How to sell to CTOs at Manufacturing companies
CTOs in manufacturing are primarily measured on production efficiency, often represented as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). They respond positively to outreach that demonstrates a deep understanding of their specific operational challenges, such as equipment downtime or integration issues. Highlighting solutions that can directly impact their OEE will capture their attention and prompt a response.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 552 manufacturing company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- equipment downtime
- legacy system integration
- regulatory compliance issues
- production inefficiencies
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent equipment failures
Use industry news sites or trade publications to find reports of recent equipment failures in manufacturing companies. Filter for companies that have had significant downtime, as these CTOs are more likely to be seeking solutions to improve their operations.
- 02
Target companies with outdated technology
Utilize LinkedIn to identify manufacturing firms that have not upgraded their technology in the last five years. These CTOs may be facing challenges with legacy systems and could be more open to discussions about modernization.
- 03
Highlight integration challenges
Craft your outreach to emphasize common integration issues faced by manufacturing firms, such as connecting legacy systems with IoT devices. Acknowledge their specific pain points to demonstrate that you understand their operational complexities.
- 04
Reference industry-specific regulations
In your communication, mention compliance with industry regulations such as ISO standards. CTOs are often tasked with ensuring compliance, and referencing these can position you as a knowledgeable partner rather than just a vendor.
- 05
Follow up after industry events
After major manufacturing trade shows or conferences, follow up with CTOs who attended. Mention specific sessions or topics discussed at the event that relate to their challenges, which can enhance the relevance of your outreach.
Can manufacturing companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 552 manufacturing companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 24.3% of 1–10-person companies against 83.1% of the largest — 59 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving your OEE
- Streamlining production processes
- Tackling legacy system challenges
Questions
- Why do CTOs in manufacturing ignore outreach about new technologies?
- CTOs may ignore outreach if it doesn't address their immediate operational challenges or if they perceive the solutions as too costly or complex to implement. They often prioritize solutions that demonstrate a clear ROI and can integrate seamlessly with existing systems.
- What common objections do manufacturing CTOs have?
- Common objections include concerns over disruption to current operations, high implementation costs, and the risk of technology not delivering promised results. Addressing these objections in your outreach can help in gaining their attention and trust.
- How can I make my outreach relevant to manufacturing CTOs?
- To make your outreach relevant, research specific challenges faced by the company, such as recent production issues or technology gaps. Tailor your messaging to show how your solution can directly address these challenges and improve their operational efficiency.
- What role does compliance play in a manufacturing CTO's decisions?
- Compliance is crucial for manufacturing CTOs as they must ensure their operations meet industry standards and regulations. Solutions that help simplify compliance processes or reduce the risk of non-compliance are more likely to resonate with them.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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