Manufacturers Have A Lot to Blog About

HubSpot data shows that 92% of companies who blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer from their blog compared to 56% of B2B companies who blog monthly. Although your company may not have the resources to blog several times a day, the evidence is compelling.

There are many benefits to manufacturers who incorporate blogging into their annual marketing plan. B2B companies who blog regularly, benefit from a fresh and relevant website, improved SEO rankings and higher website traffic. As an added bonus, the slew of content that is developed can be repurposed into white papers, e-books and used in social media campaigns. Blogs are cost-effective (although resource intensive), create engagement with your customers and prospects and help you stand out among your competitors. A blog will further assist your company in establishing a strong brand reputation in the industry and will portray your company as a thought leader.

Before you dive head first, you need to determine what your goals are when developing a blogging strategy. Do you want to increase awareness? Generate leads? Improve your conversion rate? Once your goals and metrics are in place, it will be much easier for you to determine the success of your strategy. From there, you will need to figure out how often you will blog, what resources you will need and what topics you will cover.

Blogs don’t necessarily work overnight but tend to build trust over time. In order for them to be effective, they must offer quality and relevant information that is of interest to your reader. You will notice that as soon as the passion and relevance of your company’s blog begins to subside, you will see a significant drop-off in interest, subscriptions, and leads.

Blogs provide much more than an opportunity to promote a company’s brand, they allow for ongoing rich communication with your customers and prospects. Manufacturers can use their blog to share industry knowledge, technology trends, staff recognition, upcoming events, relevant resource lists, company research, and milestones, such as ISO or Six Sigma certification.

Ongoing interaction is a key factor in shortening lengthy sales cycles in manufacturing. Blogs are one tactic you should keep in your marketing tool belt as more and more buyers look online for information before reaching for the phone.