I wrote this post as part of a project I did recently on content marketing. And with this in mind, I want to point out that I am by no means an expert – but instead, very curious and learning. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this post and do let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
You might think you don’t need to utilise content marketing if you’re Business-to-Business – but the truth is, by not using it, you’re missing out on leads and growth. There are effective and proven strategies out there that will help growth, and by that, I mean increased traffic, leads and sales. Sounds good, right?
Show Businesses That You Care
An important thing to remember is that the people you are trying to sell your products or services to aren’t robots or AI behind a screen – they’re humans. Demonstrating an understanding of what exactly it is that you can offer will not only lead to potential revenue but will also help to build a relationship between your business and customers.
It may also be worth putting yourself in your potential target buyer’s shoes too. Your marketing strategy should be focused on solving the business challenges faced by your customer – that’s the reason they’re reaching out for a product or service in the first place, right? In this way, content can be used to show that your company cares about the same things as your customers.
Know Your Audience
The more you know about your customers, the more information you have to create content they will engage with. This is where looking at demographics comes in useful, so you can make data-driven decisions that are impactful and ensure you are creating content that your target customer base is much more likely to engage with.
A great way to find out information and establish your audience is through creating a buyer persona, which is essentially a character profile. You can establish one of these through different market research techniques such as conducting interviews, surveys, and polls on social media. Looking at your site analytics will also allow you to gain insightful information such as keywords used to find you, where your visitors came from, and how long they spent on your site and on each page.
By taking the time to do your research and create a key buyer persona for your company, you’ll be able to create winning content that reflects what your buyers are looking for and make you stand out amongst competitors.
Your Content Has Unlimited Potential
A big draw to utilising content marketing is that it’s very cost-effective and affordable. Although it may appear at first to be more expensive than more traditional marketing methods such as paid Ads, in the long run, the price of content marketing well and truly pays off.
And this has a lot to do with reusing and recycling your content. Content has unlimited potential once created. This means that a blog post could be turned into several social media posts, or a video for YouTube could be optimised for LinkedIn and your website. The more content is repurposed, the cheaper it costs long-term. But it is important to remember not to neglect creativity if you plan to reuse your content.
The Power of SEO
Another benefit of using content marketing is that it allows your business to build organic traffic from search engines. This is also why keeping a blog full of informative content comes in useful. Creating lots of useful blog articles that are informative and effective, and which can be found by keywords, gives search engines such as Google more to index. This means your articles will then appear in search results when potential customers search for keywords that are relevant to your product or service. Your article can be found repeatedly over time on search engines too, demonstrating another reason why content marketing is cost-effective in the long run.
When buyers are doing online research, and they come across your website or blog multiple times, they will also be more inclined to stay on your website and find out more instead of looking at your competitors.
Choosing the Right Platform For You
The number of digital media channels is ever-increasing, meaning the number of potential avenues that can be utilised to connect with buyers is also increasing. Choosing which digital platforms to use is something that you should consider when trying to connect with potential buyers. It’s also something that you will likely need to diversify at times as trends and platforms evolve.
The fact that there are a multitude of different platforms is something you can use to your advantage. The more potential buyers are exposed to your content and your brand name, the more they’re being surrounded by the idea of your business, and the more they are likely to trust and connect with your brand.
The Bottom Line…
From the reading I’ve done as well as my own opinion, it seems content marketing works for B2B. It’s reliable, cost-effective and vitally important in growing your business reach, leading to increased traffic, leads and sales. Content marketing is key for B2B survival and is an effective strategy to attract other businesses to your business, converting them into long-term customers.
B2B = Business-to-Business – this is basically a transaction between two businesses, for example, this might include a wholesaler and a retailer or a manufacturer and a retailer.
A MEDIATED WORLD 