Oil and gas marketing is different. It’s probably one of the most difficult markets to break into from a marketing perspective.
So many companies make mistakes and overlook fundamentals when marketing in this industry.
You see it every day: websites that are outdated, unoptimized, or irrelevant; salespeople who aren’t trained; ads that don’t reach the right people; offers that aren’t appealing to potential customers… the list goes on and on.
With oil prices low and budgets being slashed across the industry, you simply can’t afford those mistakes anymore! Click here to download our Free Oil & Gas Marketing eBook!
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Understand the industry’s complexities and nuances. |
| 2. Identify target segments within the oil & gas sector. |
| 3. Craft a compelling value proposition for your offerings. |
| 4. Leverage industry-specific data and statistics. |
| 5. Establish a strong online presence through digital marketing. |
| 6. Emphasize safety and compliance in your messaging. |
| 7. Utilize content marketing to educate and engage. |
| 8. Implement SEO strategies to improve online visibility. |
| 9. Build relationships with industry influencers and experts. |
| 10. Develop case studies showcasing successful solutions. |
1. Start With The Personas
Personas are fictional characters that represent your audience. They help you focus on your audience’s needs, make better marketing decisions, create better content and understand your audience better.
Looking to create captivating marketing videos that leave a lasting impression? Dive into our guide on making stunning B2C marketing videos and unlock strategies to engage your audience, regardless of your industry.
Know Your Audience (Including All The Jobs To Be Done)
You should know who you’re talking to and what they care about. This includes all of their jobs to be done: What problem are they trying to solve?
Who else do they need on their team? What kind of budget do they have? How can we help them by solving a particular problem or providing a specific solution?
2. Don’t Forget About Mobile
Mobile marketing is a big part of the oil and gas industry. As you can see, mobile use is increasing every year, with over 60% of smartphone users using their devices daily.
Mobile gives you the ability to reach out to customers in real-time and offer them personalized content while they are on the go.
Because it’s such an important part of this industry, make sure that if you are selling services or products to an oil company or a gas pipeline company (or even just marketing yourself) you have an effective mobile marketing strategy in place!
3. Give Your Website The Content It Needs
If you don’t have a website, I can almost guarantee that your competitors do. And if you do have a website, it’s probably not doing enough for you.
The #1 way to market your oil and gas services is through content marketing the use of articles, blogs, and other forms of written communication to drive traffic back to your site.
The more content you put out there on your site (and across social media), the more opportunities there will be for search engines like Google and Bing to pick up on those pieces and index them for people searching for information about what it takes to service oil wells or install heating systems in commercial buildings.
Then when those potential customers get back onto their computer screens after seeing an ad from one of your competitors (or from just plain looking around), they’ll see one of these articles ranking at the top of their search results!
Why should B2B industries consider insights from B2C marketing? Explore our article on the significance of paying attention to B2C marketing to uncover how cross-industry lessons can fuel success in engaging and reaching your target audience.
4. Optimize Your Website For Search Engines
Search engines are the most used source for information, and they’re the place where you want to be. Optimizing your website for search engine results is one of the best ways to get new leads and sell more products or services.
Content is still king when it comes to websites, but that doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels! Content has exploded in importance since its inception literally.
As our reliance on digital interaction grows, so does our need for it; content instructs, informs, and educates visitors about your products and services (which leads us neatly into my next point).
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach customers faster than any other channel out there but only if you have a well-optimized email list from which to send them messages!
You should always be looking at ways of improving this aspect of your marketing strategy as well.
5. Create Lead Nurturing Emails Using The Principles Of Direct Mail Marketing
The most important thing to remember when emailing a prospective customer is that the main goal of your message is to get them to open it and engage with you. This can be accomplished by focusing on the customer and using direct mail principles.
A great way to do this is by creating lead nurturing emails using the principles of direct mail marketing. Here’s how:
Personalize your message by addressing them by name, referencing their industry or job title and/or company name, etc., if possible.
If you don’t have this information available at first (i.e., through LinkedIn), don’t worry about it; just make sure that your message speaks directly to them in some way!
Be clear about what action you want them to take: click through for more info? Reply with questions? Fill out a form?
The more specific you are here, the better off you’ll be in terms of conversion rates down the road since they’ll know exactly what they should do next time they see an email from you (“reply” vs “click-through”).
Include some sort of offer to give them an incentive for taking action now rather than later this could be anything from one free hour consultation per month over six months until new legislation goes into effect next year.
So come back then instead if not interested today vs nothing unless specified otherwise today only save 20% off any service call priced between $200-250 dollars
Elevate your brand presence and gain valuable insights from our guide on leveraging influencer marketing for business growth. Discover how to harness influencers’ power to foster connections and expand reach, even in specialized sectors like the oil & gas industry.
6. Use Video To Move People Through The Buying Cycle
Video is a great way to educate your audience and increase brand awareness. It can also help improve conversion rates and increase the likelihood of a sale, as well as increase the amount of time people spend on your website.
