WIKA Instruments specializes in the manufacture of pressure gauges for a number of industries. The company was seeking a solution to utilize their website more effectively to increase traffic and generate leads. Solution: WIKA partnered with EnVeritas Group, who identified the problems with a content audit, and then developed a content strategy, complete with metrics and analytics. Read this case study to learn how content marketing was able to assist WIKA in achieving the goals that had been set for their website.
Kenya Coconut Production Presentation by Dr. Lalith Perera
WIKA Content Marketing Case Study for the Manufacturing Industry
1. CASE STUDY
WIKA Instrument, LP, with U.S. headquarters in
Lawrenceville, Georgia, is the worldwide leader in
global pressure and temperature instrumentation.
Founded in Frankfurt-Griesheim in 1946, today
the company comprises 40 offices and more than
7,000 employees worldwide.
EnVeritas Group (EVG) began its work with WIKA
in 2012. The companies today engage in an ongoing
relationship, with EVG functioning as the content
creation and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
arms of WIKA’s marketing department.
CHALLENGES
According to Jason McClain, Senior Group
Marketing Manager, WIKA’s challenges with content
marketing were many years in the making. “Like
many manufacturers of non-consumer goods,
especially in mature B2B industries, WIKA had
a content deficit. We had slipped into producing
spec sheets and product brochures. In other words,
we were just present in our markets with products,
which almost always contributes to commoditization
and competing on price,” recalls McClain.
A content strategy was developed around discussing
insights about trends and resulting industry needs.
This strategy coincided with WIKA’s launch of a
professional services group that provides instrument
audits and safety training, both of which are growing
in demand from industries with large numbers
of retiring baby-boomers. “Without research and
compelling content, we didn’t really have a narrative
to explain what unique value we offered,” continues
McClain. “Despite the fact that our services are
needed, just creating the team and structure wasn’t
enough. We had to engage in the narratives driving
trends and realities on the ground.”
WIKA Instrument Corporation, LP
CHALLENGES
Focus was on producing
spec sheets and product
brochures. As a result,
quality content was
unavailable to site
visitors. The company’s
content was lacking the
narrative that is necessary
to explain the unique
value of its services.
SOLUTIONS
WIKA partnered with
EnVeritas Group to
develop and implement
an effective content
strategy.
RESULTS
2011-2012
- Keyword conversion
up 1962%
- Total visitors up 32%
- Conversion rate for
RFQs up 46%
2012-2013
- Total visitors up 48%
- Social media
engagement up 230%
- New blog grew to
800 visitors after
first two months
of publishing
2. The result of focusing solely on product catalogs
and content was a low share of voice in search
engine results. In addition, even if visitors came
to the site, few pieces of content existed to help
guide plant engineers, buyers and maintenance
teams to the right products.
SOLUTIONS
Partnering with WIKA’s marketing team, EVG
developed a content strategy that focused on
positioning WIKA as a solutions provider. The
content strategy was also designed to ensure
page-one positions in search engine results for
valuable keywords, which would help put WIKA
in front of more decision makers.
To serve these strategies, EVG began by
performing site and industry-wide gap analyses
to determine the best communications channels
that would drive results. Guided by WIKA and
augmented by EVG research, the EVG team
then developed a content calendar that included:
customer-focused articles for the website; the
creation of a blog focusing on trends aligned
to WIKA’s campaigns; and writing new or
rewriting existing landing pages for SEO
support and readability.
In addition, the EVG team monitored news and
conversations while revitalizing WIKA’s social
media presence. The aim of this activity was
not social media presence “for the sake of doing
it,” but to provide WIKA’s overall audience,
including their distributor partners, with links
to value-adding content being created by WIKA
or reported by industry news sources. The social
media channels also had the strategic use of
providing high-quality links back to WIKA’s
newly created content for SEO purposes.
RESULTS
As a result of the content marketing focus,
WIKA experienced an upsurge in online activity
– both in number of visitors and conversion
of those visitors in potential customers
requesting quotes for projects. In the first year,
non‑branded search engine keyword conversion
rose nearly 2000%, an achievement underlining
the lack of value-adding content industry wide
and a result that stressed the continued need for
customer-focused content.
“Like many manufacturers of
non‑consumer goods, especially in
mature B2B industries, WIKA had
a content deficit. We had slipped
into producing spec sheets and
product brochures. In other words,
we were just present in our markets
with products, which almost always
contributes to commoditization and
competing on price,” recalls McClain.
“Without research and creating
compelling content, we didn’t really
have a narrative to explain what
unique value we offered,” continues
McClain. “Despite the fact that our
services are needed, just creating the
team and structure wasn’t enough.
We had to engage in the narratives
driving trends and realities on
the ground.”
3. “You absolutely need relevant and timely content
to become a thought leader in any B2B industry,
but becoming a thought leader is just a means
to an end—and that end is customer loyalty,”
McClain stresses. “Customers need insights
and help navigating issues and solutions, and
now that WIKA can provide content around
their needs, customers and potential customers
have reasons to believe that WIKA can serve
them best.”
The content strategy developed for WIKA
also has tangential benefits, like providing
their sales team with a steady flow of content to
help generate conversations with customers. In
addition, the content has garnered the attention
of key distributors, who note WIKA’s value-adding
messaging and new services as the top reasons
why they decided to sign contracts to become
their exclusive instrumentation provider.
“Some executives scoff at the idea that content
can help convert visitors into customers,”
concludes McClain. “EVG has helped us prove
that customer-focused content opens doors many
times faster than just having a product brochure
that looks and sounds like all others.”
4. OBJECTIVE
• Act as an offshoot of WIKA Instruments’
marketing department to develop need-it-now,
industry-relevant content that affects decision-
makers’ actions/conversion rates.
• Write on- and off-site collateral to educate and
empower end users (plant engineers, buyers,
distributers).
• Drive relevant traffic to the website through
creation of technically specific content, and
track those visitors’ actions.
• Keep brand top of mind and increase share of
voice across platforms through targeted content
strategy and creation as well as concrete thought
leadership.
• Create quality content for WIKA’s new blog,
incorporating quality links to the main WIKA site.
• Maintain social media sites with interesting,
audience-centric content and increase audience
engagement.
STRATEGY SOLUTIONS
• EVG performed site- and industry-wide gap
analyses to determine the best course for WIKA’s
content strategy, maintaining a flexible approach
throughout the duration of the campaign.
• EVG created both on- and off-site articles to boast
content arsenal, and to drive qualified traffic to
the WIKA US website.
• EVG monitored industry trends, conversations,
and news; used that information to drive social
media campaigns.
• EVG performed site, social and keyword analysis
to track and report on campaign results.
RESULTS
• Keyword conversion (2012 vs. 2011) up 1962%
• Total visitors (2012 vs. 2011) up 32%
• Conversion rate for RFQs (2012 vs. 2011) up 46%
• Total visitors (2013 vs. 2012) up 48%
• Social media audience engagement
(2013 vs. 2012) up 230%
• New blog earned over 800 visitors in the first
two months after publishing start
EnVeritas Group, Inc. 9 LeGrand Boulevard, Greenville, SC 29607
864.241.0779 - info@enveritasgroup.com - www.enveritasgroup.com
“You absolutely need relevant
and timely content to become a
thought leader in any B2B industry,
but becoming a thought leader is
just a means to an end—and that
end is customer loyalty,” McClain
stresses. “Customers need insights
and help navigating issues and
solutions, and now that WIKA can
provide content around their needs,
customers and potential customers
have reasons-to-believe that WIKA
can serve them best.”