INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MAKEOVER: OVERCOMING TODAY’S CHALLENGES
No matter if your company sells commodity products or customized goods, if you are a marketer in the industrial arena, you probably face at least one of the following hurdles on a daily basis:
- A layered buying-decision landscape that results in a long sales cycle
- A need to make technical information easier to understand
- Increased competition that adds pressure to reduce prices
Sound content marketing strategy can help industrial marketers overcome the major hurdles to staying competitive and gaining more market share.
Here are three things you can add to your industrial marketing strategy to overcome those challenges, differentiate your product and compete more effectively in a global marketplace.
1.Take a different marketing approach to long sales cycles.
In the manufacturing arena, a long sales cycle is a given because there are layers of decision makers involved at every phase of the decision-making process. To work within those parameters, your industrial marketing strategy should include a plan to create a steady flow of useful content that can help those decision-makers at every stage in their buying journey.
- Prospects will find FAQs, tip sheets and transaction step-by-step guides supportive.
- Your top distributors and resellers in mind will appreciate customizable materials they can use to better target their regional audiences. When you provide these resources, their communications will be consistent with your brand look, tone and feel.
- Simplify answers to your customer’s complex questions.
Your buyers and prospects have a lot of technical questions about your products and services and they want answers on the double. Develop a library of content that delivers simplified answers and you will make your content far more accessible and useful.
Be sure your marketing mix includes instructional videos and infographics. These not only gain attention but can effectively communicate important information in an engaging way. In addition, use case studies that are crafted in a story-telling style to convey important information.
- Focus content on value and service.
No question about it, as competition grows, so does the pressure to cut prices. Instead of discounting your prices, increase your promotion of value to create competitive advantage.
To do this, you must fully understand the attributes that drive your customers to choose the product or service they do – even if it’s not your product or service. Don’t trust yourself or your team to assume this knowledge. Go find out through surveys and research. Then apply that insight to your marketing communications strategy to promote value and service.
Conclusion
The buying process for B2B industrial products and services is vastly different from the B2C space. That means the marketing focus must be, too. Develop relevant, useful content for every stage of your buyer journey and you can help move your company ahead.
Looking for more insight that will make your content marketing more effective? Let our team make it easier to achieve better results. Contact CrucialContent today.
