Content Strategy | Content for Biz Inc.

Content Review of Inc 5000 Top Illinois Food & Beverage Companies

Good website content supports growing businesses and their online audience. The Inc 5000 list ranks U.S.-based privately held, independent companies according to percentage revenue growth over a four year period. Revenue baselines are $200,000 for the initial year and at least $2 million in the most recent year. I looked at this year’s Inc top five food & beverage companies in Illinois to do a website content review. Using a scale of 1 (needs work) to 5 (great job) my review is based on the following criteria.

Site design
Are there custom photos, engaging graphics, a usable layout and easy navigation?
Is there a visual strategy that supports the content?

Copywriting
Is the copywriting persuasive, trustworthy, concise and compelling?
Do I understand what they do, what products or services they offer, and how these will solve my problem and add value?
Does the tone fit the brand?

Social sharing
Can I share what I see with others through social media channels?
Can I engage with the company by signing up for a newsletter or commenting?
Are there testimonials or reviews I can access on the site?

“More” content
Has the company published articles, whitepapers or news releases?
Is there a blog that is updated regularly?
Are there videos, case studies or webinars where I can learn more?

Landing pages
Do they cover the topic/product well by answering my questions?
Do landing pages include a call to action and a method for capturing contact information?

Mobile friendly
Does the content display effectively on mobile devices?
Is it contextual content for the mobile user environment?

Following are the food and beverage company websites I reviewed.

Burry Foods, St. Charles, IL (B2B) ★★

The Burry Brand was established in 1936 and is most notably “the Thomas’, Boboli & Entenmann’s Frozen Foodservice Supplier!” Inc rates the company #7 nationwide in the Food & Beverage category and #12 in Chicago’s fastest growing privately held companies. My content rating based on the criteria above is 2. What I like is that they tell me right away what they do, what products they sell and to whom. A more robust design is needed. This is a static billboard type website with links that timed out while trying to call up new pages. There is no use of social media, a blog or “more” content. Interaction is restricted to calling a phone number. The mobile version replicates the desktop. I like the Contact page because it includes a guarantee and phone numbers with names. They do establish trust and present their products in a forthright way.

Meatheads Several Chicago area locations (B2C) ★★★★

Ranked #15 in the Food & Beverage category this site is impressive. Rotating benefit headlines, mouth watering photography, easy navigation, social sharing buttons (“meatheads unite”), deals, community programs and customer focused content (“It pays to be a meathead”) create the right tone for content consumption. All the elements contribute to a brand experience. They provide calorie and nutrition information in a downloadable pdf format. I am giving them a 4. The site looks okay on a tablet but is hard to interact with on a smartphone. Their twitter and Facebook sites are active especially when they talk about Chicago sports teams. I’d like to see a live feed on the website and a blog.

Windy City Distribution, Warrenville, IL ★★

“Chicagoland’s Best Beer Experience.” Distributing and marketing crafted beers, Windy City Distribution ranks #31 in the Food & Beverage category and #48 in Chicago. My content review puts them at a 2. The gray tone Home page makes me think of London, and I don’t recognize the background skyline as Chicago. The Home page copy reads more like an About Us page. The Sales Team landing page lists names rather than territories or titles. No photos of the sales team are included. I’d like to see a case study, testimonial, or industry focused article/blog on the site. A video might work too.

Parts Town, Addison, IL. ★★★

Ranked #55 in Food & Beverage and #72 in Chicago, Parts Town sells parts online for commercial kitchens. Like a lot of e-commerce sites Parts Town overwhelms a visitor with unweighted content. By that I mean my eye doesn’t know where to go. I am ranking their content as a 3. A better page design layout is needed. The rotating headline text moves too fast for the average reader. They do have a good Facebook presence. There is a blog but it can’t be found via the site menu, so navigation is confusing. The Search by Parts could be a drop down menu rather than a listing. A body of text at the bottom that looks like a privacy or software usage agreement due to its small font and wide column. They do have a Resources page and a News page. Blending original photos with stock photos on the About page is confusing. The “Find Equipment Manuals” is a bonus content feature I like. Customers can find a product manual based on manufacturer, model and document type. They also provide a good mobile experience.

Growing companies need to manage their markets and their messaging. This content review of the Inc 5000 top Illinois food and beverage companies shows that progress is multifaceted.

Too Much Noise on Your Content Page?

Content consumers are busy. They want your company to create, edit, and distribute content that is relevant to their purpose or problem. A clean and effective content page gets visitors engaged right way. Here are four examples of content that engages.

Simplify

Delete one third of what’s on your content page. That’s the challenge. Simple is hard to do but it is effective. Flex-Drain could have added lots of text about why they are better than their competition but instead chose this fun approach using video. Watch it.

Be Purposeful

I like how Freight Center offers visitors a way to interact with their product right away. They sell web-based tools to help shippers comparative shop. Buttons on the Home page invite visitors to calculate freight rates, get instant pricing, and track a shipment. Who could resist?

Get Rid of Moving Objects

Let the visitor choose what to engage with. Here’s a good example at InnerMost Cabinets. The faded images at each side of the primary photo stay in place until you click on them. Nothing interrupts one’s initial impression of more and discovery.

Focus on Navigation

Let visual design direct the visitor. A restaurant Home page without food photos? The Nagomi website offers a clean, simple navigation design that does double duty in making the visitor feel welcomed and well served.

