With the newly minted StrataMetal (just kidding… hopefully), Desktop Metal brings the valuable hype and business stream of metal to the polymer-heavy portfolio of Stratasys, while Stratasys provides instant integration into one of the most robust reseller networks in the world for industrial 3D printers. Here are a couple things they should do on the marketing front to get the most out of their new integration.
1. Incentivize other business units to upsell
One struggle that I’ve seen internally at Stratasys is the competition between business units. The reality is that customers may have limited budgets and different technologies often do similar things. The good news is that metal is fairly unique and may help differentiate, but still, internal teams need to work together not against each other. Stratasys already has a VERY crowded product line…
2. Win the “Metal” keyword
Metal 3D Printing is one of the highest volume search keywords within the industry. Desktop Metal conveniently already ranks very highly – don’t screw that up, but at the same time Stratasys will want to figure out how to grow metal traffic on their site.
3. Enable Resellers with Simplicity
Resellers have undoubtedly been clamoring for metal options from Stratasys for a while since all Stratasys resellers are locked to Stratasys products only. The teams at Stratasys will want to create a simple cross-selling, upselling offering that resellers can work from to be successful.
4. Integrated Materials Plans
Stratasys already has a robust materials portfolio and customer crediting system, but metals bring a whole new cash cow. Figuring out an integrated subscription model across all platforms could be beneficial.
5. Complimentary Branding
While Stratasys has done a better job in recent years of branding, I still think Desktop Metal holds an edge here. Wouldn’t it be cool to see Stratasys embrace a more modern (less consultancy) brand image similar to Desktop Metal and Formlabs?
Of course this is a gross-oversimplification, and any integration will take years to truly shake out, but it’s going to be fun to watch. Do you think Desktop Metal will be a transformative move for Stratasys, or will it be just another acquisition notch on their belt?