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3 Top Content Marketing Challenges in Manufacturing [Research]

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3 Top Content Marketing Challenges in Manufacturing [Research]

The most common challenge among manufacturing marketers? Creating content for different stages of the buyer’s journey.

That’s what 62% cited in today’s release of Content Marketing Institute’s Manufacturing Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2023, co-sponsored by GlobalSpec and 6sense.

Rounding out the top three of the most frequently cited challenges: aligning sales and marketing (58%) and breaking down communication silos (56%).

62% of #manufacturing marketers say creating #content for different stages of the buyer’s journey is a challenge according to @CMIContent #Research via @LisaBeets. Click To Tweet

Other common challenges include:

  • Developing consistency with measurement (47%)
  • Accessing subject matter experts to create content (41%)
  • Achieving consistency with messaging (36%)
  • Differentiating our products/services from the competition’s (32%)
  • Continuing to make a business case for content marketing (27%)

Manufacturing organizations' current content marketing challenges.

Click to enlarge

What are some solutions for the most frequently cited challenges experienced by manufacturing marketers? And what can you do to capitalize on video and storytelling – two areas of opportunity in 2023? We reached out to several manufacturing marketing professionals for their expertise. Read on.

1. Buyer’s journey

To create content for different stages of the buyer’s journey (and address the silos of sales and marketing marketers), ask sales to connect you with customers for interviews, says Morgan Norris, senior brand strategist at TREW Marketing.

Ask sales to connect you with customers for interviews, says @morgannorris via @LisaBeets @CMIContent. #ManufacturingResearch Click To Tweet

“Marketing can set up five to seven 20-minute interviews and ask questions like ‘What challenges were you facing before you started working with us? What did you do to solve your problems first? What made you choose us? Were there any unexpected benefits in working with our team?’”

Morgan explains that gathering these customer insights does three things:

  • You can hear customers’ pain points in their words for each step in their journey. You can use that language in your brand’s content.
  • When sales see their customers’ voices fueling content development, they’re more likely to trust the output from marketing.
  • You can gain insight into the customer journey. Ask questions about initial pain points as well as final decision factors and what it’s like to work with your company.

“From here, marketers can pick a theme (for example, an industry topic or technology trend) and then create specific pieces of content, each targeting a single point in the buyer’s journey, link those content pieces together, and build leadership around the topic,” Morgan says.

While working to understand the buyer’s journey, Eddie Saunders Jr., demand generation manager at Flex Machine Tools, reminds his peers to focus on empathy.

“Sympathy is recognizing someone else’s position and maintaining your own,” Eddie says. “But empathy is truly understanding their position and adjusting accordingly. This doesn’t mean inserting yourself into the buyer’s journey, but this mindset does require that you connect and inquire with your customers. No one can provide more perspective on what content drove a desired outcome more than those who have experienced your funnel all the way through to the transactional exchange.”

2. Aligning sales and marketing

With so much of the buying journey taking place online without the help of a salesperson, manufacturing marketers should create a “digital twin” content representation of their sales team, says Greg Mischio, founder of Winbound.

“For that to happen, sales and marketing must be aligned; otherwise, you’ll generate nothing but poor leads and negative returns on your marketing investment,” Greg adds.

Sales and marketing must be aligned or you’ll generate nothing but poor leads, says @gregmischio via @LisaBeets @CMIContent. #ManufacturingResearch Click To Tweet

“Alignment starts, first and foremost, with a shared strategy. [It’s] not a sales strategy, not a marketing strategy, but a sales and marketing strategy developed in collaboration with management and agreed to by all parties. The strategy incorporates a shared definition of a lead, shared quantitative goals, and agreed-upon tasks that speak to each department’s strengths. From there, ongoing communication and goal reviews are essential.”

Greg notes progress in this thinking is happening. In the CMI research, 44% of manufacturing marketers used content marketing to generate sales/revenue in the last 12 months – that’s one-third more than they did in the previous year.

44% of #manufacturing marketers used #ContentMarketing to generate sales in the last 12 months – that’s a third more than the previous year according to @CMIContent #research via @LisaBeets. Click To Tweet

“This is a sign that smart companies understand that the days of finger-pointing and operating in silos are over. It’s align or decline – there really is no middle ground,” Greg says.

