The professionals for plastics at BIEGLO are specialised in high-performance polymers and support their customers in the selection of materials, processing methods and product development, amongst others. The Hamburg-based company has been relying on online marketing for a few years. We spoke with John Biesterfeld, the CEO and founder of BIEGLO, about leads generation on the Internet and the future of plastics.
John Biesterfeld, CEO and founder of BIEGLO
Mr Biesterfeld, what are high-performance plastics?
High-performance plastics are an absolute niche product and not very well known even in the plastics industry. Such materials particularly stand out with their high thermal stability, such as our key products polyether ether ketone (PEEK) for 240°C and polyimide (PI) for over 300°C. On top of this, they feature excellent mechanical properties and exceptional chemical resistance. Our portfolio also covers polyetherimide (PEI) and polyamidimide (PAI), the latter of which can even retain its mechanical performance down to –270°C.
What kind of market developments do you expect in future?
We expect high growth in our branch. Specialised plastics, such as our PEEK, are gaining more and more awareness. Particularly today, devices are becoming smaller and energy density is rising. Performance is also increasing. People are capturing outer space and digging deeper and deeper for oil and gas. All of this is possible with modern materials like high-performance plastics.
What challenges does the marketing of high-performance plastics bring along with it?
The marketing of high-performance plastics is very specific so that many producers shy away from the high investment in their own sales structure and rely on specialised dealers like us.
Which sales channels do you use?
We continue to perform traditional B2B marketing. We go to trade shows, visit customers personally and make acquisition calls. These will continue to play a role in our sales; but with the Internet today, we are now able to reach a larger customer group. Visable is a big part of our growth in this respect.
When did you first start working with Visable?
We upgraded our free company profile on wlw in 2015 to a professional profile. Ever since then, requests have soared, and we continue to have strong numbers to date. This makes wlw an important factor for us in our growth.
How would you say is the quality of the requests you are getting?
We generate lots of leads with wlw. The investment we have made has been worth the results. In our experience, you could say that the buyers who are searching on wlw are also really interested.
Which marketing activities are you currently using or considering?
At the moment, we are investing in many resources in online marketing. For instance, we are building up specialised Web shops such as www.peek-shop.de, where customers can find detailed information and we can particularly benefit from fast requests.
What’s more, we are planning to invest more heavily in future in addressing international customers across the borders of the DACH region. Especially the opportunities which the upgrading of the wlw company profile on the europages marketplace offers can make an important contribution to our growth on a global scale. Which is why we would like to expand on our cooperation with Visable in future.
