Introduction
There are some misconceptions or marketing for manufacturers myths. I say this based on my practical experience working with manufacturers every day. In this article, I will mention the three most misunderstood concepts.
Myth #1: Content Marketing for Manufacturers Myths is all About Seo
Crafting content marketing will help you improve your organic SEO results. However, you may not use the full power or potential of manufacturer content marketing if your entire marketing strategy relies on search engine optimization (SEO), such as “find it on Google.”
Don’t get me wrong, high visibility in search results is crucial and hard to achieve. After all, what good is your content if no one can find it?
The problem is that not everyone who finds your site on search engines clicks on and visits it, and those who do may not convert into potential customers. So don’t assume that visitor conversions are automatic just because your site appears on Google.
Myth #2: The Number of Leads is the Best Kpi to Measure Manufacturing Content Marketing Success – Marketing for Manufacturers Myths
Every manufacturer I know wants to generate more leads through content marketing. However, you might be surprised by the targets achieved by manufacturers over the past 12 months. Lead generation was in the middle of the pack at just over 50% (55%). Brand awareness, building trust and educating the public were above this goal. The three main objectives play an essential role in generating good leads. They are interdependent. Find out how industrial marketing for manufacturers helps build new relationships.
Converting visitors to leads only happens after engineers and industry professionals start to trust your content and find it relevant to their needs. Then, they will only subscribe to your list and contact your sellers.
Your manufacturing content marketing strategy should remain based on the sales funnel and not just on ToFU (Top of Funnel) activities. Traffic itself means nothing if you can’t turn it into actual leads. Therefore, knowing the difference between discovery optimization (SEO) and conversion optimization (CRO) is essential.
Not all perspectives are the same. It is especially true in industrial sales, where sales cycles are long, and many stakeholders are involved in purchasing decisions. As a result, converting new leads into sales isn’t easy.
Myth #3: Industry Content Marketing is Just Another Campaign – Marketing for Manufacturers Myths
is a big problem! The most common question I hear is, “Why is it taking so long to produce results?”
You probably already know the answer, but it bears repeating: “Industrial content marketing is a process, not a single campaign.” Let me expand on this a bit to provide some clarification. It can take 6-9 months, depending on the competition and the state of your marketing.
Unfortunately, this truth does not please the leaders of manufacturing companies. Their mindset is still very sales oriented: fair enough, the bottom line matters in any business.
Of course, you can improve intermediate results such as site traffic, new users, average session duration, and reduced bounce rate. These are all great Google Analytics stats, but they mean very little to superiors if you can’t show your link to sales.
It’s a constant struggle for marketers to make the connection between their efforts and sales. But, unfortunately, it’s not just my observation.
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The same CMI report found that “manufacturing marketers continue to face content marketing challenges within their organizations: 51% said they struggled to create valuable content rather than sales-focused content, in addition to overcoming the mindset of traditional marketing and sales.
As a result of myth #3, I’ll add that content creation is not the same as content marketing. It’s not just about writing and clever writing.
Creating streamlined, customer-focused content that is presented logically and validates claims requires additional skills such as:
- A deep understanding of the buyer’s journey (Engineers and industrial buyers)
- Skills to prepare for subject matter expert (SME) interviews to extract key talking points
- Keyword research and ever-changing search engine algorithm monitoring
- Knowledge of white hat SEO and link building.
- Be a ruthless editor to remove unnecessary filler words
- Take the time to allow SMEs to review your content before posting
- The content distribution that goes beyond simply social sharing
Conclusion
Marketing for Manufacturers Myths – Honest with my industrial clients that content marketing for manufacturers is not a panacea for slow sales. Instead, I recommend you consider other options if you are not ready to invest the time and money to do content marketing well for the long term.