get cited when ChatGPT or Google's AI is asked for a supplier shortlist.
Social, where your buyers are
LinkedIn first for most industrial buying committees, plus the channels your distributors and local customers use. Steady proof of capability, published in your voice on a schedule that holds.
Trade show follow-through
Meetings booked before the show, and follow-up content ready to send within 48 hours after it, so the badge scans don't die in a spreadsheet.
Sales & channel enablement
Case stories, capability decks, and sell sheets your salespeople, reps, and distributors actually use. Marketing that makes the sales team's job easier, not louder.
Example deliverable
What the plan looks like
This is the one-page plan you'd approve before anything is built, filled in for an illustrative manufacturer. Client work is confidential, so we show the format and the depth instead.
Yours is built from a plant visit and interviews with your engineers and salespeople, not from a template. To see the whole process running, look at our own site: we're the test bed.
- The company
- 120-person contract manufacturer in Gainesville, ISO 9001. Wants more repeat production work and fewer one-off jobs.
- Who buys
- Engineers and sourcing managers at equipment makers in the Southeast. Owners at smaller OEMs.
- What they ask first
- Can you meet our spec? What's your capacity and lead time? What do you need from us to quote?
- The offer
- A downloadable capability statement and a clear quote request page with drawing upload.
- First 90 days
- When outsourcing a subassembly pays off, and when it doesn't
- What to include in an RFQ package to get an accurate quote fast
- From first article to production: how we bring on a new part
- Channels
- Company LinkedIn twice a week and a monthly email to customers, reps, and distributors.
- Qualified lead
- OEM or distributor, production volumes, in your processes, with a drawing or spec.
- Reported monthly
- Quote requests by source, the capability pages buyers read, and who AI tools recommend.
Illustrative example, not a client. It shows the format and level of detail of the plan every client approves.
Directories and your own site
Keep what works. Own what's next.
Thomasnet, industry directories, and rep networks can produce real quotes, and we'll never tell you to drop a channel that works. But those leads are rented: the platform owns the traffic, and your competitors are listed next to you. We build the part you own, and give you the numbers to judge every channel honestly.
What we report every month
Who this fits
Established industrial companies around Atlanta
Typically $5M to $150M in revenue, with long sales cycles, high-value customers, and no marketing department to run the work. From Norcross and Gainesville to Kennesaw, McDonough, and the I-85 corridor.
Weighing a marketing hire instead? See what that hire really costs in year one, or score your marketing in 3 minutes.
Questions
What industrial companies ask first
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, ask us directly.
Do you actually understand technical products?
Yes. That's the point of oneninety8. Robb spent 20 years in industrial sales and supply chain leadership, so quotes, drawings, first-article, certifications, and lead times are familiar ground. We still interview your engineers and salespeople, because they know your processes best. We just don't need the basics explained.
We already get RFQs from Thomasnet or a rep network. Does this replace them?
No. If a directory or a rep produces quotes, keep it. We track every inquiry by source, so within a few months you'll know what each channel is really worth. What we add is the part you own: your website, your search and AI visibility, and your follow-up.
How do you handle confidential customer and part information?
We sign an NDA before we see anything. Nothing publishes without your approval, and we never name customers or show part numbers, drawings, or pricing without written permission. Most industrial content works better anyway when it's about capabilities and problems solved, not who you solved them for.
How long before we see more quote requests?
Setup takes two to four weeks. Fixes to your quote path and follow-up can pay off in the first month. Treat three to six months as the window to judge content and search. AI visibility is less predictable: it varies by market and by platform, so we track it monthly and report what changed rather than promise a date. You'll see leads by source every month, so you're never guessing.
Do you meet in person?
Yes. We're based in Milton and meet with every client in person once a month, at your office or your plant. It's hard to write well about a process you've never seen run.
What does it cost?
Every engine is a one-time setup plus a monthly rate, and you know both before anything starts. For most industrial companies it comes in under the cost of one marketing hire. Run the numbers for yours.
Free calculator
What does a marketing hire really cost?
An Atlanta marketing manager averages about $88,000 in salary. Add benefits, tools, freelancers, and hiring, and the first year comes to about $145,900. Run the numbers for your company in about a minute.
Find out who AI recommends instead of you.
Request a free Engine Teardown. Robb responds personally within one business day and sets up a time to meet. You'll talk through where you're losing buyers, including what ChatGPT and Google's AI say when someone asks for the best contract manufacturers near Atlanta.