2014: The Year In Industrial Marketing

From ice buckets to selfies, there was no shortage of big events, trends, and news to define marketing in 2014. As digital media continues to expand the opportunities for the industrial b-to-b space, the line between marketing in general, and the specifics of our industry, is becoming increasingly blurred – and there’s more and more overlap in what’s effective. So today, I’ll take a look back at some of the biggest stories and developments in marketing in the last year, and what they mean to you.

The Content Marketing secret got out.

If you’re a longtime reader of the Industrial Marketer, you know that we’re big believers in the benefits of content marketing – acting as a reliable source of information and value to build your brand and develop relationships with customers and leads. This year, everyone else finally got the memo. With agencies and corporations alike creating positions like Chief Content Officer, there’s now a flood of branded content out there for your consumption — which leads to my next point.

It’s not enough just to create content.

In order to differentiate yourself, your content needs to be of high quality – unique, specific to the needs of your target audience, and a source of value that they can’t find elsewhere. The rise of content marketing – and its adoption as a “buzzword” in 2014 – means that not everyone’s been doing it right. Don’t fall into that trap.

Audiences care about causes.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (among others) was one of the biggest viral hits of the summer. As with any big trend, there was inevitable backlash and questioning along the way, but one thing was clear — people were willing to take action, and share content, in the interest of a worthy cause.  Advocating for what’s important to you — whether professionally, like STEM education or engineering scholarships, or personally, as for a health issue that hits close to home — can help bring you closer to the audience you want to reach.

It’s not just about the desktop.

From smartphones to smart TVs, audiences are rarely consuming content on just one device — and increasingly, that device won’t be the trusty desktop in the office. Your customers and prospects may be reading emails from you on their iPhone and checking your website on a tablet on the shop floor. It’s important to tailor your content so that it’s effective across all devices — that means visual elements like responsive design, as well as best practices like optimal email subject line length and concise, digestible information everywhere from your website capabilities to your blog.

The audience drives the conversation.

Marketing has always been about identifying and meeting the needs of your customers and prospects — the difference is that now, the conversation happens on their terms. In order to effectively reach your audience, you need to know exactly what their pain points and concerns are, what kind of information they’re looking for, and where and when they look for it. Home Depot’s website is a great example. Rather than pitching themselves as simply a source for the tools people need to do a job, they also act as a guide for how to do those jobs — and a source of creative inspiration for other projects to try. They’re concerned about what their customers want, not just what they need.

More trends will come and go in the next year, but that audience focus isn’t going anywhere. Stay tuned in upcoming weeks as I continue my year-end wrap-up with a look ahead to 2015. In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about using content to reach prospects on their terms, contact our team today.