Manufacturers have historically relied on a combination of reseller channels and traditional marketing efforts (i.e., print/online advertising and events) to market and grow their businesses. Although those efforts may continue to pay some dividends, the Internet is where the true opportunity lies.

More and more business decision-makers looking to manufacturing equipment and services are starting their search on the Web. According to a 2007 Forrester study, over 90% of buyers begin a search for any product on the Web. With stats like that, not having a Web presence can crush any new business opportunities, even for tried-and-true brands.

Creating Content For The Web

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.

Or, maybe you work in the kind of business where no one even realizes that traditional marketing alone is no longer working. Perhaps no alarm bells have gone off yet.

As customer behavior continues to move to the web, taking a new approach is not an option, so the same old practices won't work (if they ever have). By implementing a new content strategy, manufacturers can see positive results through search engines and referrals in as little as six months. But that is simply one objective...the real key is to deliver valuable information to customers and prospects in order to be part of the conversation. Without valuable information, why would they want to talk with you?

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