No matter the kind of goal you have, there is always content you can craft that will be finely tuned to your needs. Even still, 21% of B2B marketers don’t have a content strategy. Don’t fall behind — here are the best tips and practices for the types of content most suggested for B2B brands and businesses.
Content that Converts / Leads to Demos
When you have content that successfully converts, you can spend less time searching for new prospects and instead trust that your product will attract buyers. Explainer videos, for example, can engage audiences at the top of the funnel, helping engage buyer personas and answer their questions about the value of your product or service. Informative video content can always be repurposed into other forms like blog posts or webinars, which will eventually guide leads towards product demos that demonstrate your business’s value via video, chat, screen sharing, and more.
Content for Brand Awareness
How is your company and its products or services perceived? How does your brand compare to its competitors? Brand awareness is not just for the B2C market. Awareness-stage content can involve creating a strong brand voice and actively using it on social media (LinkedIn is a great launchpad for any B2B brand). In addition, build trust with content that shows your brand personality — establish yourself as different than the rest, if you want to create a memorable and meaningful experience for B2B clients. Visual content — from infographics to tutorials — can help you in this area. Remember that original material like customer reviews or testimonials can also contribute to how your brand is seen and recognized.
Content for Lead Generation
To generate a lead means to collect the kind of information from a potential customer that you can later use to personalize all communication with them. This includes name, email, company, job title, and more. You must first evaluate your website landing page and Call to Action. Does the signup form you provide look easy to understand, and does it ask for the right information that you need? You should also consider the number of CTA’s on your page — multiple offers in one page can decrease conversion rates by up to 266%. Remember: email is also a popular lead generation channel, with 77% of B2B marketers using it to generate leads. Thoroughly proofread your message for errors, because all content must reflect positively on your brand.
Content for Immediate Sales vs Building Relationships
B2B businesses take time to make purchasing decisions — in fact, it takes an average of 7 decision-makers for the B2B purchasing process to complete. In contrast, B2C consumers can simply see a product or service they like, and decide to buy on the spot. Content for B2B buyers needs to be made for building and nurturing relationships, rather than immediate sales. The content you create and publish needs to strategically reflect the different steps of a B2B buyer’s journey, from problem identification to the purchase decision.
Though B2C and B2B buyer journeys differ, B2B content can still be just as fun and exciting as B2C content, not just boring facts and figures! Borrow a few tactics from B2C marketers — consider incorporating internet trends into your marketing campaigns to give your work a more light-hearted flavor. Remember that touching emotions through storytelling is always an effective approach, and avoid taking your content too seriously. No matter what strategy you use, you can still be creative and get the job done with B2B content marketing!