What Is Content Marketing And Why Is It Important For B2B Companies?
Any thriving B2B marketing agency knows that well-thought-out content connects businesses with target audiences and moves them further down the sales funnel. Creating content like blog posts, videos, and webinars keeps your potential clients engaged and builds brand awareness. It also gives you the opportunity to showcase how you can help companies tackle everyday problems with your product or service without pressuring them into a sale. Another notable advantage is that content can be evergreen and repurposed as long as the message is still relevant.
Content marketing in B2B creates more inbound than outbound leads, meaning you have to invest less time and resources. But how do you capture your audience's attention? Storytelling is your key to success. People value exposure to new ideas, so they will appreciate your unique insights. These will not only enlighten them but also garner admiration for your intuition. After you've facilitated such a connection with your audience, encourage them to come to you for more information. Don't forget that you also need to know your buyer personas when marketing content. You can't be successful in attracting customers unless you understand their needs, concerns, and preferences. So, create a variety of personas and craft content that fits each of their profiles.
How Can You Generate Compelling Content Ideas?
A business-to-business marketing strategy involves a packed editorial calendar that keeps your target audience on its toes and hooked on your content. But how can you create a steady stream of content marketing ideas that engage people? Well, user-generated content should be at the top of your B2B marketing strategy. It offers honest, authentic, and relatable insights you can easily gather. For instance, you may track your mentions on LinkedIn, pick the most glowing reviews and comments, and promote them on social media platforms after you've received permission. Another way to leverage LinkedIn is by choosing third-party content your core audience engages with and sharing it to build trusting relationships with other publications. Moreover, you can create videos that increase visibility and establish expertise. For instance, you may conduct and film interviews with your executives and offer invaluable insights, or document a typical day in your office and how your team of seasoned professionals works. Lastly, ask your customers to share their success stories after opting for your B2B content marketing services.
How Do You Promote B2B Content?
1. Identify Your Goals And Target Audience
Before embarking on your B2B content marketing journey, you must identify your main goals and objectives. Is your aim to generate more leads and increase sales? Do you want to increase your social media following and brand awareness? After you've answered these questions, you should research your target audience holistically and identify their needs, preferences, and pain points. Only after you've pinpointed your core audience will you be able to create intriguing content for them. But beware—you may need to run segmented campaigns to fit the multiple buyer personas you've created.
2. Conduct Content Audits
To improve your B2B marketing strategy, you should audit your existing content, looking for any weak spots and keeping note of what has attracted leads. While creating new content can be exciting, you may already possess older material that hasn't been utilized properly. So, why not update old content and make it relevant to recent trends? Or even repurpose articles into a lead generation eBook? Or you may need to delete old low-quality posts that harm your B2B product marketing efforts. Bad content can also negatively affect your performance on Google's search engine rankings. Basically, you should pay attention to the engagement rate of each post and either delete or update content that appears to drive clients away.
3. Send Weekly Digital Newsletters
No B2B content marketing strategy is strong enough without newsletters. They are a top tool for targeting your audience's needs and providing them with solutions to their problems. You may even personalize each newsletter to cater specifically to a brand. In addition, the subject line should be catchy and grab everyone's attention at first glance. Investing in regular newsletters fosters trust between you and your client base, as you keep them up to date on industry trends and new products and services you are launching.
4. Create Content For All Funnel Stages
The content marketing funnel consists of three stages. At the top of the funnel (ToFu), businesses realize an issue they are facing. At the middle of the funnel (MoFu), they acknowledge their need to find a solution, while at the bottom of the funnel (BoFu), they decide to jump on your ship to receive the help they need. Your B2B content marketing strategy should align with these stages. First, you need to build brand awareness and use content that generates more visitors for your website. Then, you should promote material that educates companies on your solutions and processes. In the end, customer reviews, feedback, and real-life case studies should prove to clients why they should sign up for your services.
5. Build Topical Authority
Content marketers know how important building topical authority is for search engines to identify your website as a trustworthy and relevant source in your niche. SEO should be at the forefront of your B2B blog strategy since you'll need to use various key phrases to rank high in searches. There are two ways to build topical authority: externally and internally. The former refers to positive mentions your business receives from other publications. Even when they don't link back to your website, they still create a positive image of you. With internal authority, on the other hand, you are responsible for publishing optimized content regularly and building credibility yourself. Link building and backlinks are key to improving your authority.
6. Distribute Strategically
Part of your B2B content strategy is distributing content tactically to reach your target audience. So, which channels can you leverage? Five popular options are blogs, email marketing, social media, syndication, and paid ads. B2B marketers often choose both organic and paid tactics to increase traffic and boost sales. Whatever you opt to do, make sure to measure your stats to check what works best. You don't want to keep spending resources on channels that don't increase conversion.
What Are Some Good Examples Of B2B Marketing Content?
Canva
The graphic design platform proves why digital marketing for B2B companies can deliver triumphant results. Thanks to the actionable bite-sized tips they share on social media, they keep their audience engaged. Not only do they create informative blog posts, but their Design School also features various educational courses. On top of that, they publish case studies that prove their success. You can even download marketing toolkits and templates so you can start designing your business logo and other graphics.
American Express
In 2007, AmEx launched OPEN Forum, an interactive hub where experts share their advice on marketing, hiring, and developing with small business owners. Soon, the platform welcomed millions of users, and the voices of experts from all over the world helped engagement levels skyrocket. The company showed that a positive and honest attitude can bring in customers and help them choose the right medium. Their B2B content marketing strategy has always been flexible, jumping from brochures to social media as the internet became popular.
