You already know that successful B2B marketing requires a solid strategy. You’ve likely even already attempted to nail one down once or twice. However, the content marketing portion keeps slipping through your fingers. Try as you might, you can’t get that piece to work. What now?
Here are seven practical ways to implement an effective B2B content marketing strategy.
1.) Revisit and Redefine Your Target
Your company probably already has your target markets well-defined. That’s not the problem. The problem is defining a target specifically for digital content. It’s vital to understand how your target uses social media, smart phones, mobile devices, blogs, and search. How do they read their news? Where do they read their news? Your target market can’t be general — it must be specific in order to understand the sort of content that will work for you. With B2B, it’s extra important to figure out which businesses you want to work with and who you’re marketing to within those companies — the decision makers.
2.) Find a Voice that Connects
Finding your B2B voice can take some experimentation. It’s a good idea to brainstorm and come up with a consistent tone before you implement your plan, but remain flexible. Make note of what’s resonating and what isn’t. Increase the successes, decrease the duds. Rinse, repeat.
3.) Create Editorial Calendars
Social media and blogging is at its best when it feels organic and in-the-moment, but that doesn’t mean you have to wing it. Create an overreaching calendar of all your properties that require content and plot out key dates, sales, information, industry news, and other relevant points. Leave enough room to slip in current news or spur-of-the-moment posts, but don’t rely on them. Make sure you’re planning ahead for building up big events or reveals. Keep a running list of topics that are always relevant (“evergreen” content). Use them when you need them, bump them when you don’t.
4.) Utilize Themes and Series Posts
Make your job easier by planning out multiple posts as a series. Tips, tricks, tutorials, webinar of the week, featured employee of the month… there are dozens of possibilities. This negates the need to come up with a fresh idea for every single post — you always have something on standby.
5.) Invest in Hi-Res Images and Sharable Content
Your content should be relevant, sharable, and interesting. Your images should be high-quality, high-resolution, and eye-catching. Infographics are a major draw, so consider ways to share relevant information for the industries your targeting in an succinct and attractive way. Aim for crafting content that is interesting, informative, or entertaining. Focus less on touting your own business and more on what’s relevant to your targets.
6.) Build Trust, Build a Business Case
Once you’ve established a level of reliability and interest in your target market by offering them what they want, move on to what they need and the solutions you offer. When they know they can come to you for good information and trust your knowledge, they’ll be more likely to consider how you can help their business.
7.) Experiment to Increase Conversions
Define your key content pages — the site-hubs on which you’re hoping to bring in inquiries and sales. Create multiple versions with different content, targeting different keywords for search or targeting unique audiences. Try different approaches, then review your site analytics monthly to see what’s hitting home. Use the knowledge for good!
Hopefully these tips have given you a solid foundation on which to build. If you need additional guidance or would like help getting your content marketing strategy off the ground, reach out to us here at zentiv. With over 13 years of experience in the business across dozens of industries, we know what works and we’re happy to share.