B2B manufacturers that had been slow to adopt content marketing tactics have finally climbed onboard, according to a new report from the Content Marketing Institute.
“Many manufacturing executives are now buying into content marketing and are beginning to empower their teams to do the work necessary to lay the foundation for future content marketing success,” Joe Pullizzi, CMI founder, wrote in a blog post.
Almost 60% of the 201 manufacturing marketers who responded to an email survey conducted last July and August indicated that they were celebrating greater success with their content marketing programs. Researchers sent the survey to manufacturing marketers in the CMI database, as well as on lists owned by MarketingProfs, the Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising and WTWH Media.
Manufacturers increasingly are documenting their strategies and have plans to create more content, the report shows. Their adoption of content marketing still lags that of the broader B2B ecosystem, but leadership in the vertical now supports content marketing initiatives with the same gusto as their broader network of B2B peers.
Only 19% of manufacturing marketers reported that their content marketing programs had matured, for example, compared to 28% of all B2B marketers. But more than three-quarters of these same manufacturing respondents say leadership gives them the time they need to devote to content marketing, putting them on even footing with other B2B marketers who completed the survey.
Email and social media channels topped the list of content marketing vehicles, with 78% of respondents reporting that they used these channels. Video and events rang in at about 70%.
One interesting tidbit: Some 57% of manufacturing respondents reported that print magazines made up part of their content marketing mix, a slightly higher percentage than either blogs or white papers.
We’re looking at you Lincoln Electric.
