Many have heard of content marketing: few truly understand it
Most of us understand that we should be giving out prospects and customers more content. But what does that actually mean?
For many companies, their strategy is to blast customers with more and more sales content. They create more information about themselves and more requests to buy. It becomes a constant advertising broadcast. This is the opposite of what content marketing should be.
The whole point of content marketing is that the content should engage customers. You should talk about what matters to your customers, even if it is not directly related to the products and services that you sell. In this way, you become a trusted source of information for your audience. It’s the first step in becoming the trusted partner that I have already talked about.
Here are three topics that commercial printing companies want to hear more about right now. The first one is something that you are able to help them directly with:
How to Develop Your Business
Most printing companies are keen to hear new ideas about how they can bring in more work. They want to learn how to attract more customers. They also want to know how to sell more to the clients that they already have.
This is a great opportunity for channel partners. They are able to suggest new products and services. These can lead to enquiries about new equipment. However, make sure that there is evidence for growing sales behind the strategies that you suggest.
The next topic also helps printing companies improve profits.
How to Use Workflow to Become More Efficient
Workflow is a topic that most printing companies are keen to learn more about. The latest developments revolve around getting the right pieces of equipment to talk to each other. This can be very exciting for the whole printing industry.
Nevertheless, we should remember that many printing companies are nowhere near this stage of automation. They need information that is much more basic. They may be aware of what salespeople have told them. But they still need case studies and other reasons to actually use the software that is available.
Finally, there is another topic that is very important to many printing companies.
How to Maximise Press Uptime
There are often discussions on LinkedIn print groups around the actual uptime performance of presses. This also seems to be linked to the availability of consumables and spare parts.
Many press sales focus on the performance of a new piece of equipment. But printers want to know how machinery will perform in real life. They want to know how they should best maintain it. They want to know about the different service options and what these actually mean. There is room for a lot of content on these subject matters.
Channel partners that focus on these topics should receive good response from their audience. These are the topics that matter to many printing companies. They are a highly effective way to start a dialogue with new prospects.
Remember to Use These Topics in Different Ways
When they hear of content marketing, many people think of blogs and social media. But you will lessen the impact of these topics if you restrict them to these channels. These are conversations that you should also be having at events, at sales meetings, when you first meet prospects and when you use direct mail. I covered many of these channels in more detail in my previous article.
Remember, these are topics that will show prospects that you know their market and want to be engaged with it. Many of your prospects will begin to understand that you offer more than a price-driven sales conversation. Topics like these are the key to becoming a trusted advisor and having a different type of conversation with a client.
Make sure that you take some time to build up some information around these topics. Make sure that your whole team understands the point of this style of conversation and are ready to become involved with it. Then your prospects and customers will understand the true power of content marketing.
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