Other goals achieved by manufacturing marketers using content marketing in the last 12 months include:

  • Create brand awareness (85%)
  • Build/grow credibility/trust (67%)
  • Educate audience(s) (66%)
  • Build/grow loyalty with existing clients/customers (65%)
  • Generate demand/leads (60%)
  • Support the launch of a new product (59%)
  • Nurture subscribers/audiences/leads (50%)
  • Drive attendance to one or more in-person or virtual events (44%)
  • Build/grow a subscribed audience (38%)

Goals manufacturing marketers have achieved by using content marketing successfully in the last 12 months.Click to enlarge

3. Communicating internally among teams/silos

Breaking down departmental silos can happen by aligning marketing goals and metrics with business and sales objectives, says Lara Schneider, senior marketing manager of the motors and drives division at Toshiba.

“Manufacturing marketers have a challenging but great opportunity to create the narrative for their company on how content marketing supports customers’ needs and can also be used to improve internal operations,” Lara says.

For example, a content strategy that solves customer problems is likely to reduce customer inquiries to product management and technical support, she says. It also creates another benefit.

“Speaking the language non-marketers understand and value – and keeping the focus on improving the customers’ experience – goes a long way toward opening the door for improved internal communication and collaboration,” Lara says.

Other key findings indicate a rise in video

In addition to the three most common challenges, this year’s manufacturing research reveals a key area in which marketers continue to invest – video.

Ninety percent of manufacturing marketers used videos in the last 12 months and say that videos produced the best results for their content marketing over the last year.

In addition, 80% say their organization will invest/continue to invest in video in 2023, making it the most frequently cited area of content marketing investment (as it was in the previous year).

80% of #manufacturing marketers say their company will invest in videos for marketing in 2023 according to @CMIContent #research via @LisaBeets. Click To Tweet

Other areas of content marketing investment in 2023 include:

  • Owned-media assets (69%)
  • Social media/community building (67%)
  • Paid media (61%)
  • Events – digital, in-person, hybrid (58%)
  • Earned media (44%)
  • Getting to know audiences better (32%)
  • User experience (UX) design (20%)

Areas of manufacturing content marketing investment in 2023.

Click to enlarge

Recent CMI video and visual storytelling research shows success is enhanced by a visual strategy.

“Having a video strategy will allow you to understand how it funnels up to company goals, determine how you will measure success, and ensure the content has a consistent look, cadence, and message,” says Jennifer Watson, founder and creative director of Context Communications.

Why are manufacturing marketers so keen on video? Wendy Covey, CEO and co-founder of TREW Marketing, which produces the annual State of Marketing to Engineers report with GlobalSpec, has insight. “Manufacturing marketers are often tasked with communicating complex information that doesn’t always translate well in written form,” she says.

“Enter video — it’s an ideal platform to tell a complex story in an interesting, engaging manner. Marketers can showcase products in motion, explain complex how-to topics, and demonstrate large systems in context … something that is not possible on a sales visit or a trade show floor,” Wendy says.

“Video also helps personify your brand by having real employees (such as your smart engineers) share their knowledge and experience directly, which builds trust and credibility with skeptical technical buyers.”

The 2022 State of Marketing to Engineers report (registration required) found 96% of engineers and technical buyers consume videos for work-related purposes weekly, and the time spent watching videos climbs each year. Technical buyers 35 and younger spend the most time watching videos compared to their older counterparts.

Wendy cautions manufacturing marketers to incorporate their video strategy as part of the overall content marketing strategy. “With this mindset, you’ll have better clarity on personas, topics, and calls to action, which you can weave into your script and storyboard,” she says.

Jennifer Watson of Context Communications says you also can maximize your video content through “upcycling.”

As she explains, “There are many ways to repurpose video content. Depending on the length, you can edit it into smaller, snackable size pieces of content to consume, curate audiograms, edit pieces together and create a longer video; the possibilities are endless. The smartest marketers know how to maximize the content they have to save time and money.”

Differentiate with quality content – and tell interesting stories

In a new area of the annual content marketing survey, we asked manufacturing marketers who excel in creating differentiated content how they do it. Here’s how they explain it:

  • Produce better quality content (83%)
  • Cover topics/stories that competitors aren’t covering (72%)
  • Actively promote the content we publish – beyond publishing/distributing it (50%)
  • Use formats competitors are not using (38%)

How manufacturing markers differentiate their content from the competition.

Click to enlarge

Creating better quality content – and covering topics your competitors aren’t – often happens through storytelling. Manufacturing is an ideal industry to do that with stories about how things are made, the people who work in the companies, case studies, etc.

“Storytelling creates context,” says Joe Sullivan, founder of Gorilla 76. “If you deeply understand what matters most to (your audience), then storytelling can be your vehicle for connecting problems and desired outcomes to a tangible solution.”

