Feeds and Speeds

“Feeds and speeds marketing” is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek term used in B2B and industrial sectors — especially in manufacturing, engineering, and tech — to describe marketing that focuses almost exclusively on technical specifications.

It typically includes things like:

• Machine throughput (e.g., “prints 50 parts per hour”)

• Material properties (e.g., “tensile strength of 85 MPa”)

• Hardware specs (e.g., “5-axis CNC with 0.001 mm resolution”)

• Process parameters (e.g., “800 °C print bed with inert gas purge”)

The problem with it?

It often fails to connect the dots between technical features and real business value. It’s marketing that talks to engineers, but not necessarily to decision-makers, buyers, or even other engineers who care more about outcomes than specs.

Companies often ending up doing the wrong thing for the right — or at least understandable — reasons.

• They think technical = persuasive

• They’re proud of their product’s capabilities (and rightfully so)

• They assume the audience will do the work of interpreting why it matters

It’s important, but it’s not enough:

While specs are important for credibility and qualification, relying only on them misses the bigger story — like how your solution:

• Solves a critical problem

• Saves time or money

• Enables a new application

• Delivers sustainability or supply chain resilience

• Differentiates from the competition

The better approach is to translate features into benefits. Use the specs to support the value story, not replace it. For example:

Replace: “Build volume: 350 x 350 x 400 mm”

With: “Achieve greater throughput with a smaller footprint and open up access to larger parts”

Feeds and speeds marketing is showing someone the ingredients instead of describing the taste of the cake. You need both — but one gets people interested, and the other gets them to trust you.