Written by Dan Konstantinovsky
Strategic Marketing, RH Blake

Statistics from the Content Marketing Institute reveal an alarming discrepancy. While 85% of industrial marketers use content marketing, only 33% report their organization is clear on what an effective content marketing program looks like. If they don’t have a clear understanding of what strategies to use, how are they building these programs?

These marketing initiatives offer weak foundations. They are not built on effective strategies or current market trends. The results are wasted resources and pitiful ROI.

These misguided efforts are understandable when we look at the current challenges of industrial marketing.

Challenges of Inbound Marketing for Industrial Products

First and foremost is the constant flux of inbound marketing. Organizations must keep up with myriad technologies and a dynamic industry that thrives on innovation. Marketers are challenged with multiple interfaces, and the number of customer touchpoints for inbound marketing continues to grow. Buyers also continue to change. As a result, marketers must understand and prioritize more inbound marketing options than ever before.

As they navigate these ever-shifting currents, businesses must also determine how to generate more of the right kind of leads. More than 75% of industrial marketers use website traffic to measure how well their content marketing is producing results. Yet, this is only a small piece of the inbound marketing puzzle. Heavy web traffic and lengthy subscriber lists seem great. However, if these never generate business, they are not producing the desired results. Successful inbound marketers have to move beyond simple traffic and push leads through the sales cycle. A shift in focus is clearly needed to convert these leads.

How? Through effective inbound marketing. This points to the next challenge: how to use better content marketing to influence prospects and channel partners. This is clearly a roadblock for many inbound marketers, since so few are able to break through to success. More than half of industrial marketers admit a lack of strategy has contributed to stagnant achievement over the last year. Considering other factors, this is not surprising: only 31% have a documented content marketing strategy in place, and only 46% report delivering content consistently. For influence to improve, companies must ramp up their inbound marketing efforts.

This must be done strategically to overcome the additional challenge of improving market share. Companies want to expand efforts and reach, but it is difficult to maintain inbound marketing strategies that grow with the company. The Content Marketing Institute reports only 33% of industrial marketers say their content marketing strategy has scalability. It’s easy for an organization to trip over out-grown shoes as it tries to leave a larger market footprint.

The final challenge facing industrial marketers is how to enhance margins. To do this, they must maintain razor-sharp inbound marketing initiatives that cut away the fat and carve out additional market share. Their marketing endeavors must achieve high return, yet marketers must be willing to invest in innovations that are too new to offer a proven track record of success. It’s a challenging balance. It proves even more difficult with limited in-house resources. A majority of industrial marketers (57%) only devote a small inbound marketing team to this task for their entire organization – and it’s often a team of one.

RH Blake Uniquely Understands Inbound Marketing for Industrial Products

Not every marketer grasps the intricate details of these challenges. Clients of RH Blake benefit from our in-depth knowledge of industrial inbound marketing complexities. We leverage 30 years of experience as an inbound marketing agency for industrial products to deliver precision solutions. Our methods offer impactful insight and impressive marketing ROI. We’ve successfully grown and adapted with the industry for three decades, and we continue to engage solely in projects that create worthwhile results for our clients.

A partnership with RH Blake results in lead generation, brand enhancement, and business growth. This impact is accomplished through our key service offerings:

• Marketing Strategy and Consulting – We use our proven RH Blake Growth Roadmap™ to analyze key aspects of your business and align your inbound marketing campaigns with the most effective strategies for your industrial products. Through analysis, planning and strategy, we create an actionable plan for success.
• Direct Marketing – RH Blake offers extensive experience at identifying target markets for industrial products. Our inbound marketing methods provide opportunities to communicate directly with key members of your customer or prospect base. We leverage market segmentation to develop focused digital and dimensional campaigns to meet your specific objectives.
• Digital Marketing – Our online and print media programs use the smartest vehicles to reach your markets, accelerate your sales cycle and drive opportunities that build your brand. We offer proven experience in developing and executing campaigns that attract, engage, nurture and qualify the right buyers for your offering. We differentiate your business to make prospects take notice.
• Content Development – With proven experience, RH Blake skillfully guides you through the process of telling your story, your way. We offer expertise in landing page development, product guides, product publicity, eBooks, whitepapers, feature articles, newsletters, blogging, social media, and other strategies to increase awareness and build your brand.
• Channel/Distribution Marketing & Awareness – Our targeted inbound marketing campaigns keep pace with increasingly mobile consumers who move across channels to get what they want, when they want it. Our digital campaigns, sales support and videos deliver highly successful marketing programs that expand margins and enhance loyalty.
• Website Development – RH Blake specializes in building scalable websites that leverage our deep knowledge of inbound marketing for industrial products. We develop responsive web properties that engage prospects and accelerate your sales cycle. Our proven SEO processes, mobile app development and social media programs deliver online success and extend your marketing reach.
• Trade Shows & Events – RH Blake knows these events can help your business create new relationships and accelerate the sales cycle for existing opportunities. That’s why we apply unique industrial insights to deliver custom trade show booth displays, handouts and videos that make the most of these opportunities.
• Sales Support Materials & Creative Design – Our experienced design approach gets you the practical solutions you need for effective marketing. We develop diverse tools based on your desired results and timeframe. Our design, implementation and deliverables are always on target.

An Inbound Marketing Agency for Industrial Products to Solve Your Industrial Product Marketing Challenges

In the last 12 months, less than half of industrial marketers have undergone any changes that have improved their inbound marketing approach. More than two-thirds admit they don’t have the time required to prevent market stagnation. Perhaps it’s time to try something different.

The small margin of industrial marketers who were able to achieve increased success in the past year did so by prioritizing content marketing, developing a solid strategy and enhancing the quality of their content. Still, less than half of industrial marketers even use a content management system, and only one percent rate their content marketing approach as extremely successful.

RH Blake wants to put you in that one percent.

To take on the challenges of inbound marketing for industrial products, you need an inbound marketing agency that is properly equipped for the task. RH Blake faces these challenges head-on and delivers impactful results. We provide:

• Structure: We design and execute a structured, well-positioned inbound marketing program that drives ongoing results.
• Lead generation: RH Blake develops a lead generation system that drives and converts visitors into qualified leads and profitable customers.
• Sales enablement: We identify, prioritize and implement the right CRM and marketing automation tools for your industrial business.
• Content marketing: Nearly two-thirds of industrial marketing companies point to content creation challenges as a leading factor in their stagnation. RH Blake uses enriched inbound marketing content to improve the perceived value of your product offering.

To begin your successful partnership with the leading inbound marketing agency for industrial products, contact RH Blake today.