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Do you need help attracting and retaining B2B customers?
Look no further than B2B content marketing.
Creating and sharing valuable content can position your brand as a leading expert and build trust with your target audience.
But where do you start?
This article will explore the ins and outs of B2B content marketing and how it can take your business to new heights.
Let’s get started!
What Is B2B Content Marketing?
B2B content marketing is a technique that aims to provide useful content to your intended audience to draw their attention, interact with them, and gain new leads and customers while also keeping your current ones engaged.
B2B brands focus on various content formats that demonstrate their expertise and help buyers resolve their pain points.
Importance Of Content Marketing For B2B Companies
A study by Semrush shows that 91% of marketing professionals succeeded with their content marketing in 2021.
But it’s not just about creating content but about creating value for your target audience's lives.
Using content marketing as part of a business’s marketing strategy increased after the COVID-19 pandemic by 207%.
B2B content marketing aims to inform, educate, and engage prospective buyers by addressing their pain points and solving their problems.
Effective B2B content marketing helps your company become a thought leader in your specific industry, which leads to increased brand recognition, trust, and credibility.
It can generate high-quality leads, increase website traffic, and drive revenue.
B2B Content Marketing Vs. B2C Content Marketing
In 2023, most B2B (91%) and B2C (86%) marketers will use content marketing.
Regarding B2C and B2B content marketing, some key differences are important to understand.
B2C marketing tends to focus on simple and quick purchase journeys, where a customer discovers a business and makes a purchase relatively quickly.
On the other hand, B2B content marketing is about nurturing prospects over a longer period, often weeks or months, through a complex purchase funnel.
Regardless of whether you are targeting consumers or businesses, the goal of content marketing is the same: to use great content to engage your audience and ultimately drive a strong return on investment.
Creating valuable, informative, and entertaining content builds connections with potential customers, which is essential for success, as it fosters trust and sets you apart from the competition.
How To Create B2B Content Marketing Campaign
Now that we understand B2B content marketing, let's explore how to make the most of this marketing strategy.
There are several factors to consider, so let's dive in and see how to make it work for us the best.
Goals: Define Your Objectives
Having clear goals is mandatory when creating a marketing strategy so that you can use them to track your progress.
You must follow the SMART approach, which means your goals should be
- Specific,
- Measurable,
- Achievable,
- Relevant,
- Time-bound.
This means you should aim for a clear, realistic goal that you can achieve within a certain amount of time.
It should also be something you can measure to see if you have made any progress.
To set SMART goals, you must ask yourself what you want to reach and how you will get there.
Determine Your Customer Personas
Your audience is the most essential part of your business.
According to a report by Cintell, companies that use customer personas in their marketing strategies are twice as likely to exceed their ROI versus those that do not.
The reason you create content is to turn your viewers into paying customers.
So, ensuring your content meets their unique demands and needs is crucial.
If your audience does not connect with your content, they will never move further down the sales funnel.
But how do you figure out who your audience is?
You must gather information to create buyer personas representing your perfect customers.
Then, divide your potential audience into smaller subgroups based on factors like buyer behavior.
Decide whether you want to focus on all these subgroups or just a few specific ones.
Once you identify your audience, you can create content catering to their needs.
Targeting B2B Audiences
To market to B2B audiences effectively, businesses need to understand their needs and priorities, such as cost, reliability, and ROI.
You can achieve this by conducting market research, analyzing industry trends, and talking to current customers.
Once you understand the target audience, businesses can create valuable content through whitepapers, case studies, videos, webinars, blog posts, or other formats.
By providing value to B2B audiences, businesses can establish themselves as trusted resources and build long-lasting relationships with potential customers.
Micro-Targeting: Targeting The Right Customers
To deliver content to your target audience effectively, it is essential to use the right keywords.
You can achieve it by microtargeting, using data analytics to understand your audience's behavior and preferences, and combining their search terms into your content.
By tailoring your content to their interests, you will increase your chances of generating awareness and growing your business.
According to a study by Adlucent, organizations that use microtargeting techniques see a 2.5 times higher click-through rate (CTR) and a 50% decrease in cost-per-click (CPC) compared to traditional targeting methods.
