Content marketing is, in essence the act of generating content either online or offline for the purpose of creating engagement and ultimately leads and orders. In my experience a lot of product manufacturers and building product manufacturers in particular; which is my area of expertise are not really in touch with this method of marketing.
How do product manufacturers market themselves
The traditional methods of marketing are still the normal method of marketing products and materials in the construction industry. This includes magazines, direct mail, email and pr although the most common methods are still traditional adverts backed up with pr. This is fine as far as it goes and there is no doubt that these methods still work.
The problem is that these methods are a static and passive marketing technique, it still works but it would be better to use these methods in conjunction with a great content marketing method. To engage your clients and potential clients.
A typical marketing plan for product manufacturers
- On the page advertising on Trade publications
- Pr to support these adverts
- Direct mail
- Online advertising on trade sites and directories
This is a fine media plan, most of the cost is usually loaded in favour of print advertising.
How to turn this media plan into a content marketing plan
The major differences between content marketing and traditional marketing are
- Advertising is a traditional method of marketing, great for brand building and in the right places response.
- Pr is in essence content marketing however a lot of pr is not great, content marketing is all about creating quality pieces that will be picked up and disseminated across the market. Write helpful technical articles to solve a known problem, create a video that helps your clients etc etc.
- Direct mail if you want to send direct mail send something of real value maybe a synopsis of a technical white paper you have written or an introduction to a training course rather than the usually rubbish most people send, the same applies to emails, there is a place for product emails as well, but write the content to show how it helps in a project.
- Once again generate great content, if you can get some good useful videos and you tube they will generate leads, also launch a content site better known as a blog and start creating content.
How to create great content
Now comes the painful part, the key here is to understand you market and to write content that is useful and interesting to your audience. This can be something about how your products will aid the user in meeting legislation requirements, how your product can save time and money … I am sure you get the idea.
You may need to free up some time for your technical people to write your content as they type of content you need will have to be technical and understand both the market and the products. It would also be a great idea to speak to your sales force as these are the customer facing side and they will understand what your customers need and require.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, have you utilised a content marketing strategy has it worked?
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