The Ultimate Checklist for a Foolproof B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Author: Team WH
Published On: 22-02-23
Last Updated on: 14-09-23
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
“Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.” – Milton Hershey
How to promote B2B business effectively?
Content has occupied a dominant position in the life of businesses and consumers alike. It is an especially vital tool in B2B marketing, where businesses leverage quality content to address common problems. It also offers companies an opportunity to showcase the distinctive style of their brand to entice users and increase conversions.
However, creating and publishing impactful content requires a structured B2B content marketing strategy. Businesses must pre-define certain elements that are to be used in all communication about the brand to ensure a consistent experience for website visitors.
But is creating a content strategy as easy as it seems on paper? Let’s delve deeper into the world of B2B content strategy and explore the fundamentals of developing high-quality content that caters to the target business decision-makers.
Defining a B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Consider an example of a B2B company specialising in selling medical devices in the market. The target market for such companies is the medical sector, with clients from pharmaceuticals and hospitals. What happens if this company publishes generalised blogs and other content covering topics from other industries?
Pre-crafting a B2B content marketing strategy is the way to avoid irrelevant content. If potential customers from the medical industry are looking to engage with a medical device manufacturer, they will be more inclined to choose a company that communicates its expertise in the domain through well-researched content.
In simple words, B2B marketing strategies revolve around the creation and distribution of content penned by the business to increase the appeal of their products or services. The B2B content writing could be in various forms, such as blog posts, case studies, videos, landing pages, emails and social media posts.
The primary aim is to communicate the value of the business and convince budding prospects to enter the sales pipeline through an effective marketing approach.
The Importance of a Strong B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Did you know that an estimated 47% of B2B buyers browse through at least three to five content pieces before contacting a salesperson?
If the quality of your pieces appeals to them, you will witness more client conversions for your brand. The importance of B2B marketing can be illustrated with the following:
Soaring Organic Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) dictates the need for authoritative content as one of the most important elements to rank higher in search engine ranking pages (SERPs). When you craft original content in line with the interests of users in your ideal client profile, the search engine algorithm tends to rank your content higher among similar topics.
Easier Leads
How much time and resources do you spend on acquiring information about prospects to launch targeted marketing campaigns? Cut your time in half by delivering content on niche topics in the industry or targeting a common query with a different perspective. After making sure that the content ideas are unique, you can present them as gated content and obtain essential details like the name and email address of the reader.
More Awareness and Visibility
Your content marketing efforts are sure to increase your website traffic, resulting in more prospects gaining familiarity with your brand. Once your brand style and tone are etched into their voice as a result of your resources, you can practise omnichannel marketing to attract their attention on multiple sales channels and convince them to choose your business.
What are the Elements of a Robust B2B Content Marketing Strategy?
The primary goal of a B2B content marketing strategy is to resonate with prospects that fit under the umbrella of ideal customers for your business. This means, more often than not, you would be targeting a specific group of people.
Once you have defined the targeted group or category, it is essential to delve into the basics of developing a B2B content marketing strategy. Some of the essential elements are as follows.
Competitive Keyword Research
SEO has made it easier for brands to focus on increasing organic traffic, eliminating the reliance on paid advertisements. However, SEO is a complex process that includes several variables. One of the most important variables is performing competitive keyword research.
Think of it this way – individuals use popular search engines like Google to address their queries. These queries consist of specific keywords that inform the search algorithm about the nature of the content required and prompt it to showcase the most relevant results on the front page.
Hence, it is vital to analyse competitor pages to find the relevant keywords or use an SEO tool to crawl competitor sites and provide you with the keywords generating the most traffic.
Employing a Mix of Content Types
Contrary to popular belief, content is not limited to words or images. You can increase the appeal of your landing pages or social media websites by including long videos, audio clips or even GIFs. Experiment with different types of content formats before finalising the ideal one for your prospects.
Don’t be pressured to choose only one! You can employ a collection of text, images and videos to avoid monotony in the content and grasp the reader’s attention.
Take the example of eMarketer, a notable research firm. This organisation creates value by publishing blogs and videos, creating podcasts and conducting webinars to cater to all kinds of traffic visiting their websites. Once eMarketer showcases its value through high-quality content pieces, it floats the idea of subscriptions to its users, providing them with the benefit of accessing exclusive data and charts.
Don’t Sleep on the Topic!
Choosing an impactful topic that generates curiosity among the users is the difference you need to increase the appeal of your content marketing campaigns. Even if you create content on a standard and widely-available topic, add a touch of innovation to differentiate it from your competitors.
