Industrial and Manufacturing Marketing Blog

Why Industrial News Releases Make Good Blog Posts

Press or news releases about industrial products have been and still are very popular. They work because the content is mainly about features that help engineers specify these industrial products.

In the past, manufacturers used them primarily in traditional print media like an industry-specific tabloid. People sent back a completed reader service or bingo card and leads were generated that way. Of course, those days are long gone. Today, you are more likely to see a URL like http://ogpe.hotims.com or http://powereng.hotims.com printed at the end of the news release.

Since industrial companies struggle with content, I think one way to overcome the problem is to take a traditional marketing tactic like a news release and turn it into a blog post for use in digital marketing.

What I’m suggesting here is not to copy word-for-word from your old product releases but to expand on them and create new blog posts. Instead of listing product features and specifications, your blog posts can add a lot more information, which will be more educational rather than a blatant sales pitch.

How do you expand news releases into blog posts?

Here are some thoughts:

  • Categorizing applications by industry
  • Explaining the concept if it is new technology
  • Discussing the challenges faced by your design engineers and their thought process in building certain features
  • Answering customer questions
  • Listening/gathering customer feedback via their comments
  • Posting customer stories about their unique applications
  • Publishing results from internal testing and pilot projects

How do you generate leads from blog posts?

Use your blog posts to generate leads by adding links back to specific product pages. These pages on your main site should include one or more of the following content:

  • Product Datasheets
  • 3D CAD Previews & Downloads
  • Interactive Product Configurators
  • Part Number Generators/Finders
  • Cross Reference Guides
  • Editable 2D Drawings
  • Available Expansions, Options and Accessories
  • Sizing Programs
  • Sales Brochures
  • Case Studies
  • Certifications
  • Installation and Maintenance Manuals
  • Whitepapers
  • Video Demonstrations
  • Contact Information for Inside Sales and Outside Reps and Dealers

You can gate (put behind a registration form) some of the content that I have listed above and the rest should be set free (no registration required). The rule of thumb that I use is to gate content that moves the reader closer to the “buy” or “specify” decision and set the rest free.

The next time you are stuck writing a blog post, look at your existing news releases. See if you can update or if necessary rewrite some of them as new blog posts. What I have outlined here is a good way for industrial companies to turn their news releases into direct digital marketing (DDM) content that will generate qualified leads that turn into sales.

Let me hear your thoughts about using news releases in today’s industrial marketing.

Achinta Mitra

Achinta Mitra calls himself a “marketing engineer” because he combines his engineering education and an MBA with 36 years of practical industrial marketing experience. You want an expert with an insider’s knowledge and an outsider’s objectivity who can point you in the right direction immediately. That's Achinta. He is the Founder of Tiecas, Inc., an industrial marketing consultancy in Houston, Texas. Read Achinta's story here.
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