1. Why Having a Generous Marketing Budget is Essential for Business Growth
We need to write an article that targets sales and marketing execs in manufacturing companies, to give
them a resource on how they can help secure or convince their MD and FD for a digital/content marketing
budget.
Let’sface it, intoday’sultra-competitive onlinemarketplace ithasneverbeenmore difficultto
achieve marketleadership.Productlifecyclesare shorter,customer’sexpectationshave skyrocketed,
brand loyaltyisquestionable atbestandprice transparencyisgreaterthan ever.Thisisnomore
apparentthan inthe manufacturingindustry.
Recentstatisticsstate that 45% of businessesdon’thave aclearlydefinedmarketingstrategy.This
meansthat almosthalf of UK businesses aren’treachingtheirfullsalespotential.
A generousmarketingbudgetcanmake the differentbetweenachievingorexceedingsalestargets
or sufferingquarterlydisappointments.However,convincingyourmanagingdirectororFD of the
value of a healthydigital andcontentmarketingbudgetcanbe a tough task.Here’show to convince
MD’s and FD’s whya generousmarketingbudgetisessential forbusiness growth.
Plan Your Presentation
As withanyimportantprofessional meeting,preparationisparamount.The goal isto sell youridea
to the MD or FD, and thisrequirestime andeffortonyourbehalf.Yourprepworkshouldhave three
distinctstages:
Background and Context
You needtodemonstrate howyourideadirectlybenefitsthe business.Todothisyou’ll needto
showand understandingof the following:
 The challengesfacedbythe business
 How youpropose toovercome those challenges
 Examples of the ROIsyoursolutionswill have
MD’s and FD’s respondtofigures,andwithcontentmarketingcosting62% lessthan outbound
marketing,you’re providingaveryattractive proposition. The additionof aregularly-updated
engagingandinformative blogonyour website will buildbrandauthorityandvalue,convincing
visitorstoexplore yourwebsite ingreaterdetail –and youhardlyneeddeeppocketsforthis!
HighlightImpact and Strategy
The bestway to engage MDs and FDs isto getright to the nitty-gritty. You’llneedtoimmediately
showthemthe benefitsof contentmarketingonleads,conversionsandsales.Alwaysleadwiththe
bigimpacts– these will getattention.

2. Once the primary impactshave beencommunicated,you’ll needtodemonstrate the secondary
benefits.Stressthatcontentmarketingis strategic.It’sascience,anart form.The nature of your
content,it’sdeliveryandpromotionshouldalwaysbe linkedtobroaderbusinessgoals.Back-upyour
strategywithquantifiable statistics.
The Importance of ContentMarketingStatistics
Statisticsare a powerful persuasive tool. All ideasneedtobe backed-upwithcoldharddata– this is
whatMD’s and FD’swill respondto.
Focuson those metrics that are meaningful toyourbusiness.If you believe thatleadgeneration
activitiescouldbe improvedwitheffectiveemailmarketingcampaigns,demonstratestatisticsto
your MD and FD that back up yourclaim.
For instance,didyouknowthat 93% of B2B companiessaythat contentmarketinggeneratesmore
leadsthantraditional marketstrategies?
Thisis a powerful statistic,sure togetthe attentionof anyMD or FD.
Back Up Claimswith Case Studies
Lack of foresightisasure way to hinderbusinessgrowth.A successful business anticipatesreactsto
the evolutionof the commercial world.Itcouldbe arguedthat the manufacturingsectorhasbeen
slowertoadapt to digital andcontentmarketing strategies,butthatdoesn’tmeanyourbusiness
shouldfollow the same path.
Beingan innovatorisa greatway to buildbrandawareness,andofferpotentialandexisting
customerswhatyourcompetitorscannot.
Usingcase studies toback upyour claimswill addvalue toyourwebsite.Thisisevidence of prowess,
and a powerful endorsement.
But,AlwaysKeep Them Relevant
Irrelevantcontentdoesn’taddvalue,andwill harmyourcontentmarketingstrategy. Toyotaisthe
largestmanufacturingcompanyinthe world.Doyouthinktheircase studiesinclude contentthat’s
irrelevanttotheirbusiness?No.
Be creative,anduse case studiesthatbuildexecutiveconfidence. Rememberthatcontentisthe
primarywaythat brands sell theirproductsandservices.Leveraging yourcontentstrategywith
relevantcase studiesisagreatway to back up yourclaimswhenpitchingyourmarketingbudgetto
MDs andFDs.
UnderstandYour Target Personas
Explainthatyourcontentmust be gearedto yourtarget personas. Thiswill giveMDsand FDs
confidence inyourstrategy –resultingina more generousbudget.
But, perhapsmore importantly,understandingyourtargetpersonaswill allow youtocreate content
that appealstothem.

3. From guestpostingtoinfographics,whitepaperstovideo,the value of the contentyoucreate will
skyrocket,attractingpotential andexistingcustomers.