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Ultimate checklist for b2b marketing strategy

Steps to Develop End-To-End Content Marketing Strategies for B2B Brands with Examples

The-WHub

Content marketing strategy can be a complex term in businesses today, but the concept of marketing strategy is simple. 

Marketing strategy includes all the steps a brand takes to convert consumers into customers. There are key checkpoints when developing a content marketing strategy. For example, identifying buyers and their pain points, planning, content production, and distribution. 

The industry has many advanced tools to conduct each of these marketing steps. You must understand the strategic framework and know how to use different tools to complete each step.  

This blog presents a detailed guide to B2B content market strategy development along with real-life case studies. You will come across tools used in every step to improve strategic efficiency. 

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?  This explains the importance of building exposure, relevance, and authority in the marketplace using a content marketing strategy. 

We can further break down its importance into various pointers 

  • B2B content strategy helps your brand rank higher on search engines by creating authoritative content relatable to your client profile.   
  • You can get more leads by placing strategically gated content that targets common issues or questions in your niche. 

How to Develop a B2B Content Marketing Strategy? 

We divided the entire process of developing a B2B content marketing strategy into four major parts. These are planning, producing, distributing, and optimizing content.  

Follow the steps given to create informative yet engaging content for your clients. 

Step 1: Planning Content Strategy 

You can’t start building a home before you have the blueprint, can you? You must have a content plan and ensure that all your team stays on the same page.   

Divide content planning into different stages  

1. Define the goal of your marketing campaign  

    Start by brainstorming the goal for your project. T It will be the foundation on which you will develop objectives and a plan. Therefore, the goal needs to be as specific as possible.  

    Tip: We suggest to use the SMART method to define your goal. It breaks down a big concept into four factors, namely, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. 

    2. Team allocation 

    You might already have a team working on your B2B brand marketing strategies. If not, select and hire experts who resonate with your requirements. We have a standard list of experts to onboard a B2B content marketing project. 

    • Writers 
    • Editors 
    • Social media managers 
    • Graphic designers 
    • Audio/video specialists 
    • Web developers 

    You can hire an in-house team before you start exploring the possibilities of your plan. But if you are looking to cut down on your budget you can hire a content creation agency 

    WrittenlyHub has experience working with popular B2B brands. We listen to your needs, research the current market trends, and create content that is best suited for your target audience. 

    3. Identify your target audience 

      You will deliver better if you know your audience. Understand your brand’s product or services and the problems you solve. 

      Based on it create a buyer persona for your B2B brand. Identifying the audience will help you understand their needs, behavior, goals, and concerns. It will also tell you at what buying stage your customer stands. For example, aware, considering, deciding, and delighted. 

      Use this information to produce tailored content and increase your chances of reach and conversions. 

      Tips: Use tools like Google Analytics audience report, customer surveys and polls, Hubspot person, SEMrush persona, and many others. These have easy templates to help you  

      4. Choose your keyword 

      Keywords are impeccable in your journey to rank high on SERPs. Search keywords related to your topic on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools. Use these keywords to guide your content production.  

      Here are some of the best keyword research tools 

      • KWFinder 
      • SEO Powersuite 
      • Ahrefs Keyword explorer 
      • SE ranking 
      • LowFruits 
      • Google’s Keyword Planner 
      • GrowthBar 
      • Long Tail Pro 

      Follow these steps mentioned to get the best keyword bunch for your content. First, make a long keyword list. Second, look for low-competition and high-search volume keywords. Third estimate earning potential and organic CTR.  

      Tip: Remember to choose a mix of long-tail and short-tail keywords.  

      5. Choose your content type 

      You know your marketing goal and target audience. Use these to decide the content types you want to develop. 

      Check out the list of content types to choose from 

      • Guides 
      • Blogs 
      • E-books 
      • Podcasts 
      • How-to videos 
      • Webinars 
      • Product description videos 
      • Charts 
      • Illustrations 
      • Infographics 

      Tip: Always use most of the content groups based on your audience. This will improve user engagement with the brand. 

      6. Create a calendar for your content

      If you are heading a content team, the content calendar is your savior. It will provide a bird’s eye view of the project. You will know what and when of the content publishing game for the brand. A detailed plan of content schedule will keep your team on the right track. 

      Image: We can include a sample content calendar in the image to give a sneak peak to readers. 

      Step 2: Content Production 

      Let’s go back to building the house. Now, you have the blueprint and the raw materials. So, the next obvious step is to start building the house. Similarly, after content planning is done, you will now start content production. 

      Producing content pieces for a campaign may be overwhelming at first look. We have simplified the process into 6 small steps. Follow through to develop B2B content marketing strategies without big struggles.  

      1. Make content outline

      Each content type and piece must have a unique outline. For example, video content must have a script and scene description. On the other hand, blog or email marketing should have an outline of the written content. 

      Tip: Create a general outline for each content type which can act as a template throughout the content production process. 

      2. Draft your content 

      Research before you start drafting the first copy. Try asking yourself these questions: 

      • Which stage of the marketing funnel do my clients lie in now? 
      • What are the challenges they are facing or what are their pain points? 

      A buyer’s journey guides your content creation process. What you must do is create content as a solution to their problems.  

      You should run this draft over several editing cycles.  

