Marketing to B2B prospects is not the same as promoting to B2C customers.
A B2B buyer typically takes longer to make a purchase decision.
They do more research, consider more alternatives, and are more rigid when it comes to their requirements.
They’re also taking more self-guided journeys now than ever.
This magnifies the importance of high-quality content in B2B sales, especially in reaching and engaging potential clients.
If your business is struggling to reach clients, here are nine content marketing strategies you should definitely use.
1. Transcend blog posts with visual content
Blog articles are reliable in building your authority, generating organic traffic, and nurturing brand loyalty.
But they’re not enough to close deals with high-stakes B2B clients.
Go beyond regular blog posts and immerse leads with a diverse, visual content experience. This includes webinars, downloadable guides, checklists, newsletters, and infographics.
Statistics show that 67% of B2B marketers use static visual content (infographics, charts, photos, etc.). Videos, on the other hand, are used by a whopping 71% of B2B marketers to connect with their audience.
Use visual content creation software to build visual content at scale. Look for solutions that provide intuitive tools, templates, and collaborative features to fast-track the content creation process.
2. Write case studies
Conduct and publish original research to establish your credibility as an information source in your industry.
Remember, B2B prospects mean business. They need the hard facts and numbers before they can be swayed into a purchase.
Case studies, for instance, analyze a product’s performance in the real world. It puts theories to the test and explores the best strategies to achieve optimal results.
To craft a great case study, highlight your experiment and results as soon as you write the headline. Mention numbers to make it more eye-grabbing, like:
- “…grew by 200%”
- “…from 200 to 12,000”
- “…in 30 days”
Case studies can be published as long-form posts or downloadable PDFs. If you have the resources, go with the latter to make your content more compelling.
3. Share client success stories
Let prospects know about your successful clients to show exactly what they can gain from choosing you.
Successful clients combined with brilliant content writing make for engaging success stories.
These content pieces start by sharing the client’s background and emphasizing their pain points to instantly boost relatability. The climax, however, is how they used your product or service to overcome their challenges and attain success.
4. Claim thought leadership with industry reports
Research and compile original statistics related to your industry and package them in an industry report.
This is normally created as a PDF, making it an effective lead magnet if your goal is to build your B2B email list.
Building an industry report is best done with original data. However, some reports supplement their claims with sourced facts from other authoritative brands.
Remember to use data visualizations like graphs, timelines, and charts to make data-driven information more readable.
5. Use interactive content
Create interactive content to engage B2B leads, understand them on a personal level, and build an active community around your business.
Interactive content doesn’t require cutting-edge technology or coding mastery to create.
Social networking platforms come equipped with tools to help brands share interactive content with users. For example, live videos allow them to communicate with their audience in real-time to make the connection feel more organic in the eyes of prospects.
Other networks like Instagram let you share interactive stickers that work on autopilot. You can run polls, answer questions, get user-generated content, and more.
6. Embrace TikTok
B2B marketing and TikTok are more compatible than you think.
Countless consultants, agencies, and entrepreneurs hop on TikTok to share valuable lessons, prove their expertise and achieve thought leadership.
TikTok is a short-form video-sharing platform used by billions of users worldwide. And as long as you have a reasonably-capable smartphone, TikTok has everything you need to publish engaging and authentic content that prospects will enjoy—from video editing tools to trends that boost your visibility.
You just need to learn the language of the community to make relatable content. Observe other creators, copy and paste popular TikTok quotes, and follow trends to maximize your reach.
7. Structure a funnel-based content experience
Great content is meaningless if it’s targeted at the wrong leads.
That’s why every content marketing initiative should be guided by a marketing funnel: the different stages in a buyer’s journey.
This includes the following:
- Awareness: Your lead just found your brand.
- Interest: Your lead interacted with your brand at least once (e.g. signing up for your newsletter)
- Evaluation: Your lead is now checking reviews and learning about your offerings.
- Decision: Your lead bought from you.
- Loyalty: Your lead is a repeat buyer and advocates for your brand.
It’s important to create tailored content experiences specifically for each stage of the marketing funnel.
For example, publish blog posts, infographics, and ads for leads at the top of the funnel. Those in the evaluation stage, on the other hand, should be sent coupon codes via email, free white papers, and customer success stories.
To speed up the content creation process, buy SEO articles from reliable agencies that understand your marketing goals. Just be sure to review their portfolio and test their commitment to clear and accessible communication by reaching out to them yourself.
8. Use content syndication
Content syndication involves re-publishing existing posts on other channels. This is a proven way to improve content discoverability and referral traffic.
Websites like LinkedIn and Medium allow marketers to syndicate content and reach a wider audience.
LinkedIn, in particular, is teeming with B2B contacts. Re-publish your articles there—or add them as highlights on your profile—to get on your prospects’ radars.
9. Implement a content tracking system
Use content performance analysis to figure out which of your strategies are working and which aren’t.
Not even the most gifted content marketers can build flawless campaigns in one go. Marketers can only track their results and make the necessary adjustments.
Double down on strategies that get results, fix what can be improved, and eliminate failing tactics to save resources. In a sphere as grueling as B2B content marketing, you need first-party data to guide your decisions—not just the “best practices” that everyone else is doing.
Conclusion
B2B content marketing may involve more work, research, and dedication. But if you do it right, the payoff will be HUGE.
Use the strategies above to hook, engage, and convert savvy B2B leads. Just remember to track your results and fine-tune your strategies over time.