While many companies use B2B content marketing for attracting and retaining customers, the majority doesn’t believe their efforts are successful. “Only 30% of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, down from 38% last year.”

Most are lost when it comes to developing and executing a specific plan for their content. Both marketers and writers need to learn what makes a strategy effective and how they can improve overall client interaction. By doing so, you can have a positive influence on potential buyers without appearing pushy or sales oriented.

Most are lost when it comes to developing and executing a specific plan for their content. Both marketers and writers need to learn what makes a strategy effective and how they can improve overall client interaction. By doing so, you can have a positive influence on potential buyers without appearing pushy or sales oriented.

Essential B2B Marketing Tips to Generate Leads

A strategic content marketing plan includes several crucial steps. Excluding just one of these requirements can have a negative impact on your entire process. The first step involves defining both the target audience and the goal of the content. In order to create killer content, you must be able to recognize and relate to your target audience. Creating buyer personas to better understand the wants and needs of your customers can facilitate this interpersonal relationship and create stronger connections between you and your customer base.

Next, the purpose of your content should be identified. This can involve several options such as generating more shares and referrals, increasing customer engagement, building trust and collecting email addresses. Identifying your content’s purpose makes it easier to measure goals and create a positive experience for readers and consumers.

Examining different social platforms and what they can offer is a great way to start as well. According to Kissmetrics, LinkedIn is the #1 platform to generate leads and convey effective information. Picking the right social platforms for your business is essential in generating the kind of leads you want.

‍

Decide What Types of Content to Employ

An effective B2B marketing strategy should feature several channels of content including blog posts, social media interaction, and videos. Using several methods allows for repurposing content in order to reach potential customers effectively and timely. The type of product or service marketed and the typical buyer persona will also affect what methods of content would be most effective. Think about the lifecycle of your content. If your target customer spends their time switching between Facebook and LinkedIn, once you post your blog to Facebook, take the best points and turn it into a slide deck for LinkedIn. This way you get double the exposure out of a single piece of original content!

You should also consider what their goal or main purpose is when conveying their work. For example, examining specific demographics aids in honing in on what specific channels and strategies would work most effectively.

If your target audience is millennials, for example, blog posts, videos, and infographics are likely to gain more traction than dated marketing strategies. A great example of engaging this generation is showcased by Adobe.

Econsultancy examined Adobe’s strategy when it came to the launch of their Creative Cloud. They engaged a multitude of users by utilizing Twitter, Instagram, and Foursquare. It may be obvious but it makes no sense to use a content method or social media platform that isn’t popular among the target audience group.

‍

Content Planning Techniques

Well-researched B2B content marketing involves generating popular ideas and using keyword research. You need to choose topics that are popular and relevant to the audience. Written content that is appealing to the specified buyer persona ensures the message stays on target and is well focused.

Keyword research and search trends help to determine the exact words and phrases that buyers are using. Adding these valuable terms or keyword phrases to content makes it easier for your potential readers to find your posts, create a bond with current customers, and increase search engine ranking.

Create a Content Outline

Businesses that use several employees to develop their content can benefit from varying streams of thought. This makes valuable information easy to access and helps boost writing quality. An outline should include pertinent information such as your buyer personas, content objectives, and the preferred tone and voice.

The writer or contracted content marketer (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) must also be sure to include a proper call to action. Not encouraging customers to take a specific action defeats the purpose of content marketing. Don’t make it hard for your customers to read more, buy more, or act on whatever your objective is!

Track and Measure Content Success

Always monitor online content marketing results, this way you can decide whether you need to alter your plan or continue with the same methods of success. How success is measured is strongly related to content purpose. For example, a small business that wants to grow their email list would measure their success by the number of new email sign-ups. “Email is one of the best channels at your disposal in online marketing.

It drives traffic to your store, supplements content marketing, and outperforms both Twitter and Facebook for generating sales.

When brand awareness is the goal, social media interaction or website page views the measure used to track results.

Regardless of what measures you set up, ensure that they are reliable and valid so that you can benchmark your success and track your results.