Competitor Analysis: The Key To Succeed In Your Niche
In this competitive market, businesses must identify their unique selling point (USP) to stand out.
Businesses can differentiate themselves and attract potential customers by emphasizing their strengths and what sets them apart.
Researching the target audience and competitors can provide valuable insights for building a strong USP.
According to a study by McKinsey, businesses that regularly conduct competitor analysis are twice as likely to experience above-average profitability compared to those that do not.
Content Reach With Multi-Layered Strategies
Words are powerful.
You should use many of them to impress your audience and showcase your industry knowledge.
But too much text can be overwhelming.
If your readers face an endless stream of unbroken paragraphs, they might quickly lose interest.
A report by HubSpot showed that blogs with 2,250 to 2,500 words received the most organic traffic and social shares, which means people get bored of reading too much plain text.
The solution is to use multi-layered content!
When you combine various media, you create a more visually engaging experience for your audience.
For example, you could include plenty of informative text to educate your readers and break up the text with images that illustrate your points.
If you want to offer a more interactive experience, you can also include videos.
Measure Your Results And Make Informed Decisions
Now that you have set your SMART goals, how do you know if you are progressing toward achieving them?
Google Analytics is the solution.
By closely monitoring your B2B marketing metrics and KPIs, you can gain valuable insights into what works and what does not.
This information helps you focus on the most effective areas and grow your business more efficiently.
Prioritize Link Building
Serpstat conducted an extensive study on link building, asking them about the effects of link building on their businesses.
55.7 believed link building increases SEO results, and only 6.5% rated low for the effectiveness of link building.
Have you ever considered collaborating with other businesses to boost your brand exposure?
Exchanging guest posts is one of the best ways to achieve such a goal.
This is a chance to showcase your connections to your audience.
If your audience sees that other industry leaders want to collaborate with you, they are more likely to immediately trust you, which can lead to them exploring your services.
Conversely, niche and expose your brand to a new audience.
The best part is that it is completely free, providing a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Promote Content On Multiple Platforms
Have you ever considered where your potential customers hang out online?
After carefully researching your audience and their online behavior, it is time to reach out to them with a targeted marketing campaign.
Here are some tips that could help:
- Ensure your website is discoverable in search engines.
- Consider running a paid advertising campaign. Paid advertisements can quickly boost your search engine ranking for specific keywords.
Besides Google Ads and LinkedIn, you can also run paid ads on popular social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
Coming Up With New Content Ideas Consistently
Creating new content consistently can be a big challenge for content marketers, especially those who have been doing it for a while.
One great way to find new topics is to see what people talk about on social media.
You can use many online tools, such as BuzzSumo.
It lets you know what is getting attention across all the major social networks in real time.
From there, you can create content that offers a new perspective on popular topics or even take a stance that goes against the norm, called Contrarian Content Marketing.
When developing new content ideas, consider what your audience wants to read and what they hope to accomplish by reading it. In other words, you must consider user intent too.
3 Top Channels For B2B Content Marketing
You have created some excellent content, but now what?
How do you ensure it reaches your target audience?
That is where content distribution comes in: getting your content out there through different media channels.
Here are three popular channels that work well for B2B content marketing:
Proper Use Of Owned Media
It refers to online platforms that a company controls completely.
They are digital properties owned by businesses that allow them to share their message and interact with their audience.
Here are the four main owned media channels:
- Website: Your website or blog is like your home in the digital world. It is where your content lives and your brand voice shines through. Besides sharing your content, you can also use it to share news and updates about your company.
- Mobile Apps: Mobile apps have different purposes depending on the product or service you offer, but they can be a great way to share your website's content.
- Email Marketing: Building a solid subscriber base for your email list can be challenging, but the return on investment for email marketing is well worth the effort. Studies show that B2B email marketing is the most effective channel to generate revenue
- with 59% of B2B marketers agreeing with this statement.
- Forum: Forums can be an excellent way to connect with your community and facilitate conversations between members. You can use the forum to answer frequently asked questions, start discussions, and even invite experts in your industry to share their insights on relevant topics.
-
Earned And Shared Media
Earned media is when other people or entities share your content.
