Let’s get this straight: industrial B2B marketing isn’t suffering from a lack of content. It’s suffering from a lack of content that knows what the hell it’s trying to do. 70% of B2B marketing content goes unused by sales teams.
Most of the time, you’re publishing content for the sake of it—because your competitor did, because your CEO demanded it, or because someone in sales forwarded a webinar from 2019 and called it “inspiration.” The result? Whitepapers that gather digital dust, spec sheets that answer the wrong questions, and blog posts written by someone who’s never stepped foot inside a plant.
It’s not that your team isn’t trying. It’s that you’re building without a blueprint. And if you are using the AIDA funnel like it’s 1995, you are going to remain stuck. Which brings us to the EIC framework: education, information, confirmation.
This isn’t some fluffy model with a clever acronym designed to land on a keynote slide. It’s a dead-simple filter that tells you what your content should do—and when. If you understand it and actually use it, you’ll stop publishing content that gets ignored and start creating content that makes your buyer say, “Finally. Someone gets it.”
Let’s break it down.
Part 1: Education— for the unaware and the uncertain
Educational content isn’t about teaching someone how a centrifugal compressor works. That’s a spec sheet. This is earlier than that.
Education is about solving the “what” and “why” problems buyers don’t even know they have yet.
Think about a facilities manager who’s getting pressure to reduce energy costs—but hasn’t linked that challenge to their aging compressed air system. Or an ops director who’s sick of inconsistent output but doesn’t know their vacuum pump is overspec’d and underperforming. These aren’t equipment issues. These are awareness issues.
Your job is to educate.
Examples of educational content:
- Whitepapers that explain emerging challenges (e.g., new EPA standards or ISO regulations)
- Blog posts that connect operational pain points to unknown solutions
- Webinars that challenge assumptions (“Why your maintenance program is costing you 6% annually”)
- Buyer’s guides (if they’re honest, not brochureware)
- Podcast episodes with trusted industry voices, not company reps
This content aligns with the awareness phase in the buyer’s journey. But awareness isn’t enough. The next step is clarity.
Part 2: Information— for the researcher and evaluator
Once your buyer has a name for their pain, they need answers. Now they’re comparing options. Not just brands, but approaches. This is where you shift from why to how.
Informational content fills in the blanks and sharpens your buyer’s criteria. This is your dating profile.
You’re not just talking features—you’re explaining outcomes. You’re showing what happens if they do this instead of that. It’s technical, yes. But it’s not dry. This is where trust starts to form.
Examples of informational content:
- Technical spec sheets that speak to the engineer and the finance lead
- Comparison guides (real ones, with trade-offs—not “ours is better” decks)
- Demo videos with narration that doesn’t sound like a stock voiceover
- ROI calculators, configuration tools, or system audits
This content maps to the consideration and evaluation phases of the journey. It has to be sharp, specific, and brutally honest. If your product isn’t perfect for every use case, say it. That honesty buys more credibility than a polished PDF ever could.
Part 3: Confirmation—for the nearly convinced and the quietly skeptical
This is where deals live or die. Your buyer has the pain. They’ve researched options. They’re leaning in.
But their boss is asking for “justification.” Procurement is breathing down their neck. And they’re wondering if your install team will ghost them after the PO lands.
Confirmation content is about risk mitigation. Social proof. Reassurance. It says, “We’ve done this before. And we’ll still be here after the ink dries.”
Examples of confirmation content:
- Video testimonials where customers talk about outcomes, not your logo
- Install timelines, support structures, and real-world SLAs
- Certifications, third-party tests, and performance guarantees
- Named reference lists (anonymous case studies are dead weight)
- Internal champion toolkits—slide decks, ROI summaries, objection handling docs
- Deep-dive case studies that answer, “How did someone like me solve this?”
This stage aligns with the decision phase. And too many marketers ghost it entirely, assuming sales will “just close it.” That’s lazy. Sales should close it with you. Because if the buyer can’t explain the value of your solution internally, it’s not closing. Period.
The missing link: industrial content is its own beast
Industrial marketing is a different beast. Your buyers are risk-averse, time-starved, and typically making decisions by committee. They don’t want storytelling fluff. They want substance.
But—and this is key—they still need to be persuaded.
That’s why the EIC model matters. It gives shape to your content strategy and lets you communicate complex ideas with purpose. Especially when it comes to technical content.
So let’s talk about that.
Most B2B content is made for engineers not for marketing. For those who know their way around a spec sheet, great. But we need to break content into digestible form for industrial buyers without engineering chops.
Why most technical content fails
Too many technical assets are written like they’re trying to impress a professor, not influence a buyer.
They’re unnecessarily dense. They’re jargon-filled. They assume the reader already agrees with you. And worst of all, they don’t match where the buyer is in their journey.
A technical datasheet in an educational context is noise. You haven’t earned the right to submit informational content yet. On the other hand, a side-by-side compressor performance comparison in the decision phase is gold.
Here’s the fix: take every piece of technical content you produce and run it through EIC. Ask:
- Is this educating, informing, or confirming?
- Who is this for—and where are they in the buying cycle?
- What do they need to believe to move forward?
Then trim the fat. Make it conversational. Build it for humans who happen to buy complex equipment.
Cue the content audit
Content marketers love to create. But before you build your next whitepaper, audit what’s already there. And be ruthless.
You’re not just looking for gaps. You’re looking for misalignment.
- Do you have 12 blogs explaining product features, but nothing that speaks to operational challenges?
- Are your case studies written for engineers, when your actual buyer is the CFO?
- Is your best content buried six clicks deep on your site?
Categorize every asset by E, I, or C. Identify what’s working. Sunset what isn’t. Update what’s outdated. Then build only what matters.
Agencies that get industrial will help you make this real
If you’re still reading, you already know the truth: content strategy in industrial manufacturing is more than a copywriting exercise. It’s a sales enablement weapon. And most agencies simply aren’t built to wield it.
The good ones—especially the ones who live and breathe industrial—start with EIC baked into everything. They help you:
- Reframe your buyer’s challenges before pitching your solution
- Translate engineer-speak into decision-maker language without dumbing it down
- Map content to stages of real-world buying journeys, not made-up funnels
- Develop tools that drive sales conversations, not just traffic
- Build a strategy that accounts for distributors, reps, direct sales, and channel partners
And most importantly, they take this daunting process off your plate. They lead the strategy and the whiteboard content analysis etc. And when the analysis is completed, they will help you stop publishing content for content’s sake—and start publishing with intent.
Final thoughts
Most industrial content fails not because it’s inaccurate, but because it’s misaligned. The EIC framework—education, information, confirmation—gives structure to your strategy and helps you meet buyers where they are, with what they actually need.
The right B2B marketing agency that excels in industrial doesn’t just churn out content. It partners with you to diagnose what’s broken, build what’s missing, and confirm what’s working. And in an industry where complexity reigns and trust is earned slowly, that precision makes all the difference. Click here to drop us a line if you want to discuss how we can apply our framework for your brand.
