Let’s run through what is content marketing and how you can build a great content strategy for your B2B audience.
Table of Contents
What Content Marketing Means
Content marketing is very different from content writing. Marketing your content is a technique that writers usually master over time.
Digital content marketing is a technique that you adopt to do the following:
- Identify your readers
- Create relevant and consistent content for them
- Interest them
- Convert them into leads
Did you know content marketing doesn’t come in a single form? There are various means that can promote content marketing. Here’s a list of our favorites:
- Infographics
- Blogging
- Podcasts
- Videos
- E-books
- Emailers
- Social Media
All these digital marketing routes contain unique content types. However, each of them follow the same roadmap – inform, engage and influence.
Content marketing experts use their skills to generate diverse content patterns. Each of these patterns must suit the needs of their respective channels. Let’s explore some examples. In the event that you find valuable data in a new online source, attempt to confirm it somewhere else before joining it into your discourse.
Example 1: Infographics
These graphically represent information. An infographic may include statistics, charts, graphs, etc. to convey content to readers.
Example 2: Blogging
Interestingly, you can turn your blog into a content marketing magnet. This means that you can use your blog to first engage, then drive. Lead your readers to your social media sites, YouTube channel, E-commerce page, etc.
Having broadly understood “content marketing”, now let’s look at how it would help to build a B2B strategy.
Building a B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Content Marketing Institute mentions that content marketing fetches 3x more leadsthan paid search advertising.
Also, a HubSpot market statistics says that 72% of marketers have quoted that building a good content strategy was “key to their success in 2018”.
Brainvire, a global IT consulting firm, rightly says, “B2B audience buyers are also considered as consumer buyers….The business-to-business buyers have started expecting a business-to-customer-like experience when purchasing from the vendor.”
Therefore, a B2B content marketing strategy is equally important to its B2C counterpart. It’s good to ensure that your well-laid content marketing piece contains the following:
- Strategy
- Clearly defined buyer personas
- Key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Disparity / creativity
- Promotions
Your B2B audience will want the following from your content:
- Clear answers to their questions
- A solution for their business problems
- Competition study
- Reviews / testimonials
- Pricing proposal
Your B2B content should be empowering enough for the audience to know that you possess strong knowledge of their domain and business needs.
Here is a quick guide on building a B2B content marketing strategy that you’ll love:
1. B2B audience-Perform a Content Audit
It’s the way in which you catalogue and analyse all the content on your website, including its performance matrix. It helps you to judge where you could improve your content writing skills and optimise published content.
2. B2B audience-Brainstorm Content Ideas
Variety is a key factor in B2B content marketing. After identifying who needs what, you should understand how you can keep them engaged. You can discuss with cross-functional teams. That could help you with newer ideas on the same topic.
3. B2B audience-Create need-based content (user-generated content)
Your B2B content marketing strategy is more successful if you create need-base content. You not just identify who your audience is, but also what they need. Whom do they trust? For example, B2B prospects will increase for Brainvire when it makes headlines.
4. B2B audience-Keyword and Search Intent
A search engine optimised content would produce better results than one that is not. It’s good to research what your audience is looking for, and feed them with the same. Target high search terms having low competition.
5. Topic Clusters
Search engines are constantly developing. Today they’re also concerned about what topics are covered. They analyse if a search query is being justified. A typical cluster content will have several sub-topics under the main topic, so that your audience can understand your content better.
6. Research your Competitors
Stay updated with how your competitors are building their B2B content marketing strategies. Check out:
- Where they post
- How they promote
- Whom they influence / engage
- Their reactions and follower sentiment
- Search rank and ranking keywords
B2B Content Marketing Strategy for Tech Companies
B2B IT companies could use the following tips to boost their content marketing strategies:
- Tweak your content to empower your audience. Suggest them which technologies help them manage their businesses better.
- Highlight the journey of your product / service. Story of your failure and recovery could create a great impact.
- Explain your audience with simplicity. Educate them thoroughly about your offering, especially if it’s complex.
Often, B2B tech companies offer services / solutions that appear complicated (in the beginning). Mostly that’s because they target buyers with a niche need.
The more unique is the requirement, the more challenging is the deal.
Therefore, content marketing plays a significant role for such B2B tech companies. The content that goes live should be very convincing and simple.
One question you should ask yourself about your B2B content marketing strategy –
“Does your content connect with your audience?”
An important part of your content writing technique should be that it’s personalised. Your content should be able to build a relationship with the reader. It would create just so much impact if your reader feels that s/he is having a one-on-one conversation with you. It’s almost like you’ve not “written” the content; you’re speaking it.
Now this is most effective if you’re not just selling your brand. Did you know that you could explore so many B2B content marketing goals?
Yes, there are endless possibilities with what you could do to your content!