It happens when your content goes viral or customers talk about your product or service to others.
Here is a list of the best examples of earned and shared media:
- Guest Blogging: It is an excellent way to show your experience and become a thought leader in your industry. Building relationships with journalists and publications can increase your chances of being featured on their websites with thought-provoking pieces, PR coverage, or interviews. It helps you reach more audiences and establish credibility within your field.
- Brand Collaborations: Collaboration is key in B2B marketing. Brands that offer complementary products/services can come together and create content for the same audience. This way, they can leverage each other's customer base and expand their reach. Collaboration comes in many forms, such as an e-book, research paper, conference, or webinar.
- Brand Synonymity is when people use your brand name to describe a product or action, like when someone says, "I'll Venmo you" instead of "I'll send you money electronically." It's a sign that your brand has become so well-known that it has become a part of everyday language. For example, when people say they will "Google" something, they search for it online.
- Social Media: It is tricky when categorizing it as owned or earned media because the rules and algorithms of social media platforms influence your social media presence.
Paid Media
Paid media is a way to get your message out to your target audience by purchasing ad slots on digital platforms like social media channels, search engines, and websites.
There are different pricing models for paid media, but the two most common are cost per click (CPC) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM).
The following examples are the best-paid media:
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM): To improve your website's visibility on SERPs, use search engine marketing for relevant keywords. Because of being expensive and competitive, SEM is not ideal for smaller brands.
- Display Advertising: To spread the word about your content, you can buy advertising space on different websites through display ads.
- Social Media Advertising: Platforms such as Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter)Podcasts cover a broad range of subjects, from up-to-the-minute happenings to updates in various industries, from conversing with experts to getting insights from thought leaders., Instagram and LinkedIn let you advertise your content to the most likely to be interested.
- Native Advertising: This type of display advertising blends seamlessly into the platform where it is displayed.
- Influencer Marketing is like having a famous person endorse your product or service. It involves partnering with experts or influencers in your industry to promote your content on their social media accounts. It helps you achieve a wider audience and build credibility. However, in B2B, influencer marketing is less common than in other content distribution channels.
3 Benefits Of Content Marketing For B2B Companies
B2B content marketing is an important aspect that influences almost all areas of marketing.
B2B marketers can benefit from content marketing in three ways:
Leading The Way: Establishing Thought Leadership
An excellent content marketing strategy helps your brand get noticed and showcases your expertise. By becoming an authority, you can gain recognition and trust, which are critical content marketing objectives.
Moreover, thought leadership helps you get featured in popular industry publications and earn backlinks that boost your SEO, resulting in more significant influence.
According to a survey by Edelman and LinkedIn, 55% of decision-makers use thought leadership to find organizations they may hire, and 61% are willing to pay a premium for a company that delivers thought leadership.
EEAT: The Key To Dominating Your Niche In SEO
Regarding SEO, Google took serious action in 2014 by cracking down on websites offering medical and health advice.
Google not only wanted the content to be relevant but also wanted it to be accurate and trustworthy.
This led to the search engine giant prioritizing websites with high Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EAT) in their respective fields.
Google used these criteria to evaluate and rank content based on quality.
However, in December 2022, Google updated EAT to EEAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to emphasize the importance of Authoritiveness alongside Expertise and Trustworthiness. To give you a quick run-through:
- Google added this new feature of Authoritativeness to fight against spreading misinformation and fake news.
- It suggests that content pieces that recognized authorities write in a particular field should weigh more in search rankings.
- EEAT helps users find more reliable and accurate information.
- It suggests that Expertise alone is insufficient, and users must prioritize Authoritative sources to ensure their search results are credible.
To create EEAT content, Google offers guidelines that B2B brands can use to produce helpful content and guest blogs on trustworthy resources, gradually building their authority over time.
Power Your Business With Qualified Leads
Content marketing is a great way to attract traffic to your website.
By offering gated content like webinars, e-books, and whitepapers, you can guide your visitors through the marketing funnel and determine sales-ready leads based on their behavior.
This approach empowers your sales team to close more deals quickly and efficiently.
The above statistics show that 60% of B2B marketers believe successful content marketing can result in lead generation and lead qualification.
