Content is everything

More and more successful businesses are employing something called "content marketing". Content marketing is the practice of creating relevant, valuable and compelling content to customers and prospects (instead of sales information). This type of "un-marketing" is now the last option available to target buyers who are tuning out advertising messages across the board.

In order to attract the attention of buyers, manufacturing marketers must first understand search engines -- where most buyers start their search. Search engines love content, especially valuable and relevant content that generates links from outside, reputable Web sites. Unfortunately, creating valuable and compelling content is not easy to do.

Even though most manufactures may agree with the movement to the Web, most are still using the traditional marketing strategies they have used for decades. There are several reasons for this:

• Most manufacturers are set up to sell products and services, not to provide relevant and valuable information to customers and prospects. Educational newsletters, blogs, white papers and free reports are just a few types of initiatives that are challenging for manufacturers to consistently produce. It's as simple as this: if the information you are sending out to customers doesn't help them do their jobs better or live happier lives, don't send it.
• Most manufacturers have well-worn marketing paths that are easy to follow. Going off the beaten path into uncharted territory is intimidating.
• Most manufacturers may believe that their customers are still not active on the Web.
• Many manufacturers aren't measuring their marketing, so they aren't even sure what is and what is not effective.
• Many manufacturers lack both the right people and the right processes to implement a new kind of marketing.

 

Read this entire post from Industry Week

Joe Pulizzi is founder of Junta42 Match, a free resource for businesses looking for content experts that match their fields. Additional information on content marketing can be found in Pulizzi's book, Get Content. Get Customers. -- How to use content marketing to deliver relevant, valuable, and compelling information that turns prospects into customers.  The book teaches you, step-by-step and through countless case studies, how to create and market your own content to acquire customers. www.getcontentgetcustomers.com.