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How Sharp PCB Manufacturers Use Blogging
May 5, 2014 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The problems most PCB manufacturers tell me they have all revolve around the following themes:
- “The purchasing people see us as all the same.”
- “We're just a commodity.”
- “It’s all about price.”
The single best way to get around these objections is through blogging. A blog represents an opportunity for a company to differentiate itself, increase visibility, and establish credibility.
As Pascal Delloue, senior director of Sales and Marketing at PICA Manufacturing Solutions, put it: "We thought that with a blog we could deliver the message of PICA as a technology expert. With the blog we can demonstrate our expertise."
Less than 10% of PCB manufacturers blog. In my annual social media survey I conducted in December 2013 the actual number was nine companies out of 102. Why is this the case?
It takes work, that’s why. Many companies find the idea of regularly coming up with something to write about just too daunting. I talked to Keith Araujo and Corbett Smith, marketing manager and marketing coordinator, respectively, at Epec Engineered Technologies, a manufacturer successfully blogging, and asked them how they do it.
“We have quite a few contributors aside from ourselves: Product managers, engineers, our quality manager, and our CEO,” said Smith.
Bingo. Spread the work around. If four or six people are contributing, no one person is feeling the weight of coming up with ideas and meeting deadlines. But sometimes getting people to volunteer isn’t that easy. I asked Delloue how he gets multiple people to pitch in and help with PICA’s blog.
"It's not easy! We had to show them that doing this was good for promoting themselves beyond PICA. If someone meets you, the inclination these days is they will go back to their office and Google you. If you've written some blog posts they will see them and know more about you," said Delloue.
The other excuse I hear is that PCB manufacturers can’t come up with different things to write about every week or every two weeks. That’s a cop-out. Prospective customers have a lot of problems and a manufacturer will have years of experience solving those problems. I asked one company CEO what mistakes his engineers see PCB designers make. He rattled a dozen off the top of his head. He had dozens of interesting topics with valuable information he could share with prospective customers and didn’t realize it.
I will give the last word to Delloue, who I asked if PICA’s blog had met their expectations: "The blog has been very good for our visibility and demonstrating our expertise, so in that way it has worked very well. And the number of visitors we get to our website has increased significantly."
PICA Manufacturing Solutions and Epec Engineered Technologies are two examples of companies that have figured out that blogging helps to differentiate them from their competitors. And, in today’s competitive environment, differentiation isn’t just nice, it’s mandatory.
Companies that blog can even establish themselves as industry leaders. And industry leaders don’t compete on price.Bruce Johnston is a sales consultant specializing in social media and especially LinkedIn. He has over 25 years experience in high-tech sales and management. He can be reached at brucej@practicalsmm.com or through his profile on LinkedIn.