Top 12 Content Formats For B2B Content Marketing
Content creation is essential in content marketing, which is one of the key elements in building a successful business. Let's examine how you can create compelling content that resonates with your audience and humanizes your brand.
B2B Blogging
Blog posts are crucial for their SEO benefits. That’s why data shows that 91% of B2B businesses have a blog.
B2B blogs that produce educational content obtain 52% more organic traffic than those that primarily offer company-related information.
Only 29% of B2B organizations permit comments on blog postings.
According to 31% of B2B organizations, short articles are the highest-performing content.
Not only do they help your website rank higher on search engines, but they also serve as a primary way to share your content with your audience.
Blog posts can vary in length, typically 500 to 4000 words, depending on the topic and the level of detail you want to cover.
Use Infographics
Infographics are a fantastic way to present information in a condensed and visually appealing format. They rely on graphics, charts, icons, images, and short text to deliver an easily understandable message.
You can use infographics for various purposes, such as making comparisons, giving an overview, showing trends, and explaining complex processes and workflows.
Infographics have a much higher likelihood of being read compared to text articles, being read 30 times more often.
Additionally, they can significantly boost the number of backlinks generated, potentially increasing 37% compared to text-only content.
Gated Content Resources
Gated content conversion rates can go as high as 45%!
Gated content requires users to provide their personal information, like their name and email address, in exchange for access to the content.
It is an essential aspect of B2B content marketing, allowing marketers to generate leads and move them through the sales funnel.
Gated content resources are typically more comprehensive and valuable than regular blog posts, providing users in-depth knowledge of specific topics.
By filling out a form to access this content, users give the marketers helpful information that can help them tailor future content and marketing efforts to their needs.
Influence Your Audience With Video Marketing
From how-to videos and branded content to influencer marketing and product reviews, videos offer a dynamic and engaging way to connect with your audience.
B2B marketers explore a range of video formats to find the best-fitting videos for marketing their products or services. For example, webinars and live video streaming are excellent options for providing real-time education and interacting with viewers.
By embracing B2B video marketing, marketers can connect with their audience more authentically and engagingly, build trust and authority, and ultimately drive more leads and sales.
According to Forbes, 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read the text, and 92% of B2B customers watch videos online.
Podcast For B2B Marketing
77% of podcast listeners tune in while doing other things, such as driving, exercising, or working.
That shows that podcasts are a fantastic way to learn and be entertained while on the go. With the rise of audio streaming services and podcast distribution platforms, podcasts have become increasingly popular.
Marketers have jumped at the opportunity to reach a wider audience through this medium. And it shows that 74% of B2B marketers include podcasts in their content marketing strategy.
Podcasts cover a broad range of subjects, from up-to-the-minute happenings to updates in various industries, from conversing with experts to getting insights from thought leaders.
By creating engaging and informative podcasts that provide valuable insights and information to their audience, B2B marketers can increase brand awareness, establish themselves as thought leaders, and drive more leads and sales.
Conduct Your Own Research Study
A research study can provide valuable insights for improving B2B content marketing strategy.
It starts with identifying the problem and reviewing existing research. Then, collecting data is important, and analyzing the data using software is necessary. Interpretation of the findings and application to the marketing strategy is key. Lastly, presenting the results in a report or presentation is important to suggest the next steps.
White Paper For Your Business
A TechTarget report says that 91% of IT customers claim that white papers are the second-most effective type of content in the buying process.
A white paper is like a detailed report businesses use to show their expertise and provide solutions to their target audience. A few tips when creating a white paper:
- It should have a catchy title and a brief content summary to make it enjoyable.
- Also, it starts with an introduction that presents the problem, followed by a background section that gives more context.
- The main content is where the author provides solutions and insights, and including real-life examples makes it more relatable.
- The conclusion should summarize the key points and include a call to action.
Consider Webinars
A webinar is an online event where businesses can connect with a specific audience. Webinars are the go-to strategy, as seen with the data that shows 62% of B2B marketers use webinars for thought leadership and 61% for lead generation.
It should have a clear and relevant topic, knowledgeable and engaging hosts and panelists, informative content presented clearly and organized, and interactive elements to succeed.
