I write a blog about geophysics in which I talk about how to effectively organize geophysical research. From time to time I receive requests for consultations. This was the case the time I received an unremarkable message. I was asked if I could do a project for magnetic and gravity exploration work. We phoned, and I found out that the project was needed specifically for airborne geophysical work. Here my knowledge was no longer enough, and I organized another meeting with fellow aerogeophysicists. It turned out that the authors of the project will perform geophysical work, and the contract amount can reach 2 million dollars.
Inspiring story, isn’t it? It turns out that you can run at least 10 commercial blogs, receive applications and close large contracts! But here I will disappoint you: social networks of companies will not even come close to repeating this result. Commercial blogs are not able to attract customers and retain their attention, much less generate applications, because social networks of companies boring and of no interest to anyone.
Can this be fixed? Can! Next we will talk about how to do this.
How do sales work in the mining industry and what does content have to do with it?
Our mining industry is quite conservative, and I agree with marketing and advertising expert Alexey Konorev that sales in industrial sectors are based on three pillars ー content, event And banquet. People meet and discuss future contracts at industry conferences and exhibitions, this is no secret to anyone.
But what kind of strange beast is this content and why is it one of the biggest sellers? Is it social networks? Yes and no. Any of your presence in the information field: text on a website, social networks, advertising brochure, article in a magazine or speech at a conference – this is content. His job is to get people to know about you. Let’s return to that customer of the project for airborne geophysical work. He was from Tajikistan and did not at all know the company where my fellow aerogeophysicists worked. Although there are not so many airborne geophysical organizations on the market, one can continue to exclaim the painfully familiar thing that everyone knows us. But the fact remains: a client from Tajikistan and a company from Russia first met through content, namely through my blog.
When potential clients learn about you and regularly interact with your content, they will soon begin to trust you. This trust is converted into sales. But content ー this is not direct sales. This does not mean that we published an article and clients will immediately come to us and sign contracts. Working with content is a marathon. You must constantly talk about yourself – maintain social networks and a corporate blog, publish in industry media or speak at events. Only then will you get the desired result: increased sales or recognition as an opinion leader. The first results can be seen after six months, a year or even more. But not before.
Now, you probably have questions about which social networks to use – VK or Telegram? What is better to publish – video or text? In fact, formats and platforms are not important until you decide on the purpose of the content. Why do you need to write articles and run social networks? What result do you want?
We will consider further what content strategies can be, their pros and cons.
Regularly talk about yourself on the website, social networks and the media
The first strategy is a familiar and understandable PR strategy that most companies adhere to. The content is dedicated to the company itself, its successes and news, visits to exhibitions and conferences. This is cool, you should definitely do it, but you should take into account its disadvantage. It won’t bring in new clients because few people will subscribe to the blog to follow the company’s attendance at events and winning awards. People are interested in themselves, they care only about their own problems.
In sales, a PR strategy can help in the following case. For example, your potential client learned about you at an exhibition and is thinking about cooperation. Of course, he will look for information about you on the Internet: what you do, whether you can be trusted. Therefore, PR packaging is important. You must have:
- A site that is easy to find via Google and Yandex;
- Social networks with a clear theme and audience that are regularly maintained;
- Publications in the media several times a year.
Regularity is the key word. Information about you and your company should be current, not five years old or worse, only found in a business directory. But if you still want to attract a new audience on social networks, then you need to talk about the problems of your clients and how your product or service solves them.
Speak to the client in his language, explain your product and show cases
Your content helps solve a customer problem. This is how useful content covers his pain and sells the product or service.
Customer journey:
- The client realized a problem that needed to be solved right now. “We should choose a geophysical work contractor for next year” – this is not a problem. “All the contractors announced in the tender refused to carry out the work, and the start of the season is in a month and we urgently need to find a contractor” – this is the problem.
- The client is looking for a solution. He enters keywords into the search engine: geophysics, gold, Yakutia.
- He sees the title of the article “How we carried out geophysical work for gold in Yakutia.”
- Recognizes himself and his problem – clicks on the link.
- Finds out how to solve the problem, writes to the author of the geophysical company article.
Useful materials can be cases, instructions and checklists with headings using HOW and SEO keys embedded in the text. A corporate blog on a company website is ideal for posting such content.
Publish SEO articles on your corporate blog
Products and services in the mining industry are complex and need to be explained to customers. What is it, how does it work, what results will it give, what are the limitations? It will be great if the client finds answers in articles on the company’s website. So, for a survey company I prepared articles about engineering geophysics, because this company wanted to highlight this area of work and receive more orders for it. I wrote articles:
- What geophysical methods are there and what problems do they solve;
- When the use of geophysical methods is futile;
- Why is it important to perform seismic microzoning?
