Are you scratching your head when it comes to content marketing? Not sure how to create content that will engage customers in your "boring" industry? Many companies in so-called "boring" industries think that they don't have any interesting information to create content with. For example, if you’re in manufacturing, you may feel devoid of effective marketing ideas. However, if that’s what you’re thinking, you’re dead wrong. Your prospects and customers are in the process of buying in your industry, and they need information to understand when and where to use your products, which products are a better fit than others and how they can save money by purchasing from you. While you might not be manufacturing glittering jewelry or high-fashion clothing, there is a long list of potential content topics that your customers will value.

1. Useful is Not Boring

If you’re providing your customers with useful content, then it’s not boring. Here’s an example:

If you manufacture lawn irrigation equipment, you can go beyond product descriptions and give comparison/contrast reviews to help your customers decide which product will save them the most money on water. You can even offer statistics for the region on how much watering is appropriate and what time of day is the best to water their lawn. You can also offer weather alerts for rainy or hot days to help them with their irrigation protocol.

If you think about the type of information that will be helpful to your customers, boring is no longer a factor.

2. Forget the Jargon

Industry folks tend to speak in jargon — they use a lot of terms that make no sense to outsiders. When you’re ready to create content for customers, pretend that they are right in front of you and you’re speaking plainly to them. Use language your typical customer base will understand so that complex ideas are easy to comprehend for leads.

3. Use Specific Examples

It is much easier to explain something if you can paint a picture with your words. For instance, manufacturing professionals should develop marketing ideas that will appeal to their ideal customers. You can use real life examples from current customers, or you can make up specific examples to illustrate your points.

4. Add Some Humor

Not every topic lends itself to humor, but if you can, add it in. What are common industry issues you can spin as comical? If humor isn't appropriate, you can tell a story that your customers can relate to that is lighthearted.

5. Less is More

People are busy. Therefore, they tend to scan material unless they deem it to be very important to them. Make the message clear so readers know they’re about to digest something valuable. Also, make sure your content is the appropriate length — think 600 words or so for blog posts. You can always offer a longer version as a white paper or eBook. At the end of each short piece, you can add a call-to-action to download more detailed information.

6. Stimulate the Senses

Everyone has different learning methods, and if you offer content that appeals to more than one sense you will have better results. You can offer the same content in writing, image, video and audio online. These varying methods allow you to help people get a full picture of your topic.

Boring Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Engage Customers

If you’re giving your customers content they want to read, the type of industry you’re in doesn’t even matter. It’s up to you to find out what your customers are interested in learning. So, understand them, give them helpful tips and advice and speak to them directly. Coming up with great tactics, such as manufacturing marketing ideas, can be difficult at first, but with the right SEO strategy and industry-related topics, you can tap into a customer base you’ve never been able to reach.