Promoting the webinar through various channels and following up with attendees after the event can help build relationships and generate leads.
Webinars can increase B2B content marketing leads by up to 69%. Also, the average conversion rate for webinar registrations to attendees is 44%.
Use Case Studies
A case study is a story that demonstrates how a business's product or service helped solve an actual client's problem.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, case studies are utilized by 73% of successful content marketers, while they only include 61% of the content they create.
It should clearly explain the problem and solution and include real-life examples, data, and testimonials to be effective.
It should have a well-structured narrative and engaging visuals.
Additionally, including a clear call to action can trigger potential customers to take the next step.
Share Free Templates And Checklists
Are you finding it difficult to produce high-quality content for your B2B marketing strategies? Do not worry; you are not alone.
Developing fresh and engaging ideas can be challenging while ensuring your content is effective and on-brand. That is where free templates and checklists come in!
These handy tools can help make the content creation process much smoother and more efficient. Think of templates and checklists as your trusty sidekicks to support and guide you every step of the way.
They can help you organize thoughts, prioritize tasks, and track progress. They will also help you create a consistent style and tone across all your content so your audience knows exactly what to expect.
You can find templates for developing a content strategy, planning an editorial calendar, designing email newsletters, and creating case studies. Checklists can guide you through keyword research, social media posting, blog post creation, and more.
Power Of Tools In Your Content Marketing
Do you want to avoid spending endless hours on B2B content creation without seeing the desired results?
The power of B2B marketing tools can help you make your content marketing journey efficient and effective.
According to a report by the Content Marketing Institute, 61% of B2B marketers use marketing automation tools, and 50% use social media management tools.
With various tools available for content creation, management, optimization, and analysis, think of them as your assistants to automate and streamline time-consuming tasks.
Effective Use Of Newsletters
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 81% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the most used form of content marketing.
Newsletters can be a powerful tool for effective B2B content marketing.
To make them successful, it is important to tailor them to the interests and needs of your target audience, providing valuable content with industry insights, tips, tricks, and exclusive promotions.
Using visually appealing elements such as images and videos can make the newsletter more engaging.
Sending the newsletter regularly helps you build trust and consistency with subscribers.
By investing in a valuable and visually appealing newsletter, B2B marketers can drive website traffic and build trust with their subscribers.
B2B Content Marketing Tactics
In B2B content marketing, the aim is to produce valuable and engaging content that addresses your intended audience.
Businesses must be strategic and focus on delivering content that educates, informs, and ultimately drives leads and sales.
Here are the best B2B content marketing tactics to implement and benefit the most:
Make Use Of LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a community of over 900 million professionals worldwide, where businesses can connect with their audience personally, share their knowledge and expertise, and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
According to 40% of B2B marketers, LinkedIn is the best way to get high-quality leads.
Infact, A majority of B2B marketers, 89%, use LinkedIn for lead generation, and 62% find it effective in producing leads.
By sharing authentic stories and engaging with the community, businesses can create a sense of connection and trust with their audience, which leads to business opportunities.
LinkedIn also offers advertising options with targeting features, allowing businesses to reach their intended audience effectively.
Facebook, Twitter, And Other Social Platforms
Social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, X, and Instagram are places where people connect and share their stories worldwide.
As a business, you can use these platforms to engage with your audience personally, build relationships, and showcase your brand.
The following chart shows a complete comparison of all of these platforms to ensure you will be choosing the right platform for your business activities:
As you see, LinkedIn is the most popular B2B content marketing platform, with a large user base of decision-makers and high engagement rates.
Facebook has a broad user base but may not be as effective for B2B content marketing as other platforms.
Twitter is good for real-time engagement and conversations, while Instagram and TikTok are primarily B2C platforms but can still be useful for brand awareness and engagement with younger audiences.
Paid Promotion
Paid promotion effectively allows businesses to reach their target audience and achieve business goals.
It helps companies to expand their reach, attract new customers, and drive business results.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a great way for businesses to connect with potential customers and establish lasting relationships.
By sending targeted messages and valuable content, businesses establish themselves as a trustworthy source of information and increase conversions and sales.
SEO
SEO is an important aspect of B2B content marketing, helping businesses attract potential customers searching for products or services in their industry.
