If you’re reading this, then you know that the way in which businesses market themselves to prospective customers and clients has changed dramatically over the past several years. Whereas traditionally the B2B buyer process began by communicating with a sales person, today the typical B2B buyer begins their journey by undertaking a considerable amount of research, almost entirely online. The modern buyer demands a substantial amount of information before they even begin to consider turning to a brand’s sales department, and it is vital that brands start adjusting to this dramatic shift in habits.
Given the priority prospective buyers place on high-quality, engaging, and informative content, companies must ensure that their content marketing efforts are up to the task. Brands must be willing and able to take their leads on the long road, gradually building awareness and trust as the buyers develop their opinions and evaluate their options. Here are 5 B2B Content Marketing Tips to help your brand make sure the content it produces is distributed effectively to its target audience.
1. Be Social: Social Media has been a marketing buzzword for years now, and it’s clear why. Social Media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ provide current and potential customers with a powerful tool through which they can communicate and engage with brands, and through which brands can communicate and respond. In many cases, a brand’s Social Media page(s) are one of the first touch points the customer has with a brand, so it is important that your Social Media pages are fully optimized and regularly distributing informative and engaging content. A well-crafted Social Media marketing strategy which uses visual media to grab attention, takes advantage of trending topics, and leverages the audiences of relevant Key Influencers will allow your brand to reach a wider audience than you ever thought possible.
2. Speak with Your Brand Voice: More than ever, the way in which a brand communicates can make or break a campaign. The real-time nature of Social Media platforms and other avenues of online engagement can lead to sloppy or poorly-thought-out Tweets and Facebook posts which could easily come back and bite you. That’s why a comprehensive content marketing strategy demands consistency in the voice distributing content and engaging with potential customers. Maintain a dedicated content marketing team. Know who exactly is responsible for distributing content and what channels they’re using. Conduct thorough research to make sure you are driving the right content to the right audience at the right time and in the right tone.
3. Campaign with Quality Content: No list of content marketing tips would be complete without reminding you that the content you produce and distribute must not only be of high quality but also relevant to your audience. Analyze your target audience profiles to determine what they want, what they’re likely searching for, and how they like to consume content. Find the right balance between different content types, including blog posts, infographics, photos, videos, testimonials, How To guides, Tips, etc. And most importantly, remember that the purpose of content marketing is to provide value to prospective customers, not to make a sales pitch. Your prospects are constantly bombarded with companies trying to sell them something, so most will automatically tune out any aggressive sales messaging. Keep your content meaningful and helpful to your prospects, and they will love you for it. For more info, check out our post Create Content for Each Step in Your Sales Funnel.
4. Tell A Story: There are plenty of so-called “experts” out there who will try to tell you what kind of content is the best. Frankly, there is no “best” content. Nevertheless, one sure-fire way to catch the attention of your audience and keep it is to produce content that tells a story and pulls at their heart strings. Weave a narrative through your content that your prospects can follow. Create customer success stories, video testimonials, and case studies for your prospects to peruse. A well-formulated story can do wonders for keeping your readers interested and clicking through to the next page until they reach the end of your funnel.
5. Get Help: Content marketing is a powerful way to increase brand awareness, reach a wider audience of potential customers, provide prospects with value, and drive them towards making a conversion. However, creating content can be a time consuming process, and determining how exactly to distribute that content to your target audiences can be tricky. That’s why it helps to enlist a professional marketing and advertising firm to assist you in making the most of your content marketing efforts. At Agency 33, we are constantly monitoring the latest trends, keeping up with the newest platforms, and creating relationships with key influencers across a wide variety of industries in order to provide the greatest possible insight for our clients. If you haven’t already, download our eBook How to Create a Comprehensive Digital Marketing Strategy in 10 Steps.
Do not hesitate to contact us so we can begin discussing how best to create, manage, and optimize your content marketing efforts. We’ll even give you a free online asset review when you schedule your initial consultation!
