Just imagine what your industrial brand would look like in a couple years if you achieved the following goals:
- Became an online thought-leader for your industries’ most important topics
- You reach #1 page rank in Google for each of your company’s products, services or industry topics
- For each of your company’s most important topics, your company’s content was featured at the top of Google’s return page in featured snippet format or as some call it, Google’s answer box (See example below)
Let me show you the why & how.
I recently developed a long-term, online strategy for an industrial supplier. Prior to putting the proposal together, I asked the client to give me three separate lists so I could do online, competitive research:
- My Client’s 4 most aggressive online competitors:
- My Client’s competitors they often lose contracts to:
- Top 4 industry leaders in the US:
This customer was already a good client and I had driven his current branding, web development and content marketing strategy. However, it was time for an upgrade due to changing buyers’ behavior and Google’s dependency on more and better content.
Going into the project I had a pretty good idea of the top-level strategy I was going to promote. I understood most marketers in this industry were well-behind when it comes to online expertise for branding and lead generation.
I just did not know how far behind my client’s competitors were.
I found an amazing opportunity for my client.
To protect the innocent, I will leave the details out of this story. I assure you, however, this is the real story, with real data and a real-world opportunity.
And…most industrial marketers have the same opportunity.
Despite the fact my clients’ industry is sustaining heavy & consistent demand…despite the fact his market is expected to reach 155 billion in 4 years, at a growth rate of 6.2%. (I would provide links to data, but then I would have to shoot you). Despite the fact this category of products & services is needed in some of the fastest growing sectors of our economy…despite all that optimism, my client’s competitors are 5-10 years behind when it comes to online marketing know-how and content marketing expertise.
How do I know, you ask?
Before I get into the details, you need to know I have written extensively about the lack of good content in the industrial sector and the lack of use of featured snippets (Go to my blog and search for “lack of content in the industrial sector” & “featured snippet” for more evidence).
The bottom-line…without all the mumbo-gumbo:
Google wants you to create great content that proves you know your stuff. Then, Google requires your prospects and customers consume (i.e. clicks) your content. This proves to Google and other search engines that your content is actually helpful. Once you scale that substantial hurdle…you are now at table stacks.
It really is that simple.
The issue?
Most industrial marketers simply don’t have the skill sets or the right-brain mentality to create, creative, engaging, helpful content for their specific industry. This is not a criticism. It’s just fact.
Industrials are great at selling product. Not great at content marketing…yet, Google demands it.
I researched the 10 competitors on the list my client gave back to me (Some companies were in more than one category).
Keep in mind this is a 115 billion dollar industry and that is just for ONE product that serves the industry, not all the add-on products and services required to serve this sector.
Here is what I found.
Out of my client’s “most aggressive online competitors”, my client’s most aggressive off-line competitors (competitors they lost the most contracts to) and the national leaders in the entire nation, not one was producing a blog. A blog is the very best way to improve your company’s online visibility.
Not one of these giants was taking advantage Google’s featured snippet program.
Not one was embracing the concept of industrial content marketing.
Therefore, none of my client’s competitors were ranking high in Google for their specific products and services. Occasionally, they would rank on Google’s first page and when they did I researched the reason why. In each case, they ranked high because there was a low content saturation rate for the specific topic or keyword. Again, a lack of know-how in this sector.
This left a giant, gaping hole for my client to drive his brand through.
Embrace your online brand. Embrace the fact your competitors are not.
Embrace industrial content marketing.
Embrace Google’s featured snippet program.
Then…embrace your customers of the future.
For more info on what The Repp Group can do for your industrial marketing & lead generation…CLICK BELOW
