There is little doubt that content marketing, the fuel that powers inbound marketing, is gaining momentum in businesses around the globe. But is it really being used effectively within the manufacturing world? According to the Content Marketing Institute's 2017 report on content marketing in manufacturing, the answer is a decisive "Yes!"
The report is filled with lots of interesting tidbits related to status of content marketing within the manufacturing sector. (We will be highlighting more of these statistics in coming weeks.) While the number of manufacturing marketers reportedly doing content marketing is significant, there is really more to the question than just the raw percentage presented in the chart below.
Content marketing has been around for over 100 years, 
but has really taken off in just the last 10 years. While it is showing signs of increased adoption, manufacturers are lagging behind other sectors. Even among those that are reportedly vested in content marketing, only 19% of them consider their involvement as mature or sophisticated. Rather, as the chart shows, the vast majority still consider their progress to be in the less mature stages of development, with 42% considering themselves to be relative youngsters at the practice. It may be that one of the stumbling blocks to the speed at which manufacturers are maturing in their content marketing efforts is that the majority (57%) have a only a small or one-person content marketing team that serves the entire organization.
But there are some other more encouraging signs here also. Almost half of those surveyed report that their organization is solidly committed to content marketing.
And with 68% of manufacturing marketers planning on increasing their investment in content marketing, it would appear that their commitment is real.
So How Can This Direct Us In Content Marketing For Manufacturing?
While it seems clear from this study that manufacturers are increasingly committing to content marketing, they are almost certain to have challenges in accomplishing their goals and developing maturity on their own. A commitment is a huge first step. But a desire to produce more content must be combined with a long-term strategy and a willingness to invest in the execution of that plan. The majority of manufacturers still don't have a documented content marketing strategy, and similarly, have insufficient in-house resources with which to implement their content growth plans.
As a digital marketing firm that is committed to helping manufacturers mature their inbound marketing and content marketing practices, 30dps can help you develop documented strategies and execute those plans by providing additional content creation and production resources.
Please don't hesitate to contact us. We are here to help.
