Industrial and manufacturing companies can now use a variety of digital tools to both market and promote their business. They can share ideas, answer questions, and provide information to both customers and other businesses.
Blogging is just one way that companies can provide information others may be looking for in terms of manufacturing or industrial issues.
If blogs are going to achieve their goals, they need to be well written, concise, contain accurate and usable information, and be relevant.
1. BLOG REGULARLY
Once you have established your blog, it’s important to continue to add to it on a regular basis.
Posting on a daily or weekly basis should become second-nature.
Readers who are truly interested in what you have to say will continue to check the blogs for new postings. It’s also important to provide information that is usable, verifiable, and accurate
By providing this type of information on a regular basis, you will establish a reputation that shows people you are intent on communicating with your readers. You also want your content to be as intriguing and interesting as possible. This encourages readers to return week after week to find out what you have to say.
2. BE CONSISTENT
Creating amazing content isn’t difficult if the blogs are well-researched and easy to read. It’s also essential that you be as consistent as possible. This means that if you post blogs on Monday morning, you need to make sure you continue to post around that same time every week.
Posting at different times during the week or not posting at all may cause your readers to lose interest.
Being consistent ensures your readers that they will always have something of interest to read when they navigate your website.
Consistency builds confidence. It also shows your readers that they can rely on us to provide them with accurate and concise information when they need it most.
3. USE S.E.O.
SEO, or search engine optimization, will help boost your rankings in terms of where you fall when a person tries to find something on a search engine like Google, Internet Explorer, or Bing.
By using keywords and phrases that are strategically placed throughout your content, you can match what your readers are searching for and make it easier for them to find you.
Keywords and phrases should be used in the first and last paragraphs, within bolded headers, and spaced approximately 100 words or so apart. This not only makes your content more readable, it also makes it more search-friendly.
4. ADDRESS COMMON ISSUES
When writing your blogs, it’s important that you continually address common issues that may arise within your industry. This can be anything from best practices, manufacturing standards, new industry guidelines, anything that is of interest to what you do and who you work with.
It’s important to address issues that you, as an industry, must deal with on a regular basis.
By sharing how you handle these issues, you may be able to help others who are experiencing the same basic problems.
It will also help your customers understand any issues you may be facing and how you are trying to resolve them. This gives them insight that you are aware of their concerns and are working to address them.
5. ADDRESS COMMON QUESTIONS
You need to know what questions your customer service department is frequently asked, and address them regularly.
Your customers (as well as your peers) need to know that you are listening to what they have to say and are always doing your best to make sure they have the answers they need.
Even if you have a FAQ page on your website, new questions will continue to arise that need to be answered. By consistently providing this type of content, you will continue to build and strengthen your reader base.
No question is insignificant, especially if it keeps coming up in your conversations with clients and peers.
6. KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH
You need to set goals and know what you are trying to accomplish with each blog you write.
If you are explaining a process or answering a specific question, you need to provide concise and accurate information.
Avoid adding “fluff,” or padding the content with unnecessary words and phrases. This will take away the information you are providing and cause the reader to lose interest.
Make sure to include important facts, figures, or details that will add value to the blog. Stick to the goal of always providing as much useful information as possible.
7. BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER
You need to become “thought” leaders. This includes talking about topics that will cause your readers to want to learn more about what you do and why you do it.
A “thought” leader is someone who thinks outside the box and accepts new challenges. You need to make your readers want to explore every opportunity possible by giving them the information they need to formulate a plan or goal of their own.
As a thought leader, you can effectively work to bring about change in your industry and how you, as manufacturers, accomplish the goals you set for yourselves.
8. USE RELEVANT IMAGES AND VISUALS
Blogs that only have written content can be boring and dull. Include videos, relevant images, and other visuals like graphs or charts. This gives the reader something to support the information that is being provided. Some people will comprehend information more completely if they are able to see a visual image.
By adding visual elements, you offer two layers of information.
Seeing the information and then reading the content will add a measure of reinforcement that will help your audience remember what they learned.
9. LINK TO CREDIBLE AND AUTHORITATIVE RESOURCES
When you include statistics or any other type of information that may not be commonly known, it’s essential that you include links to the original websites. Many times, the information you provide will spark other questions.
By giving readers a link to follow (especially if it’s to one of your existing blogs), you make sure their questions are answered and that you have accomplished your goal in terms of giving them what they need.
Links to credible and authoritative resources also increases your reputation of being able to provide the information your readers want.
Creating amazing content isn’t hard, but it does take some thought and planning. Knowing what your readers’ questions are and being able to share news from around your industry is what it’s all about.
Put together a calendar and a list of topics and then set to work to provide the readers with the information they are eager to learn about. The better the content, the more likely it is that the reader will revisit your site in the future.
Thanks for reading. If there’s a particular topic that you’d like for us to write about, or if you have a particular a challenge that you’d like us to take a crack at, send us an email. We’d be happy to answer them for you – and if your topic gets picked for a future episode, you’ll win a free IndustrialSage t-shirt!
Sponsored by Optimum Productions
Author: Rica
Since the inception of IndustrialSage back in 2017, Rica has been one of the driving forces building IndustrialSage. As Marketing Manager, she's dedicated to producing amazing content on the site. There's little she loves more than storytelling: helping to explain new ideas in order to aid others in solving their problems. Fortunately, that's what IndustrialSage is all about.
