For years, marketing for manufacturing has been a unique challenge in the advertising world.
Marketing directors at manufacturing and industrial companies are tasked with hitting different target audiences than the average retailer. In most cases, their focus is strongly weighted on B2B leads and relationships that aren’t reached on traditional advertising like broadcast and print.
“Content marketing” is a term that has become more and more prevalent and relevant in the last five years. It’s an online strategy based around producing interesting information that answers your target buyer’s questions in the form of e-mail newsletters, blog posts, website articles, infographics, etc.
Guide Online Chatter Towards Your Brand
Producing your own content and deciding where and when it’s placed allows you to control the conversation about your brand. You can also monitor in real time how people respond to the information and image you’re producing and mold your brand into a well-greased, successful machine.
Content Doesn’t Expire
With commonly used avenues like manufacturing trade magazines, the content that is created is only in circulation for a limited time and then disappears. With content marketing, blog articles, whitepapers, e-books, etc. live on and are continuously searchable. This means that they never expire and never stop working for you.
Most Manufacturing Companies Already Have Content
The biggest fear for companies is often lack of time and how to create content at the pace required by a blog or e-mail newsletter. What they don’t realize is that they most likely already have piles of content in waiting to be used. Look into old newsletters, company updates, new product launches and technology upgrades to generate topics that will interest your readers.
Gain Momentum by Giving People Information They Need
Reaching your target audience through methods like e-mail newsletters, videos, white papers, and case studies allows you to generate interest and maintain it by consistently providing relevant and diverse information to your audience. This keeps them engaged and leads to converting prospects into customers.
Retain the Customers You Already Have
Current and past customers are a neglected resource more times than not. It’s easy to forget to touch base on occasion and reinforce existing relationships. However, an e-mail newsletter or social media post can remind them that you’re there and keep you front-of-mind next time they’re ready to buy.
If you’ve found this article interesting, take a look at the eBook we’ve put together on generating manufacturing leads.
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