Creating and optimizing high-quality content for search engines allows businesses to establish themselves as a trustworthy source of information and attract the right audience.
SEO is a cost-effective and humanized approach to content marketing that can drive results over the long term.
Here are some interesting facts about SEO in 2022, according to SEJ + Moz:
B2B Content Marketing Strategies
Having a solid strategy is necessary regarding B2B content marketing.
You must clearly understand what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it.
This involves considering four important elements:
- Brand positioning
- Owned media value proposition
- Business case
- Strategic plan.
First, let's differentiate between strategy and tactics to understand why a strategy is crucial.
Strategy is what you will do, while tactics are how you will do it.
Your content strategy should define the reasons behind content marketing and outline what you expect to gain from it. Without a strategy, you may work blindly, one of the biggest mistakes you can make in content marketing.
You might have heard advice like "publish a blog post every day" or "write lots of 500-word blog posts to rank higher on Google". However, these are just myths and are not true.
A solid content marketing strategy helps you to have a clear plan, which you can execute and measure to provide direction and justify the investment. This way, you can avoid working blindly and achieve your desired outcomes.
So, let's get started!
Create Your Customer Personas
Understanding your customers in B2B is even more important than B2C.
According to Econsultancy, creating customer personas is the best way to do this.
These personas are based on analyzing and researching real customers, which helps you build a detailed picture of your hypothetical customer.
You can learn about their motivations, what they value in a brand, and how they prefer to communicate, among other things.
Once you have identified your different customer groups and deeply understand their needs and preferences, you can create a customized tailored marketing strategy for each group.
Release Market Research Reports
Market research reports are the best type of content that businesses can create for other businesses.
They offer a wide range of benefits that different types of content cannot match.
They can attract many visitors to your website and generate many shares on social media.
But the most significant advantage of these studies is their ability to create numerous backlinks, which can significantly improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.
These reports also provide valuable data that can support your claims and make your content more trustworthy.
By publishing high-quality industry studies, you can establish yourself as a credible source of information that other blogs and websites in your industry will reference.
Remember to make your study freely accessible as an article or blog post.
You must also be transparent about your study's methodology and results, which can help build trust and credibility with your audience.
By creating high-quality market research reports and following these two tips, you can maximize the benefits of this type of content and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Dispatch Weekly Updates via Email
The Content Marketing Institute surveyed that 31% of B2B companies leverage email newsletters as a lead nurturing tool.
A regular newsletter can be a powerful way to build your brand and reach more people.
Every time you send a newsletter, it puts your business in front of thousands of potential customers, keeping your brand in mind and reminding people that you exist.
Over time, this regular exposure builds trust and credibility with your audience, making them more likely to purchase from you when needed.
By consistently delivering valuable content through your newsletter, you can establish your business as a trusted authority and create a loyal following of customers who appreciate your expertise and insights.
Experiment with LinkedIn Content
According to available data, the usage of LinkedIn is widespread among B2B marketers, with 81% of them leveraging the platform.
LinkedIn is widely recognized as the top social network for B2B marketing, and for good reason.
Its focus on professional connections and business-oriented content provides a platform for B2B marketers to reach their target audience.
LinkedIn's organic reach remains relatively high compared to other social media platforms, meaning businesses can get a larger audience without paid ads.
Regarding LinkedIn, both text-based content and video have proven effective formats.
In addition to regular posts, users can publish articles on the platform, although these may not receive as much reach as other types of content.
Still, articles can be a valuable way to engage with your audience and establish thought leadership within your industry.
Ultimately, the key to success on LinkedIn, as with any social media platform, is maintaining a consistent presence and keeping your audience engaged with high-quality, relevant content.
Produce Content Manuals
According to Google, an overwhelming majority of published content, approximately 94%, does not receive any backlinks.
Have you ever wondered why most content does not get any backlinks?
Well, it is not just because of the millions of blog posts, news articles, emails, and YouTube videos that flood the internet daily. It is also because most B2B content is not great and does not deserve to be linked. But fear not; there is a solution: Complete guides!
If you do them correctly, complete guides are worth reading and sharing. They even have a good chance of ranking well on Google, making them excellent for SEO.
