B2B content marketing in India has always been looked upon as dry and boring. Not anymore. With the increase in social media use, businesses are becoming human again. Brands today need to find more viable ways to interact and engage their specific target audiences on social media, even if they are from the manufacturing industry.
Here’s a closer look at B2B content marketing in India and its utility for manufacturers:
Importance of B2B content marketing for manufacturers
According to a report by the DMAi Content Marketing Council, Digital Buyer Penetration in India is set to jump from 43.8% in 2016 to 70.7% by 2020. This means online audiences will grow larger. Digital mediums will be able to exert a higher influence on consumers’ purchase decisions.
Hence, more and more businesses will introduce online platforms for customers to buy their products from. This increasing number of online businesses will result in the rise of viable leads for B2B manufacturers. The best way to connect with this digital audience is through an effective Content Funnel.
The first step for executing a successful content funnel is to generate unique and relevant content for your brand. This content enhances your product’s image, thus increasing the awareness for your brand. Mid level and bottom level results.ie.Lead Generation and Sales Acquisition respectively can be achieved by adding a call to action to the top-level results. In its essence, a content funnel energies like this:
B2B content marketing for manufacturers
Understand your audience
B2B content marketing for manufacturers works in the same way as it does for other businesses. In essence – worthwhile leads can be generated by creating appropriate content.
To engage with industrial audiences and technical experts, the content needs to be specialised for that particular group. This requires considerable research and time. However, most Indian manufacturers focus towards sales acquisition or put simply ‘wanting to see the money’ instead of an increase in the brand reach and awareness through B2B content marketing. This mismatch of perception is a crucial reason why manufacturers are reluctant towards this approach.
The perception of Indian manufacturers
Source: Giphy.com
But with the right content, it is not too difficult to deliver top of the funnel results such as higher web traffic, page views and shares.
Cut through the clutter
As mentioned earlier, B2B content marketing doesn’t essentially need to be dull and dry. Manufacturing industries are no longer complex and unapproachable titans that people don’t understand. They are constantly evolving their approach to find relevance in their consumers’ everyday life.
Therefore, the marketing strategy for these industrial clients needs to change as well. Your communication should cut through the clutter and reach the heart of the matter quickly and smartly.
Take a cue from Xerox – World’s largest document solutions and services.
With a company name synonymous with photocopying, it’s hard to imagine Xerox vying for a branding makeover. But the immense popularity of Xerox’s copier services was a big part of the problem. Xerox is a provider of a large number of other services such IT outsourcing which most businesses are unaware of. Therefore, it came up with a content focused re-branding strategy called, Ready for Real Business. A vital component of this communication was the Real Business magazine (available on Play Store) that featured stories about Xerox and many other businesses. Since, the magazine was immensely popular, many businesses pitched their stories to the magazine, giving Xerox an organic virality which only an effective B2B content marketing strategy can achieve.
Content marketing for Real Business Magazine
A specialised content marketing agency can help your manufacturing business grow by correctly identifying the target audience and creating content that cuts through the chaos and gets you better reach and leads.