Why manufacturers are turning to Brightspot for content management expertise  

When it comes to ensuring an effective online presence, manufacturers face several challenges. From infrastructure issues and the need to market complex product information to user experience and platform integrations, making the transition to modern solutions is particularly complex.   

The first priority for manufacturers, of course, is on production and engineering excellence, but digital marketing and web development are relatively new considerations in the merchandising of that end product. Building and investing in that in-house expertise can be a challenge for manufacturers in the business of bringing physical products to market. What they need is an experienced partner — with the right solutions, credentials and team — who can guide them through the process of designing, managing and delivering product content more efficiently.

Enter content management system supplier Brightspot. Already a trusted partner to major news outlets, events and logistics organizations, Brightspot is now encouraging manufacturers to explore the benefits of its platform — modernizing legacy systems, launching digital experiences faster, enhancing brand consistency across global audiences, and leveraging AI for content creation and audience engagement.  

“We are drawing on the experience we’ve gained in other sectors to be the right partner for manufacturers,” begins Becky Allen, Principal, Product Delivery at Brightspot. “We handle the design services and behind-the-scenes technical elements so customers can focus on posting their content in the easiest way possible.” 

One pain point for manufacturers is integration. Already familiar with multiple platforms, they can find the idea of transitioning to another system daunting. Brightspot’s team can help. “Our system is designed to make the transition as seamless as possible,” says Becky. “We can work with third-party tools like Hubspot, Marketo or Salesforce Pardot for handling sign-ups and forms, and Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics for data. We drill down with clients to find out what systems they are currently using — not just for their web presence, but also for all their customer data. We can make these tools work with the Brightspot platform, pulling the information where it’s needed. We use a lot of automation to ensure it reaches the right person or place with no other intervention required, and users keep using the tools they know.  

“We can handle multiple types of content as well,” she continues. “For the corporate side, we have out-of-the-box solutions for news, press releases or marketing pages. We also offer custom work for content such as product pages to ensure our manufacturing groups showcase their products in the best way possible.”  

Becky notes that Brightspot has a comprehensive process for discovery, which uncovers the problems manufacturers are having. “We work to understand the current strengths and weaknesses of their website as well as analyze the competitive landscape. This process reveals what is not working optimally and offers advice on ways to improve positioning. That could be search engine optimization (SEO) consultations or specific KPIs to achieve.    

“We create a roadmap and identify how Brightspot’s tools, platform and people are going to help you navigate it. Our core functionalities provide a backbone for any custom work that is required, so no one must start from scratch. We’ll find the best solution to work at scale, and our managed services help ensure uptime,” she adds.   

Case study  

From speaking to Becky, a standout feature is Brightspot’s experience. Becky herself was a key member of the team that assisted Whelen Engineering in modernizing its website and streamlining product publishing. A manufacturer of emergency warning equipment, Whelen Engineering realized its digital presence was falling behind and it needed a strategic collaborator to future-proof its digital operations.   

She gives a brief overview: “Whelen’s aging WordPress site lacked flexibility and required laborious manual processes to update product images and specs. The Brightspot team immediately saw where improvements could be made and used an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solution to create a spreadsheet of models that eliminated the need to access the CMS at that stage. Then we integrated with Whelen’s DAM to bring in images and PDFs with their metadata. We auto-synced the images to the product pages and the models, so they never have to be updated manually.” For the full story, you can read the case study here.  

Moving onto SEO, Becky notes: “A lot of customers ask us to include an SEO audit in their discovery process, and we have in-house SEO specialists who can assist. We look at areas such as how to target SEO more effectively and where you are currently missing the mark.”  

When global manufacturers have multiple product lines that are not necessarily available or relevant to every location, they need their website to include multi-region capabilities. “Our functionality accommodates this,” says Becky. “For example, we can create a global products catalog that can be viewed across separate regional sites, automatically adjusting to local variations and filtering what is relevant to visitors. This can be done for as many products and regions as required.”  

As digital vulnerabilities and cybersecurity continue to increase in importance to manufacturers, Brightspot’s in-house security expertise ensures clients are kept updated about their system integrity, and the right protections are in place. “We also have tools for assigning and managing user permissions and controlling workflows to ensure governance on any content that requires it,” Becky notes. “Using legal review as an example, for content that needs approval before publication, Brightspot can create custom workflows that won’t allow information to go live before it has achieved the correct permissions.   

“Given the huge role AI is now playing, we are building in AI governance at the ground floor as we continue to expand our AI offerings, as we know that’s vital,” she adds. “That means tracking AI-generated content in the CMS, introducing rules around it and ensuring information is accurate. AI is changing how searches work, and we are keeping up with all the latest capabilities it offers and ensuring clients are benefiting.”  

It’s clear that the level of support available from Brightspot is significant, helping to ease any concerns manufacturers may have about embarking on a major transition of their website. “There will be disruption in an implementation such as this but minimizing it is our top priority,” Becky reassures. “We are very mindful of people’s time and since a lot of the work is done in-house, we are great at putting together project plans, working with all parties and delivering a smooth launch. Ensuring users are trained and development teams are up to speed is also included,” she ends.  

Brightspot is ready to demo its solutions to manufacturers looking to modernize and monetize their website. Get in touch with one of their experts here.  

Article sponsored by Brightspot.