Slack
How did Slack manage to attract 8000 users in the first 24 hours after its launch? Their meteoric success is attributed to their brilliant B2B content marketing strategy. Instead of using specific keywords, they guide customers to their directory landing pages. They are so successful that over 94% of their traffic is direct. Also, their email marketing does not focus on spamming users with annoying messages but on continuing their in-app experience. They send timely emails and only when there is a reason to communicate. Moreover, the company shares customer stories, including those of large companies like Canva, OpenAI, and BBC.
The Most Effective Types Of Content For B2B Audiences
White Papers And eBooks
How exactly do white papers and eBooks fit into your B2B content marketing strategy? They aim to convince customers to purchase after they become aware of your brand and start considering your services. You have the opportunity to talk about a common industry issue and present the data you gathered through research. As a result, you establish your business as an authority. At the same time, you explain how you can solve the problem. However, you should not concentrate solely on promoting your brand or your products. Customers don't want to feel like they are being forced to buy.
Articles
The best B2B marketing strategies utilize articles to build brand awareness and push clients further down the sales funnel. As your article topics become more complex, you can start adding links to B2B marketing guides that explain things further and present potential buyers with your services. To create engaging and high-performing blog posts, you should first invest in SEO so your content ranks high on searches. All touching points should be backed by research and scientifically proven data to increase your credibility. And don't forget to publish thought leadership articles once in a while to prove why your opinion matters.
Infographics
Infographics are a wonderful way to impart easily comprehensible knowledge to your B2B audiences. You don't necessarily have to create flowcharts, as they are not the most appealing infographic type in B2B marketing. You may use timelines to show how a service in your industry has changed over time. Or, you can gather statistics you've scattered around your website and make them into an infographic. Other ideas you can implement include step-by-step processes, maps, top lists, and comparisons. Don't be shy; compare your service or product with a competitor to highlight your winning areas and stand out. After all, promoting your unique selling point is very important.
Podcasts And Webinars
As podcasts have become tremendously popular, you can implement them in your B2B content marketing strategy. They offer you the chance to discuss burning matters with your panel of speakers or your company's executives. You can invite experts in your field, too, and conduct highly informative interviews. Another option is to host webinars to take engagement to the next level, showcase your product, and hopefully convert attendees into paying customers.
Testimonials
Another useful B2B marketing tip is incorporating your satisfied customers' experiences in your content strategy. It's the social proof you need to strengthen brand awareness and increase credibility and trustworthiness. No matter how well you promote your business, having your buyers explain how your services helped solve their problems enhances your integrity. This way, other companies can relate to these stories and feel like they can be one of them. Don't you read reviews before buying something online? This is exactly what businesses do when searching for a service to foster growth.
LinkedIn Content
Most B2B marketers are active on LinkedIn since it is the preferred social platform for B2B product marketing. You can create content exclusively for the platform or share blog posts, videos, and any other material on your profile. Thus, you target your core audience, building awareness, driving traffic to your website, and converting leads. Compared to Facebook, LinkedIn is much more effective in creating organic traffic, although you may opt for paid advertising options if you want to target more people and specific demographics. So, learning how to use LinkedIn groups to grow your business is vital.
Industries That Can Leverage B2B Marketing When Targeting The eLearning Market
eLearning Solutions
Text-to-speech software, authoring tools, Learning Management Systems (LMSs), AI software, animation software, and video editing software providers can all reap the rewards of content marketing. Another ideal eLearning niche that can benefit from it is content providers. Through email marketing, social media promotions, webinars and podcasts, and SEO, you can build brand awareness and propel yourself ahead of your competition. Not only do customers become aware of your unique offerings, but they also start building trust with your brand. E-E-A-T blog posts are especially effective in showcasing your experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Another B2B marketing tip is utilizing Subject Matter Expert (SME) reviews. Having an authoritative figure in your niche acknowledge your brand and share their stories creates even more credibility around your name.
Human Resources
Crafting a B2B content marketing strategy is essential for recruitment companies and businesses focusing on providing staffing solutions. From onboarding software, Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), Human Capital Management (HCM), Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), and payroll systems to time tracking software, recruiting software, and applicant tracking systems, you must ensure your B2B marketer knows how to promote these features. You may also need to market your employee engagement software, workforce management software, employee scheduling software, and employee recognition software. Having a great product means very little if you don't promote it successfully. By creating a B2B content marketing plan, you initiate growth and foster long-lasting partnerships.
Most Common B2B Content Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
One of the most frequent missteps companies make is focusing mostly on lead capture instead of lead generation. Therefore, they may invest a lot of money in paid ads, third-party campaigns, and cold calling. Instead of these measures that often prove to be fruitless, you can start hosting webinars, expressing your expert insights, or inviting other respected figures in your industry. Publishing eBooks, podcasts, and full guides are all solid B2B content marketing tips. Another mistake you should avoid is not producing content for all stages of the sales funnel. Your content must be multilayered to correspond to every step of the buyer's journey. Remember that creating and posting content every once in a while is damaging, as consistency is key. But how will you know whether your B2B content marketing strategy is a success? Well, by measuring the right metrics. It might take weeks or even months, but you need to keep an eye on them because they will help guide your marketing efforts moving forward.
Care to learn more? You'll enjoy reading these:
- Common Content Marketing Mistakes You Want To Avoid When Targeting The eLearning Community
- 4 Secrets Content Marketing Experts Don't Want You To Know
Key Takeaway
Crafting an intriguing B2B content marketing plan is undoubtedly a powerful tool any B2B company can have in its arsenal. The increasing competition and digitization of promotion practices make digital marketing crucial in building brand awareness and fostering trusting relationships. Now that every business is on social media, creating content to reach your target B2B audience and generate leads is vital. It also means that you should elevate the quality of your content to stand out from the crowd. This practice should go hand-in-hand with SEO to improve your position on SERPs. Besides, what's the point of having a great product or service if customers can't reach you?
