Diagram illustrating the relationship between cross-industry experience, pattern recognition, and better commercial diagnosis. Fractional marketing leadership helps manufacturing organizations identify the right growth problems, develop stronger go-to-market strategies, and improve business performance.

Your LinkedIn Company Page is still important, but it shouldn't be the only voice your target market hears. As AI search increasingly surfaces expertise from people rather than brands, manufacturers have an opportunity to make their engineers, product leaders, sales professionals, and executives more discoverable. Here's why that matters—and where to start.

Manufacturers have spent decades perfecting operational excellence. But in an era of AI-powered search and answer engines, commercial clarity is becoming just as important.

As buyers increasingly ask AI instead of clicking through websites, the question shifts from "Can prospects find us?" to "Will AI cite us?"

In this edition of Marketing in the Mettle, I explore the emerging commercial clarity gap, why it matters for industrial marketers, and how organizations can position their expertise to remain visible, credible, and discoverable in the age of AI.

I didn’t set out to become “a woman in manufacturing.”

I grew up on a farm, chased big-city marketing dreams, and somehow found my way back home through a career that led from agencies to Fortune 500 manufacturing and eventually to one of the largest metalcasting companies in North America.

This is a story about work ethic, credibility, coming full circle, and why manufacturing means more to me today than it ever did when I started.

Because being a woman in manufacturing isn't what defines me—but helping manufacturers tell better stories, connect with their markets, and build something that lasts certainly does.