Did you know, according to the Manufacturing Content Marketing Institute report, only 30% of marketers in the manufacturing industry feel that they are using their web and social content effectively?
If industrial companies are not strategically using all forms of content to reach out to their audience and convert, they’re missing out.
After all, Cisco reports that, by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer Internet traffic. That’s a whopping 15 times higher than it was in 2017!
From increased B2B sales to increased SEO rating, marketers are seeing great results through filmed content. Most decide to invest in this format of marketing to communicate more directly and educate their customers on their products and services.
Leveraging video content marketing for your B2B marketing strategy has now become a necessity.
In this blog post, you'll discover not only why films are crucial to your marketing strategy, but also great ideas for industrial content marketing you can tap into to boost your business and your sales. Read on to learn more about the benefits of video marketing!
3 reasons why video is essential for industrial content marketing
Let's discuss some reasons why video absolutely needs to be a part of your digital marketing strategy to boost your sales.
- Manufacturing is an exceptionally crowded industry. According to IbisWorld, ‘The market size of the Manufacturing industry in the US has grown 0.4% per year on average between 2016 and 2021’. The best way to stand out in this saturated industry? Leveraging this type of content strategically. From highlighting each product’s value proposition and boosting brand awareness to connecting with customers on a more personal level, this content format helps manufacturing companies in a plethora of ways.
- Did you know your audience retains 95% of your message when they watch it in a film compared to 10% when reading it in text form? Clients and customers not only retain information better, but they’re also more fond of this content type in general.
- In this era of personalization and human-centric marketing, many manufacturers are increasingly investing in film marketing as part of their marketing methods to connect with more customers. You want to show your target audience and potential customers that you’re more than just a manufacturing company - you need to have a human side that they can easily connect to and relate with. This type of content adds that personal touch to your content and is more relatable for any audience.
Content Marketing Trends
Content marketing trends differ from industry. Different needs, expectations and challenges are causing these differences. Stay always up to date with your industry news, whether you're working in pharma content marketing or SaaS video marketing.
4 examples of industrial content marketing
Luckily, there are many types of content for industrial organizations to choose from for their marketing strategy. Here are 4 great examples of content for industrial marketing:
1. Videos
Filming is a great strategy for companies to showcase their products and services while keeping their audience engaged. Industrial companies can use this type of content to explain the benefits of their products or services in an interactive way.
This type of content can be easily shared on social media platforms such as YouTube or Instagram.
2. Webinars
Hosting a webinar for your industrial company is a great strategy to educate your target audience about your products or services. Not only are you ensuring that your audience understands your products or services, but you’re also showing them that you have industry knowledge. This educates your audience while building their trust and your credibility.
Webinars are ultimately useful for generating leads and convincing prospects that they should purchase from you!
3. Blog posts
If you want to deliver relevant information, helpful tips, and an industrial strategy that your audience will love, start a blog!
Blog posts deliver high-value content that can boost your SEO strategy and position your company as a thought leader. You can share your social media platforms on your blog post to redirect any readers to your other marketing channels.
4. Podcasts
Another type of content for your industrial marketing strategy could be podcasts. Your industrial company can produce a podcast that covers any industry topics and insights you believe your audience should hear!
A podcast is a great way to reach your audience and can be repurposed into other forms of content such as videos or text. By repurposing your podcasts into these types of content, you’ll most likely be boosting your SEO as well!
6 best video ideas for industrial content marketing
Here are 6 tried and tested tactics to help you get the ball rolling.
1. Explainers
Create educational and interesting filmed content around topics that would benefit your audience. There are a plethora of different film types you can use to create explainers around your product or service - from short Buzzfeed-style content to demonstrations and educational whiteboards.
Start gathering audience data
If you’re wondering where to start from and how to figure which topics would interest your audience, start conducting surveys and using social media groups in your niche to gather data. This data will then come in handy when you’re preparing a list of topics to create videos on. Ask current customers what are some concepts they’d like you to explain and touch upon.
For example, here’s a great whiteboard video on the difference between blanking, punching and piercing processes. It’s short, to the point, and very well explained.
2. Introduction of your business
What is your business’s history? Why did you start? What is your vision and your goals? Do you support a cause?
Introducing your company, what you do, who you are, and what are your plans for the future in video format is a great way to connect with your would-be customers. It helps viewers validate your company. It also helps to attract and drive leads.
Include storytelling in your videos
Find interesting points about your business that would make your video more memorable. Storytelling videos get great traction!