He offers an example of a manufacturing brand that wants to reach plant managers who it knows are the most important influencers in the buying process. “Paint a picture of a real-life success story from another plant manager just like them,” Joe says.

“Illustrate the transformation inside of that company’s operations from the time you arrived to the time you finished. What impact did that transformation have on their organization? But also, how did it impact that plant manager in his or her career journey? Storytelling not only provides context, but it humanizes the experience of working with you while putting your customer/prospect at the center of the story.”

Gain perspective and buy-in

To learn more about how manufacturing marketers are approaching content marketing, read the newly released Manufacturing Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2023. It’s full of insights to help you – and your leadership – better know what’s happening around content marketing strategy, content creation and distribution, content management and operations, metrics and goals, and challenges.

Want to dive deeper into the latest content marketing trends in manufacturing? Register for our free Content Marketing Master Class: Manufacturing Edition on November 30, 2022.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute



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Take back your ROI by owning your data

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Treasure Data 800x450

Treasure Data 800x450

Other brands can copy your style, tone and strategy — but they can’t copy your data.

Your data is your competitive advantage in an environment where enterprises are working to grab market share by designing can’t-miss, always-on customer experiences. Your marketing tech stack enables those experiences. 

Join ActionIQ and Snowplow to learn the value of composing your stack – decoupling the data collection and activation layers to drive more intelligent targeting.

Register and attend “Maximizing Marketing ROI With a Composable Stack: Separating Reality from Fallacy,” presented by Snowplow and ActionIQ.


Click here to view more MarTech webinars.


About the author

Cynthia RamsaranCynthia Ramsaran

Cynthia Ramsaran is director of custom content at Third Door Media, publishers of Search Engine Land and MarTech. A multi-channel storyteller with over two decades of editorial/content marketing experience, Cynthia’s expertise spans the marketing, technology, finance, manufacturing and gaming industries. She was a writer/producer for CNBC.com and produced thought leadership for KPMG. Cynthia hails from Queens, NY and earned her Bachelor’s and MBA from St. John’s University.

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Revolutionizing Auto Retail: The Game-Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai

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Revolutionizing Auto Retail: The Game-Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai

Revolutionizing Auto Retail The Game Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai

In a groundbreaking alliance, Amazon and Hyundai have joined forces to reshape the automotive landscape, promising a revolutionary shift in how we buy, drive, and experience cars.

Imagine browsing for your dream car on Amazon, with the option to seamlessly purchase, pick up, or have it delivered—all within the familiar confines of the world’s largest online marketplace. Buckle up as we explore the potential impact of this monumental partnership and the transformation it heralds for the future of auto retail.

Driving Change Through Amazon’s Auto Revolution

Consider “Josh”, a tech-savvy professional with an affinity for efficiency. Faced with the tedious process of purchasing a new car, he stumbled upon Amazon’s automotive section. Intrigued by the prospect of a one-stop shopping experience, Josh decided to explore the Amazon-Hyundai collaboration.

The result?

A hassle-free online car purchase, personalized to his preferences, and delivered to his doorstep. Josh’s story is just a glimpse into the real-world impact of this game-changing partnership.

Bridging the Gap Between Convenience and Complexity

Traditional car buying is often marred by complexities, from navigating dealership lots to negotiating prices. The disconnect between the convenience consumers seek and the cumbersome process they endure has long been a pain point in the automotive industry. The need for a streamlined, customer-centric solution has never been more pressing.

1701235578 44 Revolutionizing Auto Retail The Game Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai1701235578 44 Revolutionizing Auto Retail The Game Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai

Ecommerce Partnership Reshaping Auto Retail Dynamics

Enter Amazon and Hyundai’s new strategic partnership coming in 2024—an innovative solution poised to redefine the car-buying experience. The trio of key developments—Amazon becoming a virtual showroom, Hyundai embracing AWS for a digital makeover, and the integration of Alexa into next-gen vehicles—addresses the pain points with a holistic approach.

In 2024, auto dealers for the first time will be able to sell vehicles in Amazon’s U.S. store, and Hyundai will be the first brand available for customers to purchase.

Amazon and Hyundai launch a broad, strategic partnership—including vehicle sales on Amazon.com in 2024 – Amazon Staff

This collaboration promises not just a transaction but a transformation in the way customers interact with, purchase, and engage with their vehicles.

Pedal to the Metal

Seamless Online Purchase:

  • Complete the entire transaction within the trusted Amazon platform.
  • Utilize familiar payment and financing options.
  • Opt for convenient pick-up or doorstep delivery.
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Hyundai’s Cloud-First Transformation:

  • Experience a data-driven organization powered by AWS.
  • Benefit from enhanced production optimization, cost reduction, and improved security.