However, creating complete guides is not easy.
Creating a comprehensive guide takes a lot of time and effort. It can take 5 to 10 times longer than a traditional blog post. But the payoff is worth it.
A recent study on search engine ranking factors found that longer content ranks better in Google.
If you want to create content that stands out and earns valuable backlinks, consider investing time and effort into creating complete guides.
B2B Video Content: A Smart Investment
Did you know that most businesses now use video as part of their content marketing?
According to Wyzowl, it's a whopping 91%!
If you thought videos were only for B2C businesses, think again. A survey showed that 53% of tech-focused B2B buyers found videos to be the most useful type of content.
Many B2B brands tend to overlook video as a powerful tool for their marketing efforts.
Instead, they stick to the usual formats like blog posts and reports.
Although traditional content formats still have their place, incorporating video into your content marketing strategy can be a game-changer for your business.
If you are worried about the time and effort it takes to create videos from scratch, do not be.
You can repurpose existing content, such as blog posts and reports, to make high-quality videos to engage your audience and drive results.
Boost Your Content through Email Marketing
Creating great content is only half the battle for B2B marketing.
Promoting your content can be challenging, especially when traditional distribution channels like Instagram and Pinterest may not be effective for B2B audiences.
Thankfully, email outreach is a tried and true method for getting your B2B content in front of the right people.
One approach is to send targeted outreach emails to bloggers and journalists who cover your industry. You can also use newsletters to promote your content, but the strategy will depend on your newsletter type. Most people sign up to hear about the latest content, so the newsletters should focus on sharing the new posts.
On the other hand, newsletters focus on the latest trends, so you should mention recent posts as PS at the bottom to promote content subscribers might enjoy.
By tailoring your email promotion strategy to your audience's interests and preferences, you can effectively promote your B2B content and simultaneously provide value to your subscribers.
Pick Commercial Intent Keywords
Basically, when it comes to finding topics to cover in your content, keyword research can be beneficial, even if you are not necessarily focused on optimizing search engines.
The tricky part is figuring out which keywords are relevant to your customer persona, especially when searching for things related to their work.
But there is a trick you can use to find the right keywords:
- Find a competitor's website that ranks well for many different keywords.
- Use a tool to analyze their rankings and filter the keywords by cost per click.
- Focus on keywords with a high CPC, which typically means they have high commercial intent.
In other words, people who search for those keywords will likely be interested in buying something related to that topic.
The only downside is that these high-intent keywords often have low search volumes, but it is worth it if someone searches specifically for what you offer.
Comprehending Your Sales Funnel
To succeed with B2B content marketing, knowing how the content you create aligns with the different stages of your sales funnel is crucial.
In B2B marketing, sales funnels tend to be more complicated than B2C business because converting a lead into a prospect takes longer.
While a basic sales funnel is easy to understand, many B2B sales funnels are far more intricate.
To make the most of your content marketing, take the time to work with your sales team and other departments to comprehend what your specific funnel looks like entirely.
This lets you create an effective strategy to target leads at every stage.
Establish Objectives
To create compelling content, you should have a clear understanding of why you are making it and what you hope to achieve with it. This involves setting goals for each piece of content to measure its success.
You can list down the purpose of content in several ways, such as:
- Rank on search engines
- Attracting links
- Leading prospects through the sales funnel
- Generating social engagement
- Raising awareness.
Therefore, the goals you set for your content could include things like
- The number of leads generated
- Organic traffic
- Social reach and engagement
- Search engine rankings
- Quality links earned
- The impact on your brand's visibility
Best Examples Of B2B Content Marketing
Here is a list of the top B2B content marketing examples you can learn from and rearrange your content marketing strategies accordingly.
Case Study
One of the best instances of B2B content marketing comes from HubSpot, which provides marketing and sales software.
They produce an annual report called "The State of Inbound," which offers insights into the latest trends, challenges, and strategies in the inbound marketing industry.
The report has successfully attracted and engaged B2B audiences, with over 50,000 downloads in its first year alone.
HubSpot uses a variety of tactics to promote the report, including B2B social media marketing, email marketing, and paid promotion.
