Learning Hub | Content Marketing
It’s Time to Revamp Manufacturing Marketing Strategy
July 30, 2015 | Jon Teodoro
Call it efficient, indispensable, and inventive; today’s manufacturing industry is in a constant state of self-innovation. Digitally, however, it is falling behind; the web presence of its companies continue to lag in a trend that does not reflect the ingenuity that has been at its core. And while they are positioned to advance their businesses, finding in-house marketers who have the company resources to revamp manufacturing marketing strategy on their own is rare.
However, the frontier of technology companies that normally give their industrial peers a boost has created a new paradigm of online business practice that the manufacturing sector is adopting at an alarmingly sluggish rate; that method is known as inbound marketing.
What’s considered traditional marketing?
To liken traditional marketing to advertising wouldn’t be much of a stretch by any means. Both disciplines strive to educate buyers as to why business products are flawless, groundbreaking, and superior to their peers in a fashion that hits audiences as quickly and memorably as possible. But the mediums and methods through which this “education” is delivered are largely self-serving and self-aggrandizing. And as seen in commercial interruptions on television and radio, product promotion delivery is often designed to hold audiences captive, withholding the content they seek as a means of leverage for nabbing potential buyer attention.
So what is inbound marketing and what makes it special?
Unlike traditional marketing, education in inbound marketing is not about a product and the company that creates it; it’s about empowering the buyer with the information to make a wiser decision on purchasing a product from a company. This information isn’t delivered through 30-second spots, billboards, or publicity stunts. Rather, it is achieved through a meticulously crafted strategy of online engagement. Social media marketing, comprehensive infographics, as well as blogs, eBooks and other informational pieces of content play an integral role in educating consumers online through the inbound methodology.
According to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll, 86% of consumers stated that using a search engine allowed them to learn something new or important that helped him/her increase his/her knowledge. The point missed by traditional marketing is that consumers tend to already know about the products that they are looking for due to the accessibility of information afforded to them by the internet.
Inbound marketing is an extension of this reality; rather than trying to narrow-mindedly draw attention to a product, it instead endeavors to further enlighten potential buyers with the information to make a purchasing decision that is in the best interest of the buyers rather than that of the businesses attempting to draw revenue from them. Because it’s about them, not you. When they understand that, your marketing journey has officially begun.