Alexa Integration in Next-Gen Vehicles:

  • Enjoy a hands-free, voice-controlled experience in Hyundai vehicles.
  • Access music, podcasts, reminders, and smart home controls effortlessly.
  • Stay connected with up-to-date traffic and weather information.

Driving into the Future

The Amazon-Hyundai collaboration is not just a partnership; it’s a revolution in motion. As we witness the fusion of e-commerce giant Amazon with automotive prowess of Hyundai, the potential impact on customer behavior is staggering.

The age-old challenges of car buying are met with a forward-thinking, customer-centric solution, paving the way for a new era in auto retail. From the comfort of your home to the driver’s seat, this partnership is set to redefine every step of the journey, promising a future where buying a car is as easy as ordering a package online.

Embrace the change, and witness the evolution of auto retail unfold before your eyes.


Revolutionizing Auto Retail The Game Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai

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How to Schedule Ad Customizers for Google RSAs [2024]

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How to Schedule Ad Customizers for Google RSAs [2024]

It’s no wonder that responsive search ads have steadily grown in popularity in recent years. Through Google’s machine learning capabilities, RSAs provide a powerful way to automate the testing of multiple headlines and descriptions to ensure a closer match to user intent. The benefits are clear: RSAs mean broader reach, better engagement, and improved performance metrics.

However, all these benefits come at a significant (but reasonable) cost – they can be extremely difficult to manage, especially when it comes to updating ad copy to promote limited time offers.

I know this firsthand – I work with several ecommerce clients with promotions that constantly change. Not too long ago, I found myself going through the consistently tedious process of updating a client’s RSA headlines and copy. As I was making the changes, I thought to myself: “There must be a better way to update this ad copy. I shouldn’t have to use find and replace so many times while pausing and enabling my ad campaigns.”

After expressing this to my colleague, Jordan Stambaugh, the two of us agreed there must be a better way. But we’d have to make it happen. A few weeks later, we put that idea into action and created a more efficient process for updating RSA ad copy on a scheduled basis. If you want to try this process for yourself, just keep reading.

Responsive Search Ad Customizers 101: Basic Options & Execution

Before diving into the process of scheduling automatic updates for your RSA customizers, it’s essential to understand some key Responsive Search Ad fundamentals.

First, you can customize three main options within RSAs: the Attribute Name, the Data Type, and the Account Value. Each of these plays a vital role in personalizing your ads:

  • Attribute Name: This is essentially the identifier for the customizer. It is how you’ll reference the specific piece of information you’re customizing within the ad. For instance, if you’re running a promotion, you might name an attribute “Promotion.”
  • Data Type: This indicates the kind of data the attribute represents and it determines how the information can be formatted and used within the ad. Common data types include Text (for plain, non-numeric text), Percent (to represent percentage discounts), Price (to denote monetary values), and Number (for any numerical value).
  • Account Value: This is the default value for the attribute that you set at the account level. It acts as a fallback if more specific values aren’t provided at the campaign or ad group level.

For example, if you wanted to promote a 10% off discount using RSAs, you’d use the “Discount” attribute, a data type of “Percent,” and an account value of “10% off.” Then, when someone is searching for products, Google would test automatically inserting a copy regarding a 10% off promotion into your ad.

Once you’ve set up the right customization options, you can start to format your RSAs with customizers.

Here’s how:

  • Start by typing in {
  • Click on Ad Customizer then select your attribute
  • Google will populate your attributes that are already uploaded
  • For a simple offer, use the “Default text” attribute as a catch-all. This will ensure your ads run smoothly if Google can’t pull the right messaging from your RSA feed

 

 

How to Schedule Your Ad Customizers with a Feed

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s cover how to schedule your ad customizers.

Just follow this three step process:

1. Create the feed

Start by creating two sheets: The Parent sheet, and the Child sheet. The “Parent” sheet will act as the primary data source, while the child sheet will pull data from the parent sheet.

We’ll start by building the parent sheet. After opening the sheet, start by renaming the active tab to “Promotions.” Don’t skip this step, it’s crucial for referencing this range in formulas later on.

In your “Promotions” tab, head to the top row and label columns A, B, and C with the headers of your ad customizer attributes. For example, you might have “BrandSaleHeadline” as your attribute in column A, “text” as the Data Type in column B, and “Shop the Collection” as the Account Value in column C.

Once your headers are in place, move to cell C2. Here, you’ll input the expression =lookup(today(),F:G,E:E). This formula will play a key role in dynamically updating your RSA customizer based on the current date.

