What is B2B Content Marketing?

With 75% of the world now being online, content marketing is quickly overtaking traditional marketing strategies. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content. The goal? To attract, obtain, and retain customers online.

Today, content marketing expands to include optimized content not only for search engines to get your copy in front of users, but optimized for the reader to provide useful information. Now more than ever, using personalized content aimed at a specific audience target drives desired results.

Read on to discover just a handful of the countless benefits your business can enjoy from building a content marketing strategy.

 

Why Does Your Company Need a B2B Content Marketing Strategy?

At this point, you may be asking yourself: why do you need B2B content marketing when your business seems to be doing just fine? I’d ask if, as a business owner, you are okay with “just fine.” Or do you want optimal revenue generation and reduced operating expenses?

If you said “yes” to the latter, read to see our top 6 reasons that B2B businesses need a content marketing strategy to succeed:

 

1. Content Increases Brand Awareness

Most of all, B2B content increases your brand awareness. Pump up your brand reach and awareness among potential clients or in new markets by regularly distributing authoritative content.

Content marketing strategies should include multiple channels and formats to maximize your awareness across the web:

• Social media platforms and relevant groups
• Blogs
• Websites
• Email newsletters
• Video
• Ebooks
• Infographics

To boost results, make sure your content is organized in a designated resource center. This will make it easier for your audience to find, filter, and share your posts.

 

 

2. Optimized Content Attracts More Website Traffic

Sharing original content also attracts more users to your website. Your website is the heart of your online presence. Search engines pick up the messaging in these new pieces of content and serve them up to those looking for answers to their questions or solutions to their problems.

Leveraging these SEO techniques can increase your content’s visibility and lead to more website traffic:

• Performing keyword research
• Including backlinks from reputable sources
• Promoting your content on social media platforms
• Targeting long tail keywords for better search visibility
• Generating quality meta titles and descriptions
• Implementing schema markup

Just remember to be cautious when using keywords to boost your rankings. It can be tempting to stuff your target keywords into your content as many times as possible. But doing so will make your content sound unnatural and can actually hurt your website traffic.

 

3. Audience-Targeted Content Generates Qualified Leads

All of your efforts to boost brand awareness and website traffic will be worth it if you can turn those users into qualified leads. By providing valuable resources, users will want to learn from what you are offering by downloading your content.

Content marketing helps convert first-time site visitors into new leads for your internal sales teams. Sharing original content builds trust between prospects and your brand since users can read all about your products and services prior to contact. Then, once prospects reach out, it’s easier for sales teams to close deals in the long run.

By understanding your customers’ wants and needs through effective content creation, you can help create engaging experiences that lead directly to more conversions.

 

4. Drives Social Media Engagement

Build a community on your social media accounts. Social media platforms are a primary driver for B2B content marketing distribution. With a finely tuned strategy, you can continue to grow this community. And with a consistent posting schedule, you can start gaining new clients.

 

 

Here are just a few ideas for how you can use content to elevate your social media strategy:

• Create relevant, engaging social media posts that capture the attention of your target audience.
• Identify key influencers in the B2B space and build relationships with them to extend your content’s reach.
• Utilize visuals such as videos, images, or infographics to drive higher levels of engagement on social media platforms.
• Leverage SEO principles when creating content for social media posts to reach more potential customers.
• Promote your content through multiple channels including organic and paid social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
• Monitor performance metrics associated and continuously refine tactics as needed.

 

5. Enhances Email Marketing Efforts

An important component of content marketing is an email strategy. This includes:

• Newsletters
• Email automation
• Product/service emails
• Event announcements
• Discount offers
• And much more!

All of these campaigns help take a user that downloads a piece of content down the funnel toward lead conversion. Just remember to resist the urge to bombard your subscribers with multiple emails every week. Doing so can cause your customers to unsubscribe and think less positively about your brand.

 

6. Positions You as an Industry Thought Leader

Your business can gain trust and authority in your industry through B2B content marketing. Providing continuous, relevant, and personalized content to industry decision-makers will help you build trust over time.

Writing content can help highlight your brand’s expertise in a particular field by sharing success stories or case studies from past projects. This content will help establish your business as a reliable source of knowledge and insight on topics related to your industry.

Additionally, by creating engaging content that is tailored to your audience(s), you can demonstrate your organization’s commitment to understanding and serving customers’ needs.

Does your content have what it takes to get noticed by your ideal audience? Find out by downloading your FREE content audit template.

 

 

Ready to Make B2B Content Marketing Part of Your Growth Strategy?

Whether you’re a global B2B company increasing your budget or you’re still deciding if content marketing is right for you, our team can guide you in the right direction.

Reach out to us today to start the discussion and discover how B2B content marketing can help achieve your business goals.