There’s an old adage that ‘content is king’. It may be old, but it absolutely stands the test of time, even in these days of fast-moving technology, complex electronics and huge leaps in manufacturing industries. Almost everyone goes to a website for content; content to help them, entertain them; inform them or educate them. Visitors will very quickly decide whether the content they’ve found is worthy of their time and, more importantly, their money.
If you’re running a business in the technology, electronic or manufacturing sector, chances are you’re also running a website to support that. The two are almost intrinsically linked nowadays. Whichever of those businesses you operate in, whether you like it or not, you’re also going to be in the content creation business. That being the case, we’re going to take a look at the 3 most common mistakes manufacturing and electronic companies make in their manufacturing marketing, particularly when it comes to their content creation strategy. Let’s start with…
We said at the beginning, ‘content is king’, but that’s not strictly true. It should be refined to say that original, compelling and engaging content is king. The web is littered with engineering blogs, opinion pieces on manufacturing and ‘how to’ guides that have either been spun from aggregation sites or written in a very uninteresting way. These will have visitors bouncing off your site and straight to your competitors in the click of a mouse. To put it bluntly, it’s boring!
Boring content is not something anybody wants to read and given the industry you’re working in, should be very difficult to produce. Electronics, technology and modern manufacturing are all industries with incredible stories to tell and an knowledgeable audience ready to engage. You don’t want to be posting boring content and visitors to your site most certainly don’t want to be reading it. It’s never going to convert them from visitors to customers, so let’s put a stop to that right now.
To turn your bland offerings into engaging content is going to take a little work, but it’s something that will pay dividends for years to come. Learn to understand the keywords your customers are looking for and work them, naturally, into your content. Technology and electronics are such fast moving fields that you may need to adapt these regularly. Make the content something that people are going to find useful, not only to themselves, but to their contacts too. Relevant, question-answering, topical content is always going to be popular. Make it interesting to read and easy to share and you’re onto a winner.
We’ve agreed that content is definitely king, but, it’s also a give and take process. You give content, visitors take away information. You won’t know whether your content is the ‘king’ or merely a pretender to the throne without review. The important thing to understanding this is vital relationship.
Is the content your giving, creating the visitor numbers you’d expect and are you converting those visitors into customers for your business? Whilst this statistical analysis maybe something you leave to your IT, rather than the Engineering department, we strongly believe you need to understand the implications of it to enable and empower you to create the content that is going to win you the sales leads you’re looking for.
When you develop your content creation strategy, take some time to define what you’re hoping to achieve. Are you expecting to see different figures in different parts of the world? Are you talking to a cross-section of your consumer base? Technology industries may well look at this differently from those with a bent towards manufacturing. It’s only then will you know if it’s working for you.
One of the biggest mistakes manufacturing marketers make with their content creation strategy is that the content they do make isn’t geared to the audience they are looking to address. You will know your audience better than us, but do you understand them? Those with a bias towards electronics, may not be interested in production, and vice-versa. Do they prefer video to text? Short or long-form content? Images over text? Are they questions anyone has even asked?
Most people will come to a website for answers. The technology, electronics and manufacturing industries change rapidly, so you have to change with them to stay ahead. If the topic is business-related in any of these areas, ask yourself if your content is addressing the pain points customers (and potential customers) are feeling today. If not, it might be time to take another look.
Let’s not forget that, however good the content is, it’s still, at its heart, an advert for your product or service. Sure it may not look like an advert, but it’s going to help sell your wares to those interested in buying.
CONCLUSION:
It might not sell them something directly, but it is advertising your technical knowledge, trading your manufacturing experience and merchandising your reputation for a product (or service) they want. Be aware though that people are smart and can see through blatant adverts disguised as something else. If you want something from them, be it an email address, contact details or an electronic connection, be open and say so. A call to action will be so much more effective with honesty at its heart.
Want to generate more B2B Leads?