Back in 2014 I wrote an article that expressed how I’m always trying to convince people that Cleveland really IS a great city and that it’s on the brink of something awesome. Well shoot, I was right. Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t credit that to the World Champs and our very own King James, because let’s be real - the past month in Cleveland has been one we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. Being a digital marketer, it goes without saying that i’m also going to have to give some of this credit to content marketing.

Many times we hear from manufacturing companies: “my prospects aren’t in social media, that isn’t going to work for us.” Sure, some channels might not make sense for you, but you shouldn’t rule them all out before testing each one. Social media marketing tools can help you to understand which channels work best, and which underperform so you can strategize around the channels that work and spend your time there. I’m going to pick out a few favorite social media marketing tools you should consider for your business.

Many of our clients distribute monthly or quarterly newsletters to their current customers, prospects, employees, and really anyone else who is interested in learning about their company. We’ve seen our fair share of different types of newsletters; some that need some work, and others that have been very successful. Below are 6 best practices to follow when creating your company newsletter.

When it comes to trade shows for most manufacturers, we’ve more than likely all been there…the annual show is coming up, it's time to scramble to get your booth ready to head to a show that you aren’t quite convinced has any actual ROI for your company. If this sounds too familiar, you aren’t alone. By following these tips, you’ll be able to ensure that you’re getting the most out of each trade show!

1. Blogging

As a manufacturing company, you are the expert and thought leader about your products, so why not share this knowledge within your industry? While blogging isn’t new for 2015, it’s becoming increasingly important for manufacturing companies to get into this space. If you aren’t doing it yet, odds are your competitor is. As Google comes out with new ways of ranking, search engine optimization continues to morph. Staying relevant with fresh content will help with your company’s overall SEO strategy. 

While blogging might sound like a daunting task, these 5 ideas for creating content will make blogging seem like a walk in the park.

So, you launched a blog as a marketing initiative and now you have to actually fill it up with content. What a daunting task, right?! You’ve already got enough on your plate dealing with the day-to-day tasks that come along with the job. Adding what might seem like hours on end to write content is just not going to happen…

Well, fear not! We’ve got 5 tips that will make content creation seem like a walk in the park.

1. Check your Contact Us form submissions

If you don’t have a Contact Us form on your website, you should! Go check out the comments section of that form. Odds are – you’ve already got a start to a number of different topics to cover. Answer each question in a separate blog post.

In my last post, I talked about how content marketing and the city of Cleveland relate. You might have noticed my high hopes for the Cleveland Browns, as they were in 1^st place in the AFC North at the time. Sure that hope was short-lived, as the later half of the season was basically disastrous…but I’ll be back again next year, rooting them on, hoping they get to their end goal. One day they ARE going to make it to the Super Bowl! Until then, let’s take a look at how advertisers for the Super Bowl are getting extra creative this year by utilizing content marketing.