Are you an industrial manufacturer, selling B2B? Long-form technical content can effectively target your customer at the beginning of their buying journey. Catch them early and impress them with relevant messages and content that demonstrate your uniqueness in the market.
I recently had the pleasure of working with a global safety system manufacturer on a 1,000 word lead magnet document about cracking furnaces. We also worked on improving their three-stage customer case study template.
In addition to the technical details of hot-swapping of furnaces and the petrochemical process of steam cracking hydrocarbons, I applied basic elements of storytelling to a technical subject. I did this because longer form technical B2B content needs to focus on a readership at a particular point in the customer journey. Giving structure to the content makes it easier for the reader to absorb as much as possible. In doing so my client and I can get across our most relevant points.
I see this as an old-school sales technique: reps working their territory or region, demonstrating expertise and solutions to keep their company top of mind with the customer.
Marketing to heavy industrial manufacturers requires a targeted approach that takes into account the unique needs and preferences of the target audience at a particular point in the customer journey. Whichever marketing/sales funnel acronym you use (AIDA, TOFU, AICIE, 5 E’s etc) the readership of long-form technical content is at a certain stage of exploration, usually an early stage. I try to temper my clients’ expectations as to how this kind of content is going to perform. Customers who are ‘ready to buy’ are not reading long-form technical content.
Here are some tips to help you use long-form technical B2B content when marketing the industrial manufacturer
Write to a customer profile AND a customer journey
Know your audience in a very granular way: most of my clients’ ideal customer profiles start and stop at the job title. This is not enough detail to be able to communicate effectively and persuasively.
Be Industry-Relevant
Colleagues like to ‘talk shop‘ about their own industry when they get together. Long-form technical B2B content ought to talk shop to: address actual issues and problems within your target customer’s industry.
Be Specific
Dig down into the details of a case study or lead magnet document and demonstrate technical knowledge. Do not be afraid to use this language in the public sphere (website, LinkedIn company page, blog posts etc) and not just in your printed sales material. Manufacturers that try to reflect generic corporate content miss the opportunity to sound like experts.
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Contact me for marketing strategy, planning and content creation.
info@jasondoggett.com