      Tip: Ask opinions from others from the industry to keep improving your draft. It will give you various perspectives on the same piece. 

      3. Be organic with the CTA 

      Your audience is randomly scrolling on their phones. Even if your content is interesting, they will not know what to do unless you state it clearly. That is why you should have a clear CTA. 

      Your CTA should be in line with your content and its tonality. Common CTAs are to share the post, engage more, or place an order. 

      4. Keep optimizing your content  

      The factors to rank content on search engines change from time to time. You must optimize accordingly to retain your place on the top results. There are many tricks to optimize your drafts. 

      • Don’t overlook the importance of images. Add images that add value to your buyers  
      • Check that you have a good interlinking strategy. Try keeping the traffic on your website by adding internal links to other b2b content of the same brand.  
      • Eliminate everything that looks like fluff or delivers low value. 

      Tip: Go back to your published content once every year to keep it popping on the first page 

      Step 3: Distribution strategy 

      You have finally built the house and are ready to sell it. But nobody knows about it. Will you be able to make a sale? 

      Nobody can buy your service or product if they don’t see it. Content distribution is the process of planning to publish and circulate your content. Make it reach as many people as you can. 

      Here are some common distribution tactics you can use 

      1. Use social media to your best 

      Research the age group you are targeting and what social media channels they are regular on. Push your content on such channels.  

      Update these contents by linking them to your LinkedIn profiles or websites. You can also embed them in the social media accounts of your organization. This will act as notifications or alerts for your buyers. They will take this as a cue and check out your content. 

      2. Build backlinks  

      You must reach out to other brands in the same niche and build backlinks to your content. This is how you will gain visibility among their customers too. 

      3. E-mail marketing  

      Initially, you can gate-keep your high-value content. You can ask for e-mails or numbers of the visitors. Once you have a list of mail IDs of your potential clients you can use e-mail marketing. At every content launch, reach out to your clients with customized mail to inform them about the new release. 

      Real Life Case Studies  

      We might present you with theories, but you will understand best from examples. So, here are examples of two B2B global giants and an analysis of their content strategy development. 

      Example 1: IBM 

      IBM is a tech giant and has maintained its position as a leader in its niche. The marketing campaign was based on the “Smarter Planet” initiative.   

      IBM already has a fixed target market aligned to its niche. They took a social issue, understood the pain points, and developed the campaign topic.   

      They then identified the need to create educational content in the niche. Therefore, they did not distribute commercial ads for this campaign but became the go-to source for knowledge. 

      They decided on their content types, which were insightful articles on the topic, engaging videos, and discussions on social media channels. They had a uniform tone of voice with the theme “How technology can be used to solve complex social issues”.  

      They selected an omnichannel marketing strategy based on the mass reach they wanted from it.  

      This campaign attracted a large population. From 2008 to 2010, this campaign received 3 billion USD and thousands of new clients.  

      Example 2: Zoom 

      Zoom has a massive target audience. It serves both brands as well as being used for personal communications. They took up the opportunity created for video communication brands during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

      Zoom quickly understood that brands need a reliable and easy-to-use video communication app to continue their daily work easily. They started creating advertisements that highlighted a solution. 

      They projected Zoom as an easy solution for long-distance communication. They addressed all business types as well as individual clients through their content. They used various social media channels to reach potential clients. 

      They created educational content to make people know how to use Zoom and posted it on their social media channels. Catering to user’s pain points Zoom got a massive growth of 418% within a few months.  

      Summing Up the Read 

      Your B2B brand needs to build leadership in its niche. You can help it, follow the steps in this blog to the point.  

      Don’t jump right into the ocean. Try to think about the brand’s goal, figure out a theme, and hire a team. Next, start your brainstorming sessions followed by production and distribution. Go through the case studies more to get the latest ideas for content marketing strategy. 

      Or you can contact WrittenlyHub to get the best results with the least effort. We save you time by developing B2B content marketing strategies for you. Contact our experts today to discuss your requirements and wait to see your brand grow. 

      FAQs 

      1. Are there any brainstorming techniques when I think of content strategies? 

      We can suggest some proven techniques that can give you a creative boost during the process.  

      • Use AI to get some ideas. Try switching your prompt when asking for ideas. 
      • Use resources like mind maps to channel your ideas and have them documented while you sail through your thoughts. 
      • Read a lot about your competitors. 
      • Check out some brainstorming templates that can give some structure to your thought process. 

      2. What are the top-performing content types for B2B? 

      As a B2B brand, your main focus should lie on establishing a leading position and authority in the niche. Therefore, you need more elaborate content types to reach and convert viewers into clients. Here are the top ten content types for B2b content marketing. 

      • Blogs 
      • Whitepapers 
      • Webinars 
      • Podcasts 
      • Case studies  
      • Newsletters 
      • Infographics 
      • Video tutorials 
      • Interactive tools 
      • Technical manuals 

      Do I need to hire a content marketing agency? 

      If you are a B2B brand, you are more inclined to produce and optimize your deliverables. You might come up with a content strategy, but it is unrealistic to expect you will have the best strategy. 

      You need a dedicated team for that. You have two options either to hire an in-house team or to hire an agency. The agency is a better choice on budget as hiring the same number of experienced professionals will need a much higher investment. 

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