They also create additional content around the report, such as blog posts and webinars, to extend its reach and provide additional value to their audience.
The success of the "State of Inbound" report lies in its focus on providing valuable insights and data-driven analysis.
HubSpot addresses the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing marketers and salespeople, positioning itself as a trusted advisor in the industry.
This helps attract new customers and gain loyalty and advocacy among existing customers.
Original Research
It is an excellent example of how B2B content marketing can provide value and insights to businesses.
Aira is a digital marketing agency specializing in link building, and the report offers valuable information about the industry.
The report is based on a survey of hundreds of SEO professionals worldwide.
This approach provides a comprehensive view of the latest link-building trends, challenges, and strategies.
Aira uses various tactics, such as email marketing, social media, and paid promotion to promote the report.
They also create additional content around the report, such as blog posts and webinars, to extend its reach and provide additional value to their audience.
Opinion
- "The End of the Funnel is a Lie"
Imagine browsing your LinkedIn feed and coming across an article titled "The End of the Funnel is a Lie."
Intrigued by the provocative title, you click on the article and begin reading.
In the article, you find Sangram Vajre, the Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Terminus, challenging the widely accepted concept of the sales funnel.
He argues that the traditional model does not accurately reflect the complexity of today's B2B sales process, which involves multiple decision-makers and a long sales cycle.
Instead, Vajre proposes a new framework called the "account-based funnel," which focuses on identifying and engaging with the key decision-makers at target accounts throughout the sales cycle.
Then, you decide to share the article with your colleagues and discuss the implications of this new model.
Through social media promotion and active engagement with its audience, Terminus was able to leverage this content to build its brand and establish credibility in the B2B marketing space.
Free Tool
- Boost Your Keyword Research Efficiency by Integrating Search Intent Classification
Have you ever encountered a guide explaining a complex concept and offering a free tool to implement the knowledge?
That is what Lazarina Stoy's search intent classification guide does, which is truly impressive.
Providing free tools is an excellent way to attract attention, build brand awareness, and convert your audience into leads if you offer a product or service.
It simplifies the rather intricate idea of search intent-focused keyword research. It encourages readers to implement what they have learned through the free Google Data Studio tool in the guide.
The main takeaway from this guide is that giving advice is one thing, but giving your audience the tools to act upon it is what truly sets you apart.
So, if you want to establish credibility and strengthen your relationship with your audience, offering practical tools like Lazarina Stoy's free Google Data Studio tool is an excellent way to start.
Statistics
It is a powerful tool in content marketing as it offers a way to back up your claims and demonstrate your expertise.
In fact, using statistics in your content marketing strategy can significantly increase engagement, build trust, and establish credibility with your target audience.
In addition to bolstering your content with data-driven statistics, using statistics in your content marketing can also help you track the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Collecting and analyzing data allows you to spot patterns and trends in your audience's behavior. This helps you fine-tune your content to maximize engagement and conversion rates.
Trends
Knowing what the latest trends are can be a great way to ensure your content marketing strategies remain relevant and effective.
By analyzing the current trends in your industry, you gain insights into the topics that are top of mind for your audience.
You can then use this information to create content that details their pain points and offers solutions to their problems.
To gain the trust and earn credibility with your customers and prospects, it is important to anticipate their needs and concerns and proactively address them.
The result? Increase in brand awareness, customer loyalty, and, business growth.
Get Your B2B Content Buzzing with AI bees
Though B2B marketing is continuously evolving, one thing remains constant: content is king.
With the right content marketing strategies, businesses can elevate themselves as thought leaders in their industry, build brand awareness, and generate leads.
There are various tactics that businesses can use to deliver content to their target audience.
By providing valuable insights, sharing personal experiences, and offering practical tools, you can establish a deep connection with your audience and ultimately drive more conversions.
It is also important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and statistics.
Check out AI bees if you want a comprehensive content marketing solution that utilizes Artificial Intelligence to analyze your audience and tailor your content accordingly.
With AI bees, you can create content that resonates with your audience and drives results.
By keeping up with the latest trends and strategies and cooperating with powerful assistants like AI bees, you can establish a strong online presence and drive growth for your business.
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