3. Factory/ facility tours
If you’re looking to improve your social media marketing game, or delve into live streaming, factory and facility tours make great video content.
Experiment with different types of content. Take your existing customers for a ride and show them your factory via live streaming (hello, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube Stories!). It not only makes your business more human but also adds variety to your content.
4. How-to’s
How-to’s are a customer favorite.
Everyone’s looking to learn new stuff on the internet (especially YouTube) and businesses need to leverage this. After all, according to TechSmith, 53% of people reported watching two or more instructional films per week (up 152% compared to 2013).
As Jason Kline, Director of Marketing at Consolidated Electronic Wire & Cable, aptly says, “One of the underlying themes, as well as obligations, to market in our B2B ecosystem is to share our expertise.” Encourage your engineers and technical teams to explain your products and services.
Thought leadership content like this works great to establish your expertise in the industry!
Spirol does an excellent job at creating interesting how-to’s for their audience.
Speak to a wider audience
Create content that clarifies concepts and processes that are commonly known by your audience. Try to steer clear from industry jargon and make your videos laymen friendly. And make sure to share your content on different social media platforms! You need more input? Follow these content marketing influencers to become a better marketer!
5. Client testimonials
Client testimonials have the power to sway potential customers into customers! According to Wyzowl, 95% of people say that reviews – whether positive, or negative – influence their purchasing decisions.
And that’s not it.
Marketers swear by the power of customer testimonials!
89% of marketers say that customer testimonials and case studies are the most effective content forms for influencing purchases.
Talk to your current customers, offer them incentives to send you a video testimonial. You can also call them in-house and ask them if they’d be happy to give you a quick shoutout for your products.
While text-based testimonials work great, video testimonials do even better. So strive to get those if you can!
6. “Meet the team”
Your team makes your business. People cannot relate to faceless businesses: to connect with your audience you need to give them a glance behind the scenes.
Introduce your CEO, your vice presidents, your marketing team, your designers and engineers (the backbones of your business). You can also collaborate with influencers in your niche and conduct sessions with them to amp up your online marketing!
Spiral’s Our Culture - Our Day - Our Team film is an excellent example.
Manor tool and manufacturing also created a film around their 50th anniversary.
Live stream your activities
If you conduct fun activities at your office or factory (like a day out, team building activities, or heck even a fun lunch at work!), live stream it! Show your audience that you’re not just a faceless business — you’re much more than that.
Create industrial marketing videos with PlayPlay
PlayPlay is the video creation platform that empowers Marketing and Communication teams to transform any message into engaging video stories.
With our powerful and intuitive products, the best AI technologies, and our focus on enterprise storytelling, we've enabled over 3,000 companies to make video their main form of communication.
More reasons to love PlayPlay for your industrial content marketing strategy:
PlayPlay provides a suite of video creation and editing features to help you create professional and engaging videos in just a few clicks.
- Crop and resize social media videos: Use PlayPlay's multi-format resized tool to make your social media videos suitable for each channel or platform. In just a few clicks, you can resize your videos into vertical, horizontal, or square modes without affecting the quality of your output.
- AI video assistant: Accelerate your video creation process with our AI tool. Instantly generate first drafts from simple text prompts, eliminating the need to start from scratch. Get inspired with creative video ideas and tailor the draft to align with your brand’s needs. Edit and refine easily to produce a polished, high-quality final video.
- Premium stock library: PlayPlay gives you access to millions of high-quality, royalty-free media for your videos. Use premium images, videos, and GIFs from Getty to enhance your videos, make them engaging, and ensure a professional look.
Industrial marketing fits into the B2B marketing category, and is also referred to as that. In other words, industrial marketing is the promotion of goods and services from one company to another, where the company that purchases can sell to other businesses or consumers.
Here are 5 examples of industries found in the industrial market:
- Agriculture
- Mining
- Manufacturing
- Construction and transportation
- Banking and insurance
Here is a list of the industries that tend to spend the most on content marketing:
- Financial companies
- Technology companies
- Recruitment firms
- Health services
- Retail and ecommerce businesses
- Travel companies
The 3 E’s of content marketing are: engage, educate, and entertain. By ensuring your content captures attention, promotes valuable information or knowledge, and generates public enjoyment, your business is sure to create a memorable experience for any audience.
Jaymi Onorato
Demand Generation Manager, North America
Jaymi is a growth-focused B2B marketing leader driving demand generation for North America at PlayPlay. Jaymi advocates for inclusivity in tech and women in leadership.
