Manufacturing is an area of B2B marketing that has long relied on word of mouth or in-person tactics to meet sales goals. But times they are a-changing, and an increasing number of manufacturers are recognizing the importance of marketing — and content marketing — to attract new business.
At VantagePoint, we’ve seen a number of manufacturers leverage content marketing and thought leadership to promote products and services with great success. Whether your manufacturing company is new to content marketing or still trying to nail down the fundamentals, you should consider these four content marketing principles.
This first of our content marketing principles may seem obvious, but it should always be top of mind when creating content or developing content strategy: always provide value. Consider how each piece will help your audience, think of what questions may arise and seek to answer them.
Bear in mind that product promotion might not always be relevant when providing solutions; it could be that your expertise is all that’s needed — and that can also help elevate your brand. When you keep a value-first mindset, you’ll start to become the thought leader you want to be.
In addition to providing value, your content, particularly blogs, should have a point of view. Share (informed) opinions, take stances and be consistent.
As manufacturers, you shouldn’t be afraid of showing some personality within your content marketing. Lean into your brand attributes and use them to establish a consistent tone and voice within your content. Remember that even in B2B marketing, there are actual people reading your content, and it should appeal to them on more than just a factual level.
Producing well-researched content is vital for manufacturers. Because you’re addressing experts, you’ll want to make sure you are speaking on their level and referencing accurate facts or statistics. Nothing will alienate your professional audience as quickly as citing incorrect or insufficient information or speaking on topics you don’t fully understand. Of all our content marketing principles, this one may be the most important.
Utilizing subject matter experts (SMEs) is the perfect solution to creating well-informed content. All the internet research in the world is no replacement for an SME who works in the manufacturing industry day in and day out and can provide an interview on a nuanced topic.
Just like your manufacturing process needs all departments to contribute to its success, your content marketing should never work in a vacuum. Content is most successful when it works in tandem with other marketing efforts. Ensure every single marketing piece, from advertising to social media, is working together, like puzzle pieces contributing to one large image.
For more content marketing content, check out how to sustain your content marketing program.
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