The global tech sector is set to grow to more than $5 trillion this year. If that doesn’t sound impressive enough, that’s $5,000,000,000,000.
A sizeable proportion of those zeros is ploughed back into marketing budgets, and a growing proportion of that is spent on “content”. Whether it’s blogs, e-books, webinars, videos, and a never ending stream of white papers, there is no shortage of tech content being churned out by tech companies each day.
So, if you’re in the tech sector and you want your company to stand out, how do you cut through the noise? Unfortunately, there’s no way to guarantee people will read or care about your content, no matter how amazing it is.
But there are some common mistakes that I see tech companies making time and time again when talking to their audience. I could’ve made this list a lot longer, but here are the five most common mistakes I believe can be easily avoided.
Going for the hard sell
Content marketing and advertising both have the same end objective - to drive sales revenue. That is where the similarity between them should end.
Unfortunately, sales and marketing teams are under pressure to create leads and drive conversion. This leads to a narrow minded focus on developing content that desperately implores the reader to “Contact us today!!!!”
Good content should provide value to your reader first, and leave them with a positive impression of your business. While you can always include a subtle call to action, the best content doesn’t ask the reader to do anything except be engaged.
Explaining bits and bytes
Tech content should explain how the technology works, right? Well….yes and no.
As I mentioned, the best content provides value to the reader and keeps them engaged. But several thousand acronyms and numbers in dot points will look like hieroglyphics to anyone who isn’t in a dedicated tech role.
If you want to explain how your product works, create a dedicated brochure, but don’t create a brochure and pretend it’s content. Instead, discuss the business problems your audience is likely facing, and explain how technology can potentially solve these problems.
Saying too much at once
If you’re lucky, your technology solves dozens of different problems and can be applied to many different industries. That’s great. That doesn’t mean you should shoehorn several ideas into a single piece of content, however.
Humans are simple creatures, and we like to process one idea at a time. Think about one problem you can solve in one industry, and create a single succinct piece of content on this topic.
Over time, you might develop enough single pieces to package together in an e-book or white paper. You may also have the beginnings of a reliable and consistent company blog.
Having nothing new to say
No one is expected to reinvent the wheel with every piece of content. Take it from me, anything worth saying has already been said.
It still pays, however, to avoid the trap of regurgitating the same old lines about “digital transformation is essential for blah blah blah”. Instead, think about a unique perspective your company or one of your senior executives can offer on a topic.
You don’t have to say something controversial to get noticed, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a contrarian opinion. Better yet, if you can tell your audience something that will truly surprise them, they’ll reshare your content – which is the holy grail of content marketing.
Put your reader first
When we break down all of the above, the biggest mistake that tech companies make is forgetting about their audience. Every company talks a lot about “putting their customers’ needs first”, but this goes out the window when we have leads to generate and sales targets to hit. With limited resources, marketing teams pump out content pieces that are just poorly disguised advertisements and brochures.
The best content plays the long game. It builds a positive and credible brand image in your customers’ mind over time. In an incredibly crowded online world, the best you can really hope for is people’s attention – and you should consider yourself lucky to just get that.