Consider the example of Deloitte. Being one of the industry leaders in consulting services, you might think that the name of the organisation is enough to assure people of its reliability. But Deloitte maintains a strong market reputation owing to its value-adding content in the form of videos, podcasts, articles and in-depth reports.
The official website of Deloitte offers a separate educational hub for users looking to familiarise themselves with the ins and outs of the consultation industry. This platform offers an option to sort by domains or topics, including popular categorisations like healthcare and chemicals to satiate the readers’ needs.
Map the Content Distribution Process
Congratulations! Using the initial steps, you have successfully developed an idea for the type of content you want to pen for your brand. But that was largely in the domain of content creation. Moving further, it’s time to delve into the content distribution process.
Content creation and distribution are like two peas in a pod. Both are equally important for the content marketing strategy of your business. Hence, before you publish your content, it is vital to decide the dates and plan the schedule for posting on each channel. For instance, if Tuesdays are reserved for Twitter posts, Thursdays can be ideal for Instagram posts or stories.
Space out your content to avoid spamming your followers’ feeds. Simultaneously, ensure that your brand consistently remains on the top of your audience’s minds, making it easier for them to distinguish your brand from the competitors.
Track Leads and Assess Data
Secure insights into the engagement received by your content across several channels. Analyse the average prospect engagement across all channels and determine the limiting factors that inhibit business growth. Tracking metrics is also a great way to assess the stages of the buyer journey and target relevant content.
Data-driven decisions provide a more concise picture of the preferences of your targeted prospects, resulting in better-designed content marketing strategies.
Real-Life B2B Marketing Examples to Inspire You
It is a common misconception that B2B marketing cannot be glamorous since it targets the professional landscape, unlike B2C marketing. However, certain brands have emerged from the crowd with their innovative marketing strategies while receiving favourable responses from relevant businesses worldwide.
Here are some notable B2B content marketing companies.
MailChimp
The creativity and variety in design offered by Mailchimp, a market automation company, are largely unrivalled. The platform uses interactive graphics and attractive colour tones to create great content and capture user attention through its posts.
If you browse through its LinkedIn or Instagram page, you will notice a constant posting schedule where the company highlights the efforts of its community. MailChimp cements its reputation as a reliable and distinct B2B brand, resulting in increased traffic and conversions. The company posted a revenue of $12.7 billion in 2022.
Shopify
Shopify employed one of the most innovative forms of content marketing, using videos to increase brand awareness at a time when companies relied on static images and blog posts. The e-commerce giant perfectly understood the pain points of its target customers and prepared a series of how-to videos and other tutorials for budding and established entrepreneurs looking to amplify business growth.
Through these videos, Shopify also advertised its services to these businesses. It demonstrated its value constantly to assure users of its expertise in the e-commerce domain. If you browse through the social media handles of Shopify, you will also notice how they encourage community participation by uploading the success stories of its existing customers.
Zoom
Zoom is a perfect example of a B2B company that gained content marketing success using a robust digital marketing strategy. In the face of the pandemic, Zoom was suddenly at the forefront of the digital space, with businesses and individuals alike rushing to the platform to conduct business meetings or engage with clients.
However, the problem lay in the fact that Zoom was a new platform. Several individuals were unaware of its interface.
The company quickly sprung to action and went into overdrive, increasing the number of informative blogs detailing the elements of the website. It increased the familiarity of new users with the platform, making them more inclined to purchase subscription plans to continue using the platform.
Additionally, content marketing also helped Zoom introduce its new features to the masses.
Adobe
When talking about B2B businesses, it’s impossible to exclude the computer software giant, Adobe. While the company enjoyed niche popularity during the initial years, it quickly gained a promising reputation in marketing due to its focus on user-generated content.
Whether it was user-submitted designs or photos edited using PhotoShop, Adobe was proactive in encouraging and highlighting these submissions. It leveraged customer testimonials to assure users of its reliability while decreasing the customer acquisition cost.
The company also encourages employees to post about the company’s culture on social media, providing users with a chance to peek into behind-the-scenes activities. Moreover, a glance into the work culture also helps them receive an influx of bright and promising professionals looking to gain employment at the company.
Final Thoughts
A B2B content marketing strategy comprises several variables, each of which adds a distinctive touch to the impact of the campaigns. It is vital to prepare a checklist of all these elements to design an impactful B2B content marketing strategy that differentiates you from the competitors in the market.
Gain inspiration from the examples of notable B2B brands and focus on a narrative that speaks for the uniqueness of your business. Increase brand awareness with a targeted strategy to enable more user engagement and increase conversions in the long term.
So, accelerate your brand growth with a customised B2B marketing approach now, and witness the results in the long run!