Video is highly effective in this industry because it’s visual and interactive. This makes it easy for users to digest information quickly and gain insight into complex topics like oil fields or drilling rigs.
7. Solve Problems
You’re probably already familiar with the idea that the best marketing is marketing that solves problems.
The oil and gas industry is no different if you can help your customers solve a problem, or if you can help them solve a problem for their customers, then they will reward you for it.
But there are also plenty of other people in the world who face problems every day:
The planet has been warming up at an unprecedented rate; we need to reduce our carbon footprint as a species before our home becomes unlivable. This can be addressed through cleaner energy sources like wind power or solar panels.
Cities need more housing so that more people will be able to visit them without having to live there full time.
And this means that more houses need to be built around the world so people have somewhere else to stay when they aren’t traveling back home again after vacationing abroad (or even just visiting family).
Countries have varying levels of poverty throughout their borders; some citizens don’t have access to clean drinking water or enough food on hand at all times due mainly because where they live doesn’t allow them enough resources/money.
This could easily be solved by helping each other out financially instead of keeping everything private between companies and only looking out for themselves.
8. Use Video To Your Advantage
Using video has become the go-to marketing tactic for many businesses and for good reason. There are numerous benefits of utilizing video in your marketing efforts, including increased engagement with your audience and higher conversion rates.
In a recent study by Cisco Systems, it was revealed that 80% of all internet traffic will be video by 2021. This statistic is supported by another study conducted by eMarketer which found that users watch an average of five hours and fifteen minutes per day on their mobile devices alone!
If you aren’t using video yet then you should seriously consider incorporating it into your strategy moving forward because it can help you accomplish so much more than just getting people’s attention (and keeping them there).
Striking the balance between effective marketing and maintaining trust is a challenge across industries. Learn from our insights on maximizing B2C marketing impact while preserving trust to navigate this delicate art, applying it to industries like oil & gas.
9. Find Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd
You need to find ways to stand out from the crowd.
The oil and gas industry is a competitive one and many companies want your business. You should do whatever it takes to make sure that your company stands out from all of these other companies trying to get business from you.
A good way for you to do this is by helping your customers as much as possible, going above and beyond what they expect from you as a company.
So that they end up thinking highly of you when compared with other companies in your industry who may not be doing what needs to be done for their customers.
10. Go Where The Customers Are
There are many ways to get in front of oil and gas customers. Here are a few ideas:
Attend industry events and conferences, and try to speak at them if you can (do this by talking to the organizers). The more face time you have with your target audience, the better.
Join industry groups such as LinkedIn groups or Facebook groups where they spend their time discussing business issues. You can also join Twitter chats and Q&A sessions on social media platforms like Twitter or Reddit where people who work in your industry congregate online.
Make sure that your content is uploaded into our database so it’s easily accessible for clients on their devices when they need it most!
11. Write Guest Blog Posts For Good Quality Industry Websites
If you’re looking to target the oil and gas industry, one of the best ways to do that is by writing guest blog posts on industry websites.
If you’re going to write a guest blog post, whether it’s for an established website or a smaller blog, there are several things you should consider:
Write for the right audience. Make sure your content is relevant to your readers. If it’s not, they’ll have no reason to read what you wrote and may even leave negative comments about how off-topic your post was.
Instead of writing about how much oil and gas companies use social media marketing strategies in today’s digital world (which would be a boring topic), try something more specific like “How Oil & Gas Companies Use Twitter To Connect With Their Customers.”
Include all the right information so people will see why they need what it is that you’re selling or promoting or at least get them interested enough so they want more information later on down the road.
When they decide whether or not to buy/use whatever product/service is right for them might be worth their time investment because if so then maybe next year when budgeting season comes around again…and eventually…
“Hey! That company I heard about before has some great stuff! Maybe I’ll buy from them instead since everything seems good quality here just like last year when we bought from them too.”
12. Understand The Industry’s Terminology And Lingo
When marketing to the oil and gas industry, you’ll want to understand the terminology and lingo that’s used by this industry. Here are some things you can do:
- Research the industry. Make sure you’re familiar with its basic processes, products, and services.
- Learn the language. You should know what terms like “downstem” and “propane tank” mean before trying to speak with an oilman or woman.
- Use it in your content marketing efforts from blog posts and ebooks down to social media updates or even professional emails (or texts).
- Use it in your sales process you’ll need a shared understanding of these concepts if customers are going to feel comfortable purchasing from you as an expert within their field!
13. Create Customer Case Studies and Reference Stories
Case studies and reference stories are a great way to show how your product or service helped someone.
Case studies are testimonials from customers who have used an offering and had success, while reference stories are similar but focus on the benefits of using an offering instead of the customer’s experience with it.
Both types of content can be used to highlight how your products or services helped someone achieve something important in their industry.
When writing these pieces, think about what you want to convey before getting started:
- What was the goal? Did they want more leads? Were they looking for new customers? Did they need help finding qualified salespeople?
