Marketing doesn’t Have to Suck
Throughput Show Episode 4 featuring Emily Wilkins (originally aired 09/26/2025)
On this week’s episode of the Throughput Manufacturing Show, I sat down with Emily Wilkins, founder and CEO of Marketing Metal, to dig into a topic that frustrates almost every manufacturing leader I talk to: marketing that feels expensive, confusing, and ineffective. Emily believes it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, she makes the case that when done right, marketing becomes one of the most energizing and impactful parts of running a shop.
Emily spent over a decade inside small job shops, watching talented teams struggle because their marketing was boring, inconsistent, or nonexistent. At the same time, she saw owners wasting money on agencies and strategies that never connected back to what customers actually cared about. Today, her work centers on helping shops shape a clear message, sharpen it over time, and ultimately shine—drawing the right prospects in and filtering out the wrong ones.
This episode walks through Emily’s three-part process, the personal story that pushed her to overhaul her own marketing, and the mindset shifts manufacturing leaders need if they want marketing to finally start working instead of draining their energy.
1. Why Marketing Feels So Hard for Small Shops
Emily starts by naming the core issue: most small shops have good people doing meaningful work, but you would never know it from the outside. Their brands are generic, outdated, or confusing, which means prospects overlook them before the shop ever has a chance to tell its story. A boring brand doesn’t just fail to attract customers—it costs time, energy, money, and missed opportunities.
She shares her own turning point: losing her dog whom she cared deeply for and her largest client in the same week. With no sales pipeline and a brand she admits was “boring,” she realized she had been relying on one customer instead of building a marketing engine. That moment forced her to rethink everything. The lesson for shop owners: relying on one or two steady customers is not a marketing strategy. You need a message that brings in conversations, connections, and options.
2. Shape Your Message: Get Clear on Who You Help and How
Emily believes shops must begin by shaping a simple, clear message that answers two questions:
Who do you help?
How do you help them?
Your customers’ desires should guide this message. She encourages leaders to write down their customers’ goals—profits, equipment upgrades, team development, community impact, employer reputation. When you reflect those goals back in your brand, prospects immediately feel understood.
Emily’s one-liner is a good example:
“I help job shops make big profits and bigger impact by building them a radical brand and empowering them to use it.”
Every shop should have its own version of that—something that makes prospects say, “Yes, that’s me.”
3. Sharpen Your Message: Show Up Consistently and Authentically
With a shaped message in place, the next step is sharpening it through consistent action. Emily explains that you don’t need to be everywhere. You don’t need a full content calendar, SEO audits, TikToks, and a redesigned website all at once. That approach leads to burnout.
Instead, start with the smallest and least-scary step—warm outreach, direct conversations, or a couple of weekly LinkedIn posts. Warm outreach alone has driven hundreds of conversations for Emily, giving her insight into what manufacturers truly care about.
She encourages shops to share wins, struggles, stories, and beliefs, even when it feels vulnerable. Those human elements help customers feel connected to you.
And importantly, she warns against “shooting all over yourself”—the feeling that you should be doing everything. Shops should pick one thing and stick to it until the muscle memory forms.
4. Shine: Become a Magnet for the Right People
When you shape and sharpen long enough, something changes. You start to shine. You speak with more confidence, attract better customers, and create more opportunities. Emily emphasizes celebrating small wins and connecting them back to your deeper purpose—your “why.”
Her why is freedom: the freedom to build a business without burnout while helping others do the same. When leaders operate from their own why, their message feels grounded and real—and customers respond.
Emily also talks about leadership, using her experience racing sailboats with an all-women crew. She wins not just because she’s skilled, but because she creates an environment where people feel calm, clear, and confident. Shops should aim to give their customers that same experience. When you do, loyalty becomes automatic.
5. What Marketing Actually Takes Today
Emily closes with several practical reminders:
You don’t have to do all the marketing things.
Consistency beats complexity.
AI can dramatically speed up content creation once your message is clear.
Team involvement multiplies results.
Metrics are helpful but can’t be the scoreboard—trust the long game.
Marketing only sucks when it’s vague, complicated, or inauthentic. When your message is simple, specific, and reflective of who you are, it becomes a source of connection and opportunity—not stress.
Key Takeaways / Best Practices
Marketing becomes easier when your message is simple, specific, and shaped around your customers’ goals.
Consistency beats volume. Start small—LinkedIn posts, warm outreach, or stories from the shop floor.
Vulnerability creates connection. Share real struggles and personal stories.
Celebrate wins regularly to reinforce momentum and confidence.
Your “why” is the heartbeat of your brand; it keeps you steady during setbacks.
You don’t need to be on every platform. Pick one and show up with intention.
Involve your team to multiply reach and credibility.
Q&A from the Episode (Distilled)
Q1: “Is marketing basically a ‘build it and they will come’ situation? What if it works too well and I can’t handle the volume?”
Answer: Marketing rarely takes off overnight. It takes time to build an audience, so overwhelm is unlikely at first. And if you do reach that point, it’s a good problem—you cross that bridge when you come to it. One benefit of this process is clarity on which customers aren’t a good fit, helping you manage demand intentionally.
Q2: “How do I get started when I feel overwhelmed by all the options?”
Answer: Start with the smallest, easiest step. You don’t need to do everything—choose one platform or one outreach method and build consistency before expanding.
Q3: “What should I talk about if I don’t feel like I have anything important to say?”
Answer: Everyone has something valuable to share—stories, beliefs, frustrations, experiences. The more you talk, the clearer your message becomes. Your unique viewpoint is what attracts the right prospects.
Q4: “How do I reach new people without cold calling?”
Answer: Warm outreach works extremely well—reconnecting with people you already know. It opens doors without feeling salesy and creates opportunities through genuine conversation.