Content marketing can deliver exceptional results for manufacturers looking to attract and engage their target audience and ultimately turn them into profitable, long-term customers. But, for many companies, the idea of developing and distributing interesting and informative materials on a regular basis in order to earn the trust of their market is a bit foreign. Fortunately, as a manufacturer, you have a “model” you can look at as you start to consider how to build a content engine: your own manufacturing processes.
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post on interesting data related to content marketing for manufacturers provided by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, two highly regarded organizations that have tremendous experience and expertise in the field. Their Manufacturing Content Marketing 2019 report is now available, and I encourage you to check it out when you have some time to digest all the interesting information it provides on “Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends.”
As a company that collaborates with manufacturers to develop content marketing strategies that attract attention, produce engagement, increase leads, and drive sales, we’re always interested in how this industry is capitalizing on (or failing to capitalize on, in some cases) content marketing. The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs are two organizations that truly know their stuff when it comes to inbound marketing, and their 2018 Manufacturing Content Marketing Report is a rich source of interesting and thought-provoking statistics.
Manufacturers are, by nature, data-focused folks. You have to be. In order to be profitable, you must be able to continually fine-tune your processes. And in order to continually fine-tune your processes, you have to have an in-depth understanding of every aspect of every operation you perform. Consequently, when organizations in the manufacturing space hear the term “content marketing,” they may be a little skeptical. It’s a term that sounds like it might be all about creating pretty marketing materials and hoping people like them, with little or no hard data involved. As a top content marketing agency, we explain to our clients nationwide that the reality is quite the opposite.
Although manufacturers are still significantly behind other B2B businesses, in the latest research report by Content Marketing Institute/Marketing Profs they showed a marked improvement in those documenting their content marketing strategy, i.e. 31% this year, up from 18% last year.
But what difference does it really make anyway? If you're vested in content marketing, and are making headway, is a documented content marketing strategy all that important? Well, let's see what the data says.
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!"
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.
