🚨 It's time for change... B2B purchasing processes are going digital, and it's becoming essential for your SME or design office to adapt if you don't want to be (quickly) overtaken by your competitors.
Digital transformation is completely changing the way we approach prospects. This has led to the need for a content marketing strategy that allows you to demonstrate your expertise at every stage of the decision-making cycle, attracting and convincing your target audience.
🧐 And now you're probably thinking, "Content marketing?! Yet another obscure concept..."But we're sure that, without even realizing it, you're already involved in developing this strategy: product descriptions, creating content for your social media accounts, email campaigns, brochures, articles... Sound familiar?
To get a clearer idea and set yourself apart, this is the place to be! (Well, you'll have to read our article, but then we'll be there to help you if you need it 🙂 )!
1- Content marketing: what is it?
Content Marketing: definition
Content marketing content marketing, also known as "content marketing," is a strategy that consists "quite simply" (we promise it's not rocket science... 🧙♂️) of designing, producing and distributing different types of content, with the aim of communicate with your audience, develop your visibility, and nurture the prospect through their decision-making cycle.
The importance of content marketing strategy is significant: 84% of people expect brands to produce interesting content with real added value and a differentiating experience.
Content marketing: a component of inbound marketing
Content marketing is an integral part of inbound marketing strategy, whose goal is to attract visitors to your website in order to convert them into customers.
Thanks to the creation of various well-argued content (which we will detail later in this article), you will be able to attract the attention of high-quality prospects (i.e., those in your core target audience), make yourself known and recognized, and also gain influence over the behavior of your prospects. That's enough to get you started with this strategy!
Many SMEs and design offices have already understood this: 56% of companies in the B2B sector want to increase their content creation budget.
The specifics of content marketing for industry
Within the industrial sector, there are a few important specificities to take into account:
💡First, you will need to provide concrete information, not just "glittery" content that won't bring you any benefits. This is true in all fields, but especially in the industrial sector. Content marketing will allow you to get to the heart of the subject you want to address, by giving examples, references, etc.
💡The need to vary formats and angles is obvious: in industry, decision-making processes are often very long and multi-target commercial processes, you cannot rely on the same approach for a given subject. You will need to adapt your communication by varying the ways you express yourself to appeal to different stakeholders (maintenance managers, buyers, management, etc.).
💡When you launch a content marketing strategy, you need to involve your network of partners to maximize your visibility and ensure that all your media are used to their full potential. It's also an excellent way to showcase your network and build partner loyalty (because, yes, there is strength in numbers ^^)...
2- Why is content marketing useful in the industry?
To showcase your industrial expertise
Content marketing will enable you to showcase your expertise and be credible with your audience: by providing qualified content, solutions for your prospects, and demonstrating your knowledge on the subject, you will be able to gain the trust of your target audience and prove your expertise.
Keep in mind that 74% of industrial buyers say they do more than half of their research online before purchasing a product.
To fuel your communication strategy and sales force
This strategy is also very useful for diversifying your "touchpoints": obviously, some content will be more visual and better suited to your social media feeds. On the other hand, other content will be more "print"-based (even if distributed mainly digitally), such as case studies and white papers. These will help you bring your website to life and provide your sales team with unique sales materials .
But that's not all! By attracting more qualified traffic, content marketing generates more leads and, consequently, more sales opportunities for sales teams.
To highlight the intangible in your SME
Another advantage of content marketing is that it allows you to clearly highlight more intangible elements: as an industrialist, you are often more accustomed to describing the technical characteristics of your product or project. This is where content marketing comes in: it allows you to go further by highlighting, in a different and often more qualitative way, how your projects are set up, your methodologies, your quality processes, your teams, etc.
3- Examples of marketing content for the industry
📝Blog articles: This highly relevant online journal allows you to showcase your expertise on specific, targeted topics. By creating articles on a subject you are knowledgeable about, you will reassure your audience, gain credibility, and also improve your website's natural search engine optimization (and therefore gain visibility on search engines!). For example, you could write an article on how to solve a particular production problem, how to improve your customers' OEE, the advantages of a particular industrial process, etc.
👷🏼The Success Story: This is a transcript of a project carried out with a client. What were the challenges, why did the client choose you, how did the project unfold, what were the results... These are very effective tools because they incorporate peer testimonials. (For a PDF example, please contact us).
📹Videos: Video production provides real, visual content to publish on social media, your website, YouTube, etc. You can create videos on various topics : film your production lines, a new machine, an interview, or even different topics on which you are already experts. Here is an example created for one of our clients: https://youtu.be/9Z-y2Q_2yuI).
📖White papers: This is a communication tool that allows you to showcase your expertise in detail by addressing a predefined issue. The goal is to help readers develop their knowledge and, to a lesser extent, choose a solution: yours. It's a winning strategy, because readers will have free access to your information in exchange for their contact details! For an industrial example in PDF format, head to the contact form 😉
Case studies: This tool is particularly useful in B2B and ideal in the industrial world, where customers are sometimes reluctant to share their success stories. Case studies allow you to highlight great projects, but anonymously.
For more examples or to discuss how this could be integrated into your strategy, contact us for an initial informal discussion, which is non-binding and allows you to open your chakras 😅
