Learn how to leverage B2B content marketing

However, once you’ve got the words down, the challenge becomes how to make the most of them. In B2B, content is usually created for a single purpose – an article, a landing page, a white paper, etc. – but why should it stop there? Different people in different roles almost always rely on different information sources. Some prefer to e-browse an e-book, while others will watch a webinar. You’ll want them both to know what you have to say.

But that’s not all.

You also need to be where they expect to find you. Certain people tend to search for certain information on a certain platform. LinkedIn might be best for reaching middle management, for instance, while CEOs might only trust a respected industry publication. A crude generalisation of course, but you get the point.

But even that’s not all.

It’s also about timing. Different stages of the buying journey have different triggers. By understanding the above, you can not only engage the right people with the right information in the right format, but also at the right time to influence their decisions. Get this wrong, and your content, no matter how good it is, simply won’t be relevant. And make no mistake – relevance is king.

Know your recipients, and your reasons

To win in B2B content marketing you must maintain perspective regarding the content you publish. Don’t force-feed it to people. Work out whether your audience will respond better to easy-to-digest content, or heavy technical details. Do they need to be inspired, or educated? Have they got time to read at all, or do they need to get the message (and retain it) in a swipe of a finger?

So, create a clearly defined picture of your audience and how you want them to perceive and interact with your content. Without that, your efforts will be fragmented and poorly aligned with what your sales teams are saying.

Also, you must be clear about what you want to achieve. Are you building your brand through greater awareness, market education, thought leadership, or trust? Or are you strengthening your pipeline through customer engagement, lead generation, or lead conversion? This will not only help you create better content in the first place, but it will be easier to break it down to be reused in other formats.

Think two steps ahead

Another thing to consider is your long-term game. Successfully nurturing people along the sales funnel is where many businesses fall short. Hitting them with relevant content early on is crucial, but this needs to be reinforced and developed as their interest grows. By integrating marketing automation to your approach, you can keep your audience engaged while strengthening your understanding of what matters to them most at key stages along the way.

Over time, you can increase the sophistication of your automation system, handing out personalised communications based on behaviour such as clicks, survey responses, downloads, and queries. Tracking interests and interactions will also help your sales team to form a stronger pitch when they get the chance to engage.

We can help make this happen

Re-spinning your content from one format to another will not only help you get the most out of your marketing budget, but this will also give you more ways to meet your audience in the format and forum they prefer – and at a time that will make the most difference.

If this sounds interesting, but a little out of reach, then get in touch with us. We have both the experience and the content experts in house to help make this happen. You can drop Managing Partner Ralph Krøyer a line at rk@cbc.dk or call him on +45 35 25 01 75.