As my old basketball coaches used to say, “It’s not what happens between the base lines, it what happens between your ears”
I suggest you change your attitude about the web in general.
View the web as the OPPORTUNITY that you have been looking for to improve your company’s brand and improve lead generation. If you embrace that attitude you can exploit the web to foster the dramatic changes you envision.
Sorry! The first place to start is a blog.
A well done blog, hands down, is the best place to improve your online visibility, improve your brand, improve lead generation and boost sales.
In simplistic terms, each time you post a blog article it adds another page to your web site. (Assuming your blog is attached to your primary domain) Google likes new, theme-oriented posts. For example, if you have not guessed already this post is focused on “business blogging” and “industrial marketing”. That was my specific goal when I authored this blog post. I know from analytics and research that those long-tail keywords will attract valuable visitors as oppose “tire-kickers” from generic keywords such as “web developer” or “web designer”. I also will capture some interested leads at the end of this blog post as you will soon see. (I dare you!)
A blog can establish your company’s expertise and trust in your industry. If you are reading this you know from my past writings I have a good grasp of internet marketing and how it relates to industrial marketing. You also know my passion for what I do. I am interested in working with companies that have the same passion I do for improving their industrial brand and generating more leads using the web as a rich platform.
But…it takes commitment and passion. I cannot overstate those qualities. Consider blogging a long-term marketing asset. Sorry for the over used metaphors but this is a marathon, not a sprint.
You may have seen these stats before. I know I have and I am sick of them. But I know they are true and I embrace them as a significant opportunity.
- 40% of US companies use blogs for marketing purposes
- Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors
- B2B companies that blog get 67% more leads/month than those that don’t
Let me cite a terrific example of an industrial company that has embraced their long-term marketing asset by publishing over 100 blogs with over 15 different blog contributors. Each blog is focused on a different, long-tail, audience. (i.e keyword phrase)
Before you dismiss this as typical marketing hype, I just confirmed every detail in this article yesterday (12/4) with the Director of Communications and also Marketing Communications Manager at Indium.
Indium Corporation located in Utica, New York is a supplier of specialty alloys, industrial solders, and solder pastes to the electronics and semiconductor industry. Is there anything more boring than a blog about solder paste or semiconductor packaging?
Not to the engineer that needs answers to specific questions about solder!
Take a look for yourself: Here is Indium’s blog “catalog” and also Indium’s contributing writers and engineers.
According to Rick Short, Indium’s Director of Marketing Communication, Indium has been able to cut costs by being aggressive with blogs and social media. As a result of an already attentive culture to their customers, Indium and its engineers interact with customers on a daily basis with solutions and answers. For example, Indium has cut costs by 75% for trade shows by forgoing the usual trade show marketing tactics and expensive booths.
Now, because Indium is so active with blogs (i.e. its customers), engineers seek Indium personnel by name at the trade shows. At trade shows and or even in person at a customer’s site a relationship has already been built due to the expertise established on the blogs says Anita Brown, Marketing Communications Manager at Indium.
In other words, the buyer’s journey is much closer to a closed sale. More importantly, a long-term relationship was established…that was started on the web.
This same dynamic has happened to me personally as a result of my blog.
If Indium can publish over 100 blogs about solder products, surely your company can launch a couple blogs and share your industry expertise.
Want to know more about B2B industrial branding, give me a call or contact me via email.