It isn’t enough to sign onto industrial content marketing platforms such as GlobalSpec/IHS Engineering, ThomasNet and ChemicalsTechnology and sit back and wait for leads. In fact, about 33 percent of companies that sign up don’t bother filling out their company profiles. Many others don’t bother adding new content every month, often because they’re just too busy to spend time developing top quality content. Then, when evaluating the results of the program for renewal, they blame the platform for less than stellar performance, rather than their lack of commitment to feeding it with fresh content. That’s like planting a seedling and expecting it to grow into a tree without water and sunlight.
Any success to be gained with these online platforms requires a consistent flow of fresh content, since it typically becomes searchable content on Google and on other search engines. The more relevant, well-written content we provide, the higher rankings your products will earn in the search results and the more leads you’ll get. In many cases, these online services also feature your new content in their email newsletters and promote it on their social media channels for extra exposure. epr recommends starting with this:
1. Fill out profiles by uploading spec sheets, brochures, white papers, case study articles and other content already on file
2. Provide new article or press release at least monthly with photos/images
3. Capitalize on ability to include videos, such as product demonstrations, executive Q&A’s and plant tours
4. Monitor your dashboard to see what’s getting viewed and clicked, then add more content just like it
If you’re going to use these services, then use them to their maximum capability so they can capture as many relevant Web searches and attract as many qualified leads as possible. This also allows us to fairly evaluate their performance versus other advertising and marketing opportunities. epr offers content development support for busy marketing teams. Call 908.479.4231 or paul at eprmarketing.com.
