Atlas / Sector
Sector profile
Primary & Industrial marketing benchmarks
Strongest on Data & Tracking, with the most room to move in Conversion Efficiency. Primary & Industrial sits below the national average across 4 industries.
Solid evidence · based on 91 businesses, growing
Sector signature
Bars are this sector. Ticks are the national average.
Sector strength
Data & Tracking
+2 against the national line. The dimension this sector leans on.
Biggest gap
Conversion Efficiency
-3 against the field. The soft spot holding the sector back.
The spread
1 points
Between the strongest and weakest industry in the sector. A wide gap means the average hides real winners.
The map
Where this sector sits
Every dot is an industry we measure. The 4 industries in Primary & Industrial are lit in red. Choose any two dimensions for the axes.
Acquisition Performance →
Primary & Industrial sits below average on Retention & Loyalty and below average on Acquisition Performance. The spread of red dots shows how tightly the sector clusters.
The spread inside the sector
Every number is a Marketing Score out of 100, rolling six dimensions into one figure. 45 is a business doing the basics. 82 is one that markets like a business twice its size.
The distance between the strongest and weakest performer in Primary & Industrial is wide. A small cluster is genuinely good. A long tail sits well behind. The bar to lead this sector is lower than the reputation suggests. So where would you land?
In national context
Where the sector lands on the map
Every industry we measure, sorted low to high. The marker shows where Primary & Industrial averages out.
In this sector
Every industry in Primary & Industrial, ranked
Sorted by Marketing Score. Open any one for the full profile.
The read
What the numbers say about Primary & Industrial
On the whole, Primary & Industrial is one of the weaker sectors we measure. It leans on data & tracking and trails on conversion efficiency.
Primary and Industrial ranks 9th of 11 sectors, 1.2 points below the national average. This sector covers agriculture, manufacturing, energy and transport, industries where marketing has traditionally been an afterthought. The businesses here sell through relationships, contracts and tenders, not landing pages and Google Ads. The scores reflect that reality.
Digital Maturity is the sector's strongest dimension, driven by large incumbents in energy and transport with decades of brand equity. Conversion Efficiency is the weakest, -3.4 against the national average. These businesses generate leads through trade shows, referrals and industry networks but struggle to convert digital traffic.
The 4 industries in this sector cluster tightly, only 1.1 points separating Transport & Logistics from Energy — Retail & Solar. There is no standout performer and no dramatic outlier. This is a sector of consistent, modest underperformance, not crisis. The opportunity is that even small improvements compound quickly when the baseline is low and competition for digital attention within these verticals is thin.
The whole sector sits within a 1.1-point band (62.0 to 63.1). This is the tightest clustering of any sector, suggesting a shared structural ceiling rather than individual industry problems.
What to watch in primary and industrial
Agriculture and agribusiness is being reshaped by agtech platforms creating new digital channels for farm inputs, livestock sales and agronomic advice. The agribusinesses that build direct digital relationships with growers will differentiate from commodity distributors.
Energy retail faces the most disruption. Solar, battery storage and community energy models are fragmenting a market previously controlled by a handful of retailers. New entrants are investing in digital acquisition in ways that incumbents have not needed to before.
Patterns
What the Primary & Industrial numbers reveal
Computed from 91 scored businesses across 4 industries. Updated as new audits complete.
By the numbers
3.9-point gap between Enterprise and Small Business
Enterprise businesses average 57.8. Small Business averages 53.9. Scale creates a 3.9-point advantage in this sector, driven by dedicated marketing teams and infrastructure investment.
Who's leading
ASX-listed companies score 3.6 points lower than unlisted
58 ASX-listed businesses average 57.8 vs 61.4 for 33 unlisted. Being listed does not automatically mean better marketing.
How industries compare
Digital Maturity (65.8) is the sector's edge. Data & Tracking (59.8) is the drag.
A 6-point spread between the strongest and weakest dimensions.