- How did this benefit them specifically (and not just your company)? How did it improve their bottom line, save time/money/effort, improve efficiency, etc.?
- What specific results did they see as a result of working with you (or using your product)?
14. Network, Network, Network!
The first step is to understand the industry and its challenges. The next is to become a good listener, communicator, and problem solver. You should also be a good storyteller, collaborator, and friend to help build strong relationships with your audience.
Finally, being a mentor will go far in this industry as well because many people are looking for guidance on how they can make the right decisions for their business or career path.
Discover the secret tactics that empower B2B marketers in various fields, including oil & gas, by delving into our article on B2B marketers’ strategic strengths. Uncover how these techniques can be tailored for specific industry challenges.
15. Have A Good Website
The first thing you need to do is have a good website. You can have the best marketing materials in the world, but if your website isn’t up to snuff, nobody will see them.
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and has a good domain name like “petroleumsupplies.com” or something similar. Your logo should be clear and easy to read in different sizes, as well as on different colored backgrounds (black works well).
Your website should be easy to navigate with links that are easy to understand and remember (don’t use symbols for links).
Make sure it’s responsive so it looks good on every device including smartphones and tablets; also make sure it loads quickly so people don’t get frustrated waiting for pages to load!
And don’t forget about security more than half of the internet traffic comes from mobile apps now so don’t let any hackers sneak onto your site by using outdated software!
16. Be A Good Listener
The oil and gas industry is a large one, with several niches that all have their unique characteristics. Listening to your customers is essential for staying on top of trends within the industry, but it’s also important to listen to other members of the community.
This can help you better understand how your products or services fit into the larger scope of things and make sure you’re always providing value for your clients.
When you’re talking with potential customers about their needs and experiences, listen closely for opportunities where you might be able to help them out by solving a problem or providing something new.
You don’t need any special skills just ask questions! It’s easy enough when someone asks if there’s anything else they can do for us or asks us what we like best about working with them (or if there’s anything they could improve).
Then we just chime right in: “Wouldn’t it be great if…” Or “How would this work?” Or sometimes even just “What do you think?”
17. Be Part Of The Community
If you want to market to the O&G industry, be a good listener, speaker, and contributor.
Listen to your customers. Learn about their needs and wants by asking questions. Then discuss how your products can meet those needs and wants.
Remember that you’re not always right when it comes to solving problems; sometimes customers will know more than you do about what they need or want.
And sometimes they won’t know what they need or want until after they’ve tried something new (and then they’ll be back again).
Be a good speaker: Be prepared before going into meetings with prospects or clients so that you can ask them questions and listen carefully while they talk instead of just waiting for them to stop talking so that you can get on with your pitch.
Be a good contributor: Contribute value by helping others solve problems and become better at what they do every day (not just during sales cycles).
Conclusion
You’ll want to be sure to get your message right before you reach out. Remember, these are busy people who are used to shiny objects coming their way.
To cut through the noise and gain credibility in their eyes, you need a solid approach that’s based on what they need and how they think.
That’s where we come in. Our team is made up of oil and gas professionals who know what this audience cares about. We can help you craft your message so it resonates with them just let us know!
Further Reading
Digital Marketing Strategies for Oil and Gas Companies: Explore advanced digital marketing strategies tailored for the oil and gas industry to enhance online visibility, engagement, and growth.
Increasing Value Proposition for Oil Services: A Guide: Learn about effective techniques to enhance the value proposition for oil services companies and drive business growth.
Marketing Strategies for Oil and Gas Construction Companies: Dive into specialized marketing strategies catered to the oil and gas construction sector, designed to boost brand presence and attract clients.
And here’s the “FAQs” section with semantic-based questions and answers:
FAQs
What are effective digital marketing strategies for oil and gas companies?
Digital marketing strategies for the oil and gas industry encompass various techniques, including search engine optimization, content marketing, and targeted advertising. These methods can help companies reach their target audience and establish a strong online presence.
How can oil services companies enhance their value proposition?
Oil services companies can enhance their value proposition by focusing on customer needs, offering innovative solutions, and showcasing unique benefits. Clear communication of the value they bring to the table can set them apart in a competitive market.
How can marketing strategies benefit oil and gas construction companies?
Marketing strategies tailored for oil and gas construction companies can help them showcase their expertise, highlight successful projects, and attract new clients. Strategic branding and effective communication can contribute to business growth.
What role does content marketing play in the oil and gas industry?
Content marketing plays a crucial role in the oil and gas industry by providing valuable insights, industry updates, and thought leadership content. It helps build trust, educate stakeholders, and establish companies as authoritative voices in the field.
How can marketing campaigns address the unique challenges of the oil and gas sector?
Marketing campaigns for the oil and gas sector should consider the industry’s unique challenges, such as regulatory compliance, safety concerns, and environmental impact. Tailoring messaging to address these issues can resonate with the target audience and build credibility.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.