Content marketing · Strategy
Content strategy for manufacturers: what to write first, and why
A content strategy for manufacturers gives every capability and buyer question a format, an owner and a date, ordered by the work you want. We build it from your paid Buyers Blueprint as one content matrix. It's the plan behind our content marketing for manufacturers.
Your Best Customer Buys It Elsewhere
What a content matrix looks like
A content matrix is one table with a row for every capability or buyer question your website should answer. These example rows come from six invented companies so you can see the range. A real matrix covers one plant.
| Capability or question | Who asks | Format | Approver on your side | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type II passivation of 316L housings (medical contract manufacturer) | Supplier quality engineer | Capability page | Quality manager | Drafted |
| Backshell potting for circular connectors (connector maker) | Design engineer at a defense prime | Spec-sheet page + case study | Applications engineer | Question Round |
| Largest part we can turn and bore (large-part job shop) | Plant engineer on a rebuild | Spec-sheet page | Owner | Approved |
| 'Powder coat chipping on outdoor enclosures' (coatings shop) | Maintenance manager | Application article | Line supervisor | Planned |
| Phased custom build with lab tests (equipment maker) | Project engineer afraid to sign | Process page | Engineering manager | Planned |
| First article to AS9102 (aerospace machine shop) | Buyer at a Tier 1 | Process page + FAQ | Quality manager | Published |
What to write first: ordering by the work you want
Write first for the work you want more of, then for the customers you already have. Every row is ranked in this order.
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Step 1, OP 10
The work you want more of
The owner picks the jobs that fill the right machines: higher margin, repeatable, or the work your best people want. Those rows go to the top.
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Step 2, OP 20
What your current customers could buy
Ops you already run for one customer that another customer sends elsewhere. It's the cheapest new work there is.
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Step 3, OP 30
Questions buyers ask before they call
Envelopes, materials, certs, lead times. If buyers keep asking for it on the phone, it belongs on a page.
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Step 4, OP 40
Gaps competitors fill
What your competitors say that you don't becomes a question for you. Every yes becomes a row.
Who approves each row
Every row has one named approver on your side. Engineering checks the numbers and sales checks the claims. Customer names, NDA programs and anything export-controlled stay out unless you say so in writing.
How often to publish
Publish at a pace your approvers can keep, then keep it. A steady run of approved pages beats a burst before a trade show and silence after.
How to measure it with SiteSonar
Measure each new page by who reads it and what it brings in. SiteSonar is always on: it names the companies that read each page and keeps their visit history, and we hand you the right people to call at each one. So you can see whether the accounts you wrote for found it. Search data shows which queries the page appears for, and your forms and calls show which pages bring RFQs.
Where the matrix comes from, and where it goes
The matrix draws on your Blueprint and the intelligence behind it, and SiteSonar shows how each row lands.
Questions about content strategy
What is a content matrix?
A content matrix is a table with one row for every capability or buyer question your site should answer. Each row names who asks, the format that answers it, the source, the approver on your side and the status.
What should a manufacturer write first?
Pages for the work you want more of, then the ops your current customers could buy from you, then the questions buyers ask on the phone before they send a drawing.
Do we need a Blueprint first?
Yes. The strategy is built from it. Without the record, any plan is a guess at what you make.
Can our own team write from the matrix?
Yes. Every row names the format, the source and the approver, so anyone can write to it.
Get the plan that starts with your plant
Start with the free Buyer's-Eye Audit: write the RFQ you most want to win, and we'll show you where a buyer would shortlist you or drop you. The content strategy is built from your Blueprint, the paid first step of every program.