The entrepreneurial dilemma of high tech is that more often than not they are ran by engineers who are focused on producing code and delivering service. Engineering excellence is the hallmark of the company, and marketing is an after thought. In the early stages, word of mouth can be enough to get a new company off the ground. Word gets out about all of the remarkable work, and the referrals come flooding in at a pace that keeps the company busy.
But, as the business matures, the number of referrals are no longer enough to grow the business at a fast enough pace to cover overhead increases as well as fund further growth.
The company needs a new strategy to add to the referral base and extend its reach beyond the current referral network.
This is where Inbound Marketing becomes valuable. Simply put, Inbound Marketing is the process of publishing thought provoking, helpful content, that people will follow, read, and share. Some of your followers, hopefully those who are a perfect fit for your services, will become customers.
The main obstacle to technology companies trying to execute an Inbound Marketing strategy is finding the right mix of what to publish. If they try to write about the technical aspect of their services and do it in an engaging, thought leading way, they will attract a following of other technical people.
However, unless other engineers are your target market, that is the WRONG strategy. Most customers actually don’t care about the technical details of the technology they use. As far as they are concerned, their software could be powered by magic pixie dust, and they wouldn’t care. They only want their tech to work perfectly, without interruption. They want a feeling of safety that there is a wall between them and the big bad world of hackers in the world.
So, how does a technology company successfully initiate a content marketing program and make it profitable? Be more human! Write to the people who are your perfect fit customers. Establish yourself as a thought leader in an area that is of interest to your base of clients—interesting to them as people first and business owners and executives second.
Being more human is a worthwhile cause. Connecting with new people beyond their current referral network can be the most profitable thing a technology company can do to grow.