Showed cases:
- How geophysics replaced drilling in highway exploration;
- How geophysics discovered a karst failure.
In addition to the corporate blog, maintain social networks, but there are a couple of nuances.
Don’t overdo it with useful content on social networks
They usually look for answers to questions in Yandex, Google and Youtube, and on social networks they want to have fun and relax, but definitely not learn and benefit. You can have fun in different ways:
- make you laugh and evoke positive emotions;
- expand your horizons and surprise;
- give the feeling that everything is fine with me and I’m doing everything right;
- make you worry and worry. This is usually done by news channels.
This does not mean that on social networks we only entertain with memes and interesting facts; useful content can and should be published there too. It is well sent and stored, but there will not be many reactions. On the blog “Masha and Geophysics” I publish useful posts where I share cases and tips on how to choose a contractor and not get scammed. But I also add entertaining posts – field stories to remind readers of the smell of elfin wood and the smoke of a fire and to evoke pleasant nostalgic feelings.
But the strategyWe solve customer problems” will not help us reach those who do not yet have a problem or have not yet formed one. Due to the specific topic, we will not be able to get large coverage and reach people who can be useful in the future. What should you do to get more people to read and watch you? Become media and create a community with common interests and goals.
Go beyond your product and company
Create brand media. It is a stand-alone publication, unrelated to the company’s product or services, that promises some emotional benefit to the reader. Brand media:
- creates loyalty;
- maintains a long-term connection with the brand;
- forms a picture of the world in readers.
Here you are not selling a product, but ideas. Brand media does not sell now, but creates a loyal base (fans) who will only buy from you. Here’s how brand media attracts customers:
- The client wants to distract himself, read something interesting and have fun;
- The client wants to make sure that he is doing everything right, to be surprised, admired or indignant;
- The need is satisfied by the content found;
- The client wants more;
- Subscribes to brand media;
- Reads articles and watches videos again.
I created the media “GeoConversation. Salt of the Earth” for specialists who work in the mining industry. In the media, I publish interesting and useful articles that help us better understand each other’s work and work together for a common goal. A geologist knows how a geophysicist works and understands how to set a task for him and accept the results of his work. I also publish articles on how to pass an interview or not give up learning English.
I created my media from scratch and for the first time. If you are also planning to found a media outlet, but don’t know how, you can watch the process in the material “How to create media from scratch if you've never done it before».
GeoConversation Media Values: friendship, partnership, desire to help and pass on experience, thirst for knowledge and keen interest, honesty. As the editor-in-chief of the publication, I follow these principles in my content. Common values will become the foundation for people who share them with me.
Media will be successful if it has the following components – a keen interest in the media topic, a team and reader involvement.
The top two mistakes that will leave you frustrated with your content
So you just need to choose one content strategy and stick to it? It doesn’t seem complicated. But after working with companies on content creation, I’ve identified two major mistakes that can make you frustrated with content marketing.
No budget for content
The first mistake is not allocating a budget for content creation and promotion. One of the main misconceptions of managers is to think that running social networks and publishing articles is very cheap. The minimum you can start with is 100 thousand rubles per month. With this amount you can run one social network and publish 1-2 blog articles.
The budget for our own media is already about 10–15 million rubles a year. Content is expensive. I understand how difficult it is to decide to invest large sums in its production, and get the first results only after six months or a year. But here you can’t publish an article or social media story for a month and then abandon it because the money has run out. Only regular publishing of content over time will give results.
No self-editing
The second mistake is the lack of independent editing. For example, you decide to start a corporate blog and entrust this task to a marketer. But a marketer does not have the skills to work with text: write articles or manage social networks. Or you set the task of making the company an opinion leader for the PR department. But PR specialists will not fulfill it: they will create the same content as before: how the company went to Minex or released new products. Such social networks will be boring and dull, no one will subscribe to them.
You need self-editing. Those people who have skills in working with content. You can build it within your company by hiring an editor, writers, and a designer. Or contact a content agency, outsourcing the editorial processes.
The evolution of advertising
Once upon a time, it was enough to declare ourselves and say that we have the best product. Now, in the information noise, the advertising banner will go unnoticed. Inflation and “how-to” content occurs when we simply give the reader dry instructions without telling them how to apply these tips in life.
To make articles interesting, you need to not just give instructions, but also explain how it works and why you need to do it that way. Instead of a ready-made solution, the reader receives a narrative that itself leads to the necessary conclusions and awakens curiosity, admiration or joy.
Conventionally, the checklist “What equipment is needed to carry out gravity survey research” will go much worse than the personal experience of the author who shared the story, how he performed field gravity survey work in the Yukon.
Create a community, because only communities create high involvement in content. Various ways help people unite: a club, discussions, discussions in the comments – everything that will give you the opportunity to feel part of the community and become fans of your business.