For business, the best messages online are those that the visitor chooses. Good content writers know this and make it a part of their overall content strategy. When there is too much noise on your content page, visitors will move on and you miss an opportunity. Let your content page speak to them softly, directly and persuasively.

Create a Timed Content Marketing Strategy

Like scientists pondering the nature vs. nurture question, content marketers are learning that brand success requires both immediate reaction and long-term engagement from customers. Companies can create this yin-yang result by developing a timed content marketing strategy.

Companies and industries have prime marketing seasons based on demand cycles, annual conventions, trade shows, product introductions and other influences. Consistently meet the information needs surrounding these events. Content marketers can create aha moments for prospects while fostering loyal sentiments from long-time buyers. Here are two factors to consider when timing your content.

Know who’s interested before they have a problem or need.

Reading, adding comments and replies to content are immediate reactions from those interested in the topic. B2B content marketers generate articles (79%), blog posts (65%), videos (52%), e-newsletters (63%) and social media (74%) on topics around the clock. These percentages are culled from a 2012 survey conducted by the Content Marketing Institute. Acknowledge and respond to these reactions and you are on your way to building a relationship based on a mutual interest rather than a problem or need.

Review the quality and length of your content writing.

Research cited by Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider shows lots of vendor content is not delivering value. Buyers reported less than half of vendor content is useful. What reaction is this causing? Those producing low-value content are 40% less likely to win the business.

If buyers don’t have time to read lengthy content provide a summary. Add insights based on customer interest. This personal approach saves customers’ time. It grows their appreciation for your considerate expertise. Chunk and package content based on what you know about your audience. Add this kind of timing to your content cycle to build a robust and effective content marketing strategy.

How does timing play a role in your content marketing strategy?

Can the iPad Launch a Golden Age for Magazines?

I watched an interesting webinar from FIPP (The Worldwide Magazine Media Association) about the effectiveness of printed and digital magazine content, based on some new research. The strengths of magazines are worth noting:

1) Successful magazines have a personality and interest that matches that of the consumer.

2) Consumers read with “focused attention.” There is little multi-tasking, compared to other media.

3) People make time to read magazines, and often read at more than one sitting.

In a study conducted in India by the Association of Indian Magazines, 9 0f 10 people do nothing else while reading a magazine. For 8 of 10 readers, advertisements weren’t viewed as an interruption, but part of the experience.

Studies shows a higher degree of engagement with ads in iPad apps vs. digital editions or print editions of a magazine.

FIPP’s research consultant Guy Consterdine expects “iPad apps to bring about the “Golden Age of the Magazine.”

Do you agree?

Content marketers should be striving for closer relationships with their customers. Relationships not unlike the one that a good magazine has with its readers. Is your content trusted? Does your content reflect the brand’s personality and interests? Is your content worthy of focused attention? Publishers have known for a long time that surrounding sales messages with content is an effective way to put readers in the mood for related content. Do the same.

Think about how your content engages. Do you make it easy for customers to engage? Do you make it clear what will come next? If potential buyers are interrupted by another task, do you have a way to bring them back into the sales process? Are you asking for a purchase too soon?

That’s a lot of questions, but you need to find answers if you are going to improve. Let your customer be the guide as you focus on creating the right next steps. It’s more likely to be the golden age for content, on any device.

Ad Blockers: Another Reason to Focus on Content

If you rely on display ads rather than content to generate leads online the growing use of ad blockers may cause you to reconsider. With one click, free ad blocker add-ons are available for every popular web browser. They do what they say they will do – block ads from appearing on all web pages including Facebook and YouTube.

It seems many website visitors are annoyed by a certain kind of advertising. Pop ups, moving animation, and use of audio are among the most annoying. Ads that cover up content irritate visitors too. Google has banned this kind of advertising on its pages. They require static ads and prefer text only without images. They also have rules for ad placement (can’t obscure content). They believe targeted ads enhance the user experience. The default filter on the Mozilla Firefox add-on takes a similar approach. But, the user can choose to block all ads by simply changing the default.

The use of ad blockers is growing. ClarityRay, a company that offers ad block alternatives, reports that 9.26% of ad impressions are blocked in the U.S. and Europe. Some solutions to soothe the ad-intolerant include paying for an ad-free experience as a subscriber. This can help worthy sites that rely on ad revenue stay in business.

Sponsor Content, Feature Content

If you want to generate leads, don’t rely solely on ads. Start generating leads and building social connections through content. Support high quality content as a sponsor, lead online conversations or include feature content on your company website.

Sponsored content is much less offensive to visitors than flashy ads. Food Management magazine has a page on its site for sponsored content including videos and recipes from food companies. Many newspapers online now dedicate a page to sponsored content. Johnson & Johnson’s partnership with the Huffington Post helped create the Post’s Global Motherhood section. The page makes it transparent that J&J is a sponsor.

On the site Johnson & Johnson has an ad as well as their twitter feed. Some sites are ridding themselves of banner ads and replacing them with discussion platforms. The primary commenter is required to monitor the conversation. This is a good way to learn what your audience cares about. Feature content on your site may include white papers and case studies. Share original content and connect with customers.

The use of ad blockers is predicted to double in the next 20 months according to ClarityRay’s research. People are looking for content, not flashy ads. They don’t want gimmicks that interrupt their experience on the site. Becoming a sponsor of quality content or creating your own feature content will position your company well. Ad blockers are one more reason to focus your attention on content.