Grant Marketing Blog

Content Marketing Strategy 

While the pandemic had a devastating effect on in-person selling and face-to-face events over the past two years, one upside was that manufacturing companies rediscovered the powerful impact of content marketing.

5 Benefits of Producing Quality Content for Your Industrial Manufacturing Company

If you’ve done any marketing in the last decade, you’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king.” It’s probably a given since the term was coined by Bill Gates back in 1996 and remains prevalent—even more so in 2019. Clearly, Gates was able to see into the future! (Of course, he may have had a hand in creating it, to a degree!) Though content marketing has changed dramatically in form over those years, its significance hasn’t wavered. In the early days, content creation was a strategy that helped separate your business from the rest of your competitors. It has now become a proven necessity for all businesses. And still, it is king.

How to Implement Video Marketing at Your Manufacturing Company

Video marketing is one of the most effective means of gaining a prospects’ attention online. In a world where the average attention span of an adult is around eight seconds, this attention-grabbing tool can be a game changer for all businesses trying to gain an edge. Sure, there is a time and a place to push other forms of promotional content, but video just works differently.

Traditional Marketing Spend Is an Expense

A print ad is a commodity that expires. It has a shelf life. That’s a concept we’ve come to understand in the internet age. Let’s frame it in this perspective: traditional marketing spend, according to HubSpot co-founder and CTO, Dharmesh Shah, is an expense. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is an investment in assets.

Move Over 2016, New B2B Content Marketing Trends for 2017 Are Here!

As the significance of content marketing continues to grow in the B2B industry, marketers have loosened their purse strings to make more room for it in their budget for the new fiscal year. A report released by PulsePoint and Digiday found that by 2017, content marketing and native ad budgets will grow 59 percent and 46 percent respectively; potentially outpacing search and social budgets.

Measuring What Matters for Inbound Marketing Metrics

In today’s data driven world, metrics rule the outcome of any marketing strategy, but focus too narrowly on numbers and you might just end up losing perspective.

Metrics don’t always mean success, which is why you need to measure what matters. If you are looking to reap a sound ROI on your content marketing strategy, it is imperative that the associated results are closely aligned with your goals.

Are You a Sales Enabler or Are You the Sales Disabler?

Being an enabler—in most circumstance—has gotten a bad rap. As an inbound marketing consultant, it’s right where I want to be. It is, in fact, my purpose for being (at least professionally), my Holy Grail. Yup, through the evergreen and helpfully informative content I’ve helped you create on your website, “I’ll” sit there all night helping you to get the hits you yearn for. And that’s just a small piece of the inbound marketing action I can provide for you (because I can also be a faithful and indefatigable brand ambassador for you). Strung out metaphors aside, this is serious stuff, and your business depends on me doing mine.

Get Better Training and Buy-In for B2B Inbound Marketing

B2B Inbound marketing, while extremely effective, comes with challenges. Year after year, companies seem to struggle with the same efforts. While proving the ROI of marketing activities is still the top challenge, finding an executive sponsor and team training are rapidly rising to the top of the list. Companies need both executive buy-in and appropriate training of sales and marketing teams to achieve the inbound marketing success they strive for. While all other challenges mentioned in this survey have declined from the previous year, these two have increased. HubSpot’s “State of Inbound 2015” report examines these developing trends.

The Direct Link between Content Marketing and Sales

Joe, Shirley, Ruth, and James are hardworking sales people. And they hit their numbers every time. But you need the numbers to increase and your company wants to shift into new markets, so you’re facing a double whammy of a transition. They all have very different personalities and approaches to work, and their own preferences for how and when they communicate to prospects and customers. You spend way too much time creating sales enablement strategies that support each of their styles of working. You need a plan that will encompass all their work habits and keep you from having to micromanage their different approaches for engaging with clients. On top of that, corporate is after you to align branding and messaging more consistently. You need a content marketing plan. 

A Content Marketing Plan Is all about Sales

You’re comfortable doing business the way you’ve been doing it for years. We get that. But there’s an inherent problem with that. Your customers and prospects aren’t; their buying habits have changed—dramatically. Technology has been driving this content marketing train for a while now, and the painful reality is that if you don’t jump onboard, your potential customers will be leaving the station without you. Stale metaphors aside, you really need to get on track with how business is being done and create a content marketing plan. Okay, bad puns behind us now, let’s get to the meat of it.