McDermott: Trends in Offshore Oil & Gas - GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 021, McD | Page 17

So what is the next big thing in marketing communications for Oil & Gas?
Well, you are looking at it right now… You are probably using it 3x-20x per day. It’s in your bag.
Yup, it’s digital marketing right inside your mobile devices.
What we’ve learned from Philip Kotler 10-20 years ago is still valid. The basic principles of
marketing will always stay the same.
What really happened is that the implementation of the basic fundamentals has been disrupted
because of the advancement of technology. For example, the “segmenting-targeting-positioning”
that you learned in college is no longer a valid case for some industries, like solar power consumer
panels, oil pipe suppliers, processed oil manufacturers and small-size power generators. Take a
look at the case study of Hubspot by Harvard Business School Professor Jill Avery.
The concept of segmenting the market, defining your target and positioning your offering is no
longer valid. By using technology, oil & gas companies can do it backwards. From S-T-P to P-T-S,
which means Position your offerings, Target the lucrative customers, then Segment which clients
will go to the priority list. Hubspot’s Inbound marketing can be a successful tool for the energy,
utilities or oil and gas industry.
This will lead me to the second question.
When procurement specialists, maintenance managers, or engineers
search for a particular solution, do marketing professionals know which
keywords they are using?
To understand the process of SEO, PPC, and adwords, you need to understand the industry, your
competitors and your customers. You need to speak the same language. So, how are you going to
do that?
In this specific case study, I have listed the top 30 largest oil and gas companies in the world. What
language, keywords and phrases do they use on their websites, blogs, socials and press releases.
In my honest opinion, if you understand the language of the oil & gas industry, then you can create
an SEO-friendly & compelling inbound marketing content.
Using Platts Top 250 Energy List of 2016, I have segmented the
into 5 categories. To view the complete list of categories and the
corresponding keywords, click this link.