While content marketing has been used by manufacturers for many years, its adoption in that field has been slower than in other types of businesses. If you are a manufacturer who has not yet embraced this strategy, you’re not alone. However, there’s a growing recognition in this industry that content marketing can help generate leads, build brand awareness, and increase sales. So, if you don’t start experimenting a bit, you may find yourself trailing your competitors.
With that as motivation, a number of questions often follow as manufacturing marketers try to get their head around what content marketing is and what it can provide. Here are four of the queries we most often get from manufacturers:
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How prevalent is content marketing in manufacturing?
As mentioned above, manufacturers trail other types of businesses when it comes to getting onboard the content marketing train—however, not by much. According to a survey by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 85 percent of manufacturers use this approach to some degree, as compared to 88 percent of other B2B companies. -
What types of content are manufacturing marketers using the most?
Not surprisingly in this industry, photos and illustrations top the list. Manufacturers want their potential customers to see examples of their work. For that same reason, video ranks second, with in-person events a close third. For many companies, these three powerful marketing tools were all but ignored in the past. -
How will I know if my efforts are successful?
While manufacturing marketers use a wide variety of metrics to gauge their content marketing success, the top five according to a CMI survey are:
1.) Website traffic
2.) Sales
3.) Sales lead quality
4.) Higher website conversion rates
5.) Search engine optimization (SEO) ranking -
How much are companies spending on content marketing?
When considering all types of companies (manufacturing and otherwise), the average percentage of their marketing budget spent on content marketing is between 20 and 30 percent. One of the great things about this strategy is that it doesn’t take a huge investment to get started. In fact, all you have to do is devote a little bit of time and effort to create a handful of resources (case studies, white papers, checklists, blog posts) and promote them, and you have officially broken the seal on your content marketing program! It’ll take some work to grow, refine, and maintain your program, but at least you’ve gotten it underway.
Constructing a More Effective Marketing Strategy
In our work with manufacturers, one of the things we love is how surprised and pleased they are with the results when we help them implement a content marketing strategy. If you don’t yet have a plan in place, or you’re ready to take your content marketing to the next level, give us a call. We’ve got operations in Colorado Springs, CO, Springfield, MO, and Olympia, WA, and clients nationwide. Let’s talk soon about your marketing and sales goals and how best to achieve them.
