When people talk about content marketing, they pull up obvious examples: content marketing in exciting industries. Like adrenaline-filled GoPro videos of daring feats that most people can only dream of, or travel agency blogs full of gorgeous destinations and enticing adventures.
But we can't all be like that — right? Not all content marketing is sleek and cool and goes viral. And for a lot of companies, it can't always be expected to. Because let's face it: some businesses just don't provide adrenaline rushes (or at least, not to most normal people). Like, say, a sewage company, or a business that sells various lengths of wires. That's fine — these businesses can still give content marketing a go. And more importantly, they can still succeed with it.
For example: Payson Petroleum, an oil and gas drilling company that offers oil investment opportunities to independent investors. So maybe that description didn't get your pulse racing, but keep on reading to see how this tiny operator in Dallas, Texas has made waves with the way they are creating and leveraging content and social media to market themselves. They are certainly a great example to follow when it comes to successful marketing in a decidedly un-sexy industry. Again, unless that's your thing — no judgment here.
So, how do they do it? They certainly don't put out a calendar of employees covered in oil! With less than 9,000 Facebook fans, a smattering of LinkedIn followers, and only about 2,000 Twitter followers, they don't look like a marketing giant — especially compared to Goliaths such as Shell (nearly six million Facebook followers) or Statoil (over 300,000 followers on LinkedIn) Maybe that's not a lot of followers compared to, say, Kim Kardashian, but for an oil and gas company trying to find independent investors? Pretty impressive.
Payson Petroleum's success doesn't come from the numbers listed on their social media profiles, though they are remarkable for such a tiny company in the oil and gas industry.
Their Approach
The genius of their marketing efforts comes in the form of some seriously innovative strategies. They are uniquely positioning themselves as educators and experts in the field. Being that their primary target is potential individual investors, they are doing a great job by providing invaluable information through a variety of formats.
First of all, Payson Petroleum created its own app for the iPhone. The app describes itself as follows:
"Payson Petroleum’s app brings critical commodities market updates to your fingertips. Whether you’re a current investor, or just interested in the oil and gas industry, this is a great app for you."
The app provides users with information about gas and oil price predictions, market news, and investment calculators — all things that would be of interest or use to potential investors. And, because it is a company based in Dallas, the app (naturally) includes a variety of information and factoids about the state of Texas.
It is a nicely designed, often-updated tool for anyone with an iPhone. The updates and redesign convey the professionalism and expertise that the company offers — and it is consistent with the branding on their website, a crucial part to marketing across multiple channels. Far too many gas and oil companies fail to realize the potential and importance of branding their company, documenting the brand guidelines and sticking to them. But not Payson Petro. They seem to have their branding strategy down: they are smart, knowledgeable experts who care about educating their partners.
In fact, their website's About Us page extols the "Payson Difference", which explains that they value transparency, honesty, and integrity. They center their business around relationships and keeping their partners included in every step — with their marketing efforts, they have already primed prospects to see them as honest and transparent educators.
So they have a clearly defined brand and an innovative way to bring information to customers and prospects. They also use content marketing strategies within their website, social media, and YouTube.
Their Content
If you search for their company's name, you won't just find information about the business itself. They make sure to provide a wealth of information on everything a potential investor could be interested in. Their YouTube channel has drilling updates, a question and answer session between the CEO and their Director of Client Relations, and an explanation of why they named their well "Jenny."
They also have a blog where they write about the history of their area and historical oil sites — interspersed with posts about what the company is up to, educational materials, and news in the industry. Astute readers will notice that they offer a Frequently Asked Questions page to answer common questions, and another page developed to educate visitors on oil and gas.
You will also notice that all of their posts and videos are linked to and promoted on their social media pages to increase their reach and promote engagement. And that is what online marketing is all about. They are helping their audience with their pain points and asking for nothing in return. This is the ideal way to create trust and engagement.
Clearly, Payson Petroleum is doing a fantastic job with using content marketing and inbound methodology to promote their business. So that just goes to show: even if your industry doesn't make the average person want to throw themselves (and their money) at you, you can still do effective content marketing. After all, there's someone out there for everyone (and every business).
