Manufacturing Day 2016

Manufacturing plays a pivotal role in the health and vitality of our local, regional and national economies. To emphasize its importance, every fall, we take time to highlight the nationwide event known as Manufacturing Day, which is slated for Friday, October 7 this year.

Large or small, if you’re a manufacturer you should find a way to participate:

• Hold an open house.
• Conduct tours of your facility.
• Demonstrate how you manufacture products.
• Design activities that offer hands-on experiences.
• Offer to speak to middle and high school classes.

If you’re an educator, do the same:

• Invite local manufacturers to speak to your class.
• Arrange a plant tour.
• Develop modules that incorporate manufacturing examples.
• Collaborate with other teachers to create multidisciplinary manufacturing activities that make STEM topics meaningful and relevant.

In states like Ohio, New York and Wisconsin, manufacturing is so important, October is designated as Manufacturing Month, which gives you plenty of latitude to make plans and schedule events in the coming weeks.

Through the years, we've explored a range of STEM, manufacturing and reshoring topics, so you might enjoy:

STEM in Action
Does Reshoring Matter?
Manufacturing | Will We Choose to Make it in America?

3 Tips for Crafting Content to Boost Your Business

Demand for original high quality content continues to grow, due to our insatiable appetite for fresh, relevant information. Because not all content is created equal, the internet is awash with material that’s inadequate at best, and inaccurate and incomprehensible at worst.

This makes it fairly easy to stand out from the crowd.

To craft content that boosts traffic, builds your brand and solidifies your reputation, implement these practical tips:

1. Target your audience. Whether you’re generating content yourself or working with a team, take time to pinpoint your target audience. Are you addressing:

• Long-term customers with experience and expert knowledge?
• Prospects from diverse backgrounds?
• Newcomers who are just learning the ropes?
• Casual readers who have little or no context for the information you’re sharing?
• Passionate followers who are informed and engaged?

2. Produce content your readers are seeking. Based on search trends, the most consistently popular categories:

• Inform. Explain products or services and describe why they’re important, useful, irresistible or valuable.
• Instruct. Demonstrate how to do something using step-by-step tutorials, process models or videos.
• Influence. Provide context that shapes opinions or helps readers make better decisions.
• Improve. Highlight products, services and processes that help readers work smarter, live better or both.
• Inspire. Deliver content that motivates, encourages, supports and stimulates.
• Impel. Provide information that prompts action such as buying products and services or making work/life changes.

3. Follow a few basic rules. At minimum, make sure every article, news blurb, blog post, product release or marketing piece has a clearly identified audience (customer, prospect, casual reader, etc.) and a defined purpose (inform, instruct, etc.). Then follow these rules:

• Keep things simple.
• Be clear, concise and compelling.
• Write in a direct and active voice.
• Avoid insider jargon.
• Revise, refine and rewrite.
• Proof, polish and perfect.

If quality content isn’t part of your marketing strategy and budget, you’re missing a critical opportunity to grow your business. Luckily, it’s an easy problem to solve. 

You can take the time to develop content on your own or work with a reliable provider like Crossbridge. Either way it's a sound investment, because you’ll have a steady flow of fresh material that attracts traffic, builds customer confidence and boosts your bottom line.