Myth: Content Marketing Is Only for B2C Brands, Not Manufacturers

Sure, inbound marketing can be great for B2C companies. Creating interesting content for those companies is a great way to increase leads with consumers. But it’s just a waste of marketing dollars for your B2B manufacturing company… you’re looking to connect with other businesses, not people. Right?

Wrong. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Certainly, there are a number of B2C companies that do content marketing very, very well. Companies like Virgin Mobile, Spotify, and HBO have used Buzzfeed’s Sponsored Content articles to bring their companies onto consumer’s devices with fun, interesting content that doesn’t feel like advertising. Brands like Charmin, Hamburger Helper, Arby’s and Old Spice are great at using Twitter to produce engaging content to connect with consumers. 

The benefits of utilizing inbound marketing strategies for manufacturing companies are clear. 93% of B2B sales initiate with an internet search, and research shows that buyers won’t engage with sales reps until their buying process is nearly complete. By creating relevant content that engages people, manufacturers gain a captive audience that doesn’t feel like it’s being sold something or inconvenienced. Instead of interrupting your customers with traditional advertising techniques, you’re putting your brand in front of potential customers. 

But content marketing isn’t just for B2C brands. Even manufacturers can benefit from high quality content that brings potential leads to you, rather than spending time and marketing dollars on outbound marketing that is often unfocused, poorly targeted, and low ROI. 89% of manufacturures still use traditional print adversting, despite knowing its 34% effectiveness rate. Do you know anyone that gets excited about receiving another cold call, spam e-mail, or piece of junk mail? Yeah, me neither. 

• 87% of manufacturers create videos for brand awareness and lead generation/sales purposes. Global manufacturing giant, General Electric (GE) regularly adds new videos to Youtube and effectively reaches more businesses. 

• LinkedIn is the most used social media platform by manufacturers. 89% of manufacturing companies distribute content via LinkedIn. Seen as the most professional of the social media platfoorms with 54% effectiveness rate.
  
  
• A majority of manufacturers are focusing on organizing website content and improving conversions this year. 66% are currently working on content marketing initiatives to increase lead conversions and organizing content. 

Your B2B manufacturing company isn’t just selling to individual consumers. Businesses are made up of people and at the end of the day, the same strategies that B2C brands use to engage consumers and create leads are also effective for attracting the right people at the businesses you want to connect with as well. Everybody’s got a story to tell.

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