Next, go to columns E, F, and G, which will be used to manage your scheduling. In these columns, you’ll list out the different values your chosen attribute might take, alongside their corresponding start and end dates. For example, under the “BrandSaleHeadline” attribute, you might schedule various promotional headlines to appear during different sale periods throughout the year.

Here’s how your sheet might look:

Now look back at the first 3 columns on your sheet. They should look like this:

Now create a second sheet. We’ll call this sheet the Child sheet. It’s going to automatically pull in data from the parent sheet you just created, and will be the one you link to Google Ads later on.

Columns A, B and C will be almost identical to the child sheet, but we will be using a special formula later so we can automatically populate this. So, start by labeling Row 1 Column A “Attribute,” then the next column as “Data type,” then column C as “Account value.” 

Then go to C2 and use this expression to populate the right account value from the parent document: =importrange(“[PARENT DOCUMENT URL HERE]”,”Promotions!C2″)

Your sheet should now look like this:

We recommend adding a date range with default text for any days you’re  not running a promotion. In the example above, we have “Shop Our Collection” appearing as default text.

2. Input attributes

Once you have your feed created, the next step involves inputting your attributes into the Google Ads platform. This can be done either manually or through a bulk upload.

For the manual approach, navigate to “Tools & Settings” in your Google Ads interface, then go to ‘Setup’ followed by “Business Data.” Here, you’ll find an option for “Ad Customizer Attributes.” Click the plus sign to add your attributes. It’s crucial to use the same attribute names that you’ve established in your Parent Google Sheet template to ensure consistency and proper data synchronization.

 

 

Alternatively, if you prefer the bulk upload method, again head to “Tools & Settings.” This time, select “Bulk Actions” and then “Uploads.” For this process, you only need to upload columns A to C from your template. 

Be aware that it might take some time for your uploaded attributes to be reflected in the business data section of Google Ads.

3. Set up an automatic schedule

At this point, you’ve almost finished scheduling your ad customizers. Navigate to Tools & Settings, then Bulk Actions, then Uploads, then click the Schedules tab at the top. Select your Child Google Sheet as the data source, and share your Google Sheet with the appropriate email.

 

 

And there you have it – Google will automatically pull in the data you populated in the sheets into your RSAs.

Common Challenges When Scheduling RSA Ad Customizers

When we test these sheets with our clients in the wild, we’ve uncovered five common challenges. Be on the lookout for these issues – solving them before they happen can save you a lot of trouble down the line.

Not scheduling your upload when the site changes 

The first and most significant hurdle is the mismatch between the scheduled data upload and website content updates. For instance, if the Google Sheet is set to upload at 11 am, but the website changes occur at 3 pm, there’s going to be a discrepancy where the wrong message could be displayed for several hours, or new messaging could appear prematurely. Conversely, if the website updates happen before the scheduled sheet upload, outdated promotions might linger until the new data is imported. Synchronizing these schedules is crucial; it’s best to align them so updates occur simultaneously.

Skipping QA during a message change

Another pitfall is neglecting quality assurance (QA) during message updates. It’s vital to regularly check the business data section to verify that the correct values are in place post-update.

Issues with the IMPORTRANGE function

Then there’s the technical aspect of setting up the IMPORTRANGE function correctly in the Google Sheets template. The ‘child’ template must reliably pull data from the ‘parent’ sheet. If this function isn’t configured correctly, data won’t be imported as needed.

Not sharing access of the Google template for automatic uploads

Pay attention to your access permissions for the Google Sheets template. Google will prompt you with the email address that needs permission to access the ‘child’ sheet for automatic uploads. Overlooking the sharing of your sheet with this address will prevent the system from working.

Having date range gaps in your parent sheet

Lastly, a common oversight is leaving date range gaps in the ‘parent’ sheet. Every single date must be accounted for without overlaps. A practical tip is to have an ‘evergreen’ backup message ready, scheduled to run continuously, ideally through the end of the year, to cover any potential gaps.

Conclusion

Leveraging Google Sheets in conjunction with Google Ads to schedule RSA ad customizers is a game-changer for managing dynamic promotional content. This process not only streamlines your workflows but also ensures that your ads remain relevant and up-to-date, reflecting current promotions without the need for constant manual intervention. 

By adopting this method, you’ll save significant time and effort, allowing you to focus more on strategy and less on the minutiae of ad copy updates. Give it a try and experience a more efficient way to manage your RSAs, keeping your campaigns fresh and engaging with minimal hassle.

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