Inbound Marketing Tips For Industrial Companies For Strong Recovery
Inbound marketing’s industrial applications are not that well known. However, the success that inbound marketing has had in tech companies is something that can be transferred over to industrial companies.
Industrial B2B purchase decisions are driven by logic, intensive research and careful analysis. It is rarely a purchase decision that is made by one person but involves a motley of different stakeholders and managers across the business.
Moreover, industrial contacts are usually expensive and take a long time to close.
This is exactly where inbound marketing can help! It can help establish trust with your prospects even before you answer the call for tenders, by informing and educating them about how you can solve their pain points at every step of the journey.
Inbound marketing can also help differentiate you from your competitors. Or if you’re lucky to have no competitors, you’ve got an open playing field with the web and inbound marketing to chart your own course!
Let’s explore some of our top tips on inbound marketing for industrial companies –
Adapting Industrial Inbound Marketing for Virtual Events
The post-pandemic reality is now signalling a shift from in-person events to digital events and conferences. This can be particularly hard for industrial companies where in-person events were most preferred for networking and making new contacts or leads.
Online events are not restricted by physical space and offer great value in terms of convenience and accessibility. Participating or even hosting online webinars and conferences is a great way to keep open a channel of communication between prospective buyers and you.
Being in sync with the market and networking is vital. And online events offer the perfect platform to go above and beyond the kind of interactivity and reach that is offered by a physical event.
Using SEO to Accelerate Your Inbound Marketing
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is central to an effective inbound marketing strategy. It helps people find your content on the internet and can also help with lead generation.
SEO helps you rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP) but it is not a stand-alone tactic to boost traffic. It needs to be leveraged across the inbound marketing value chain.
Search Intent vs. Keywords
With the advancements in Google’s search algorithm every year, what was once considered essential (like keyword density) is gradually being replaced by user behaviour that guides SERPs.
To understand user behaviour you need to know your buyer personas and their intent. Users now search by asking questions and you need to be there to answer them.
Use Google Search Trends or Google Analytics to learn more about currently popular search trends, queries and how a user navigates through your website. Leverage this information to determine your SEO strategy and inform your content approach.
Creating SEO Optimized Content
A short or long-form content piece can add some serious power to your SEO and inbound marketing efforts. It can be one of the most authentic ways to inform and educate your audience.
Your content creation strategy should be backed by SEO research and discussions with your sales team. Begin by answering questions your personas are trying to solve.
For example, when you have enough blogs on a particular theme, package them together into a ‘point of view’ eBook. The same can be done for a series of case studies that cater to a particular industry.
For content that is more visual, easily consumable and targets the top of the funnel, create infographics.
Prioritize including keywords in headings as Google takes notice of those. Include keywords where it makes sense but do not force-fit them. Also make a practice to create more long-form content (more than 1,500 words), as they perform much better.
If you have got the basics in place, explore creating podcasts featuring subject matter experts or a more substantial ‘hero content piece’ that is backed by primary research.
Using Social Media Marketing and SEO Together
Social media is relatively unknown when it comes to its advantages related to SEO. Both are inbound strategies that work great together.
While sharing content on social media make sure to use hashtags and tagging. This will expand the reach of your external links. When users link back to your company content, Google takes notice and rewards you with more visibility.
Grow your follower base to rank higher on SERPs. Higher your follower base, the better your chances of ranking higher.
Google’s algorithms value local content. Use social media to become active in your local communities. Follow other local businesses, update your location and post about local events.
Nurture Your Cold Leads
There are no missed opportunities, only leads you did not effectively follow-up with. While inbound marketing can bring in leads, you need to nurture those leads to closure.
The long sales cycles of industrial companies often lead to a situation where you had a conversation with a prospect and then there’s a long silence.
In such a scenario, nurturing a lead plays very well within an inbound marketing strategy that can ensure your prospect receives regular information that prevents her from turning into a cold lead.
How do you do this? One of the most effective ways is building a nurture email campaign. This allows you to stay on top of mind and also gives the prospect any information that she might have missed previously.
Consider how you can personalize your nurture campaigns to make your prospects feel special. Target your message to not only that particular segment but to that individual.
Industrial inbound marketing can be complex due to the very unique nature of the industrial buying cycle. When there are multiple stakeholders involved in a purchase decision, you need to make sure each one of them is receiving information about your company.
Despite the complex nature of industrial companies, inbound marketing is one of the best methods to meet your customers where they are online. Get in touch with us if you are curious to explore how we can improve your business impact
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