Content syndication: Reach a broader audience with online CAD models in more locations

Anyone who has ever bought a home, leased office space or spent time in a trade show booth knows the one immutable law of real estate; “location, location, location.” It’s why a little bungalow in the best neighborhood sells for twice the value it would see in other areas. Location is why the trade show booth in the high-traffic path has the most leads.

The law of location applies not only to physical real estate, but also to “virtual real estate,” that is the location of your product information on the internet. As companies like McDonalds and Starbucks have deftly illustrated with their storefronts, it’s not just quality of the location but sometimes the quantity. It’s a running joke that there is a Starbucks on every corner, but you know what? It works. You can apply the same logic to your digital product information.

Industrial Manufacturers know they are always competing for visibility in a crowded online space. Many have seen the benefits of using their partners, especially distributors to gain exposure. A manufacturer who uses CADENAS eCATALOGsolutions platform to provide online cad models to their users can also provide the same data within their distributor’s websites. This is referred to as “content syndication,” sharing data through various other platforms, including distributor websites.

Sure the name sounds like “Ask Ann Landers” or something, but content syndication is pretty straightforward. Once the online cad models are within the eCATALOGsolutions platform, manufacturers can easily share the data on their partner sites. CADENAS will work with the distributor to embed the same powerful 3D part configurator within their website, enabling their visitors access to the same 3D CAD models.

A key driver for any online part catalog is its ability to drive leads for manufacturer’s, how these leads are routed is up to the Manufacturer (who owns the catalog) and can be done in various ways. Normally, the leads from the distributor site will be sent to the manufacturer for routing to appropriate distributor. This way the manufacturer is able to track their leads and make sure they have visibility to the follow up process.

Sharing data via distributor sites is not the only method of “content syndication,” provided by CADENAS within their eCatalog platform. Other content syndication methods include:

• Native CAD on Web: Your website powered with 3D CAD
• Distributors: Share your configurator and catalog on your distributor websites
• Mobile: Share data with mobile users via the CADENAS 3D CAD app
• Social: Share data via with social sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
• 3D PDF: the best way to share data with users who do not have CAD access, like purchasing.
• Enterprise Systems: Share data to OEM’s via the CADENAS desktop app and get spec’d into major design projects
• Print: Old-school sharing. Use your eCatalog to quickly and accurately generate your print catalog
• Offline Media: Share the entire catalog with users via USB or DVD. Now they can access all of your parts from “behind the firewall”