What's shifting
1.2 points below the national average of 63.7
Primary & Industrial ranks 9 of 11 sectors. Trails Technology (65.5) by 3 points. The gap is closeable. These are not structurally weak businesses. They are businesses that have not prioritised digital marketing.
Where they are
NSW dominates with 27 of 91 businesses
30% of scored businesses in this sector are headquartered in NSW, averaging 61.9. VIC (26), WA (24), QLD (6) follow.
Where the gaps are
Qantas Airways leads the sector at 82
19.5 points above the sector average. Scores 18.9 points above its own industry (Transport & Logistics). ASX-listed. Enterprise scale, based in NSW.
Frequently asked
Common questions about Primary & Industrial
How does the primary & industrial sector compare to other Australian sectors for marketing?+
Primary & Industrial scores 63 out of 100, ranking 9 of 11 Australian sectors. This is 1 points below the national average of 64.
The sector's strongest dimension is Data & Tracking. Its weakest is Conversion Efficiency.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 4 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Which primary & industrial companies have the strongest marketing in Australia?+
The top 5 performers across all primary & industrial industries:
1. Qantas Airways (82) in Transport & Logistics, ASX-listed
2. AGL Energy in Energy — Retail & Solar, ASX-listed
3. GrainCorp (74) in Agriculture & Agribusiness
4. BHP Group (74) in Mining & Resources, ASX-listed
5. Nutrien Ag Solutions in Agriculture & Agribusiness
Qantas Airways leads at 82, 20 points above the sector average.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 4 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Do larger companies have better marketing than smaller ones in primary & industrial?+
Yes. Enterprise-scale businesses average 58, while Small Business averages 54. That is a 4-point gap.
However, GrainCorp, Nutrien Ag Solutions, StarTrack all outperform the Enterprise average despite being smaller. The correlation is clear but not absolute.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 4 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Do ASX-listed primary & industrial companies have better marketing?+
58 ASX-listed businesses average 58, compared to 61 for 33 unlisted. Unlisted companies are competitive, likely through more agile digital strategies.
ASX status verified against ASX300 listing. NR Marketing Intelligence.
What is the biggest marketing weakness in Australian primary & industrial businesses?+
Conversion Efficiency is the weakest dimension, 3 points below the national average of 63.
This is the single biggest lever for improvement.
6-dimension scoring model: Digital Maturity, Acquisition Performance, Conversion Efficiency, Retention and Loyalty, Brand and Positioning, Data and Tracking.
How reliable are the marketing scores for primary & industrial businesses?+
Scores are built from a 6-dimension model using up to 150+ data points per business: GA4 analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, site technology, Core Web Vitals and public data.
91 businesses are scored in this sector, benchmarked against 70+ nationally. Each score carries an evidence depth rating so you can see how much data sits behind it.
Evidence depth: Very High (4+ sources), High (3), Medium (2), Baseline (public signals).
Which primary & industrial industries perform best at marketing?+
1. Transport & Logistics (63.103333)
2. Agriculture & Agribusiness (62.755)
3. Manufacturing & Industrial (62.115385)
4. Energy — Retail & Solar (61.994444)
The 1-point spread is tight, suggesting shared structural factors rather than industry-specific problems.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 4 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
How can primary & industrial businesses improve their marketing score?+
Three high-impact moves:
1. Strengthen conversion efficiency., this is the sector's weakest dimension and the fastest path to a higher score. Even basic improvements move the needle 5 to 10 points.
2. Close the gap on data & tracking. The sector already scores 60 here. Businesses below that benchmark are leaving easy points on the table.
3. Study the leaders. Qantas Airways (82) and AGL Energy show what good looks like in this sector.
Based on 91 scored businesses across 4 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence.
Stop reading the average
The Atlas shows the sector. We read your business.
The map tells you what Primary & Industrial does on average. Get Our Take tells you what you do, where you leak and what to fix first.