You may think that inbound marketing tactics are primarily only for B2C businesses but, with 95% of B2B buyers considering content as trustworthy when evaluating a company, it’s clear to see that creating engaging and insightful text, videos and images is important for all companies.
A well-structured plan plays an important role in the overall marketing mix of your company, including promoting key messages and building trust with key stakeholders. By generating appealing blogs and other digital content, you are influencing people in a positive way, not coming across as ‘interruptive’ but delivering useful information tied to your product and sector. Despite the obvious benefits, in 2017 only 46% of marketers had a structured strategy, even though 92% view content as a business asset.If you’re still deciding on your plan, take a look at our guide to help you draft appealing content for your readers. The right approach takes time to perfect, but it is worth the effort, both to get a jump on your competitors, and reap the benefits of making content a key component of your overall marketing approach:
Position your business as an authority
Rather than adverts or sales brochures, which give you the opportunity littered with messages about your team’s experience or knowledge, content marketing gives you the platform and structure to prove your expertise.
Whether it is a well-written blog about the challenges facing your industry, or social media posts highlighting best practice – putting out information that clearly demonstrates how well you understand not just your sector, but the sectors your target market operates in, will attract attention and position you as a brand that people feel confident engaging with.
Generate quality web traffic
The idea behind content marketing, and your overall B2B inbound strategy, is to pull prospects into your marketing funnel, allowing you the opportunity to convert them into solid sales leads, without the need for heavy-handed sales pitches.
As a B2B business, the chances are your company addresses a very specific need for others, whether that is providing raw materials, services or advice. Use this as a basis for your material; think about the questions people ask and put the information they need at their fingertips.
Think about the FAQ section of your website or speak to your sales staff about common barriers they come up against, then address them directly in your plan. For instance, if you provide IT security why not produce a series of videos with your chief programmer, discussing the three most popular misconceptions around storing important information online.
A cost-effective strategy
When it comes to investing in new business generation, content marketing more than pulls its weight - costing 62% less than outbound marketing and, on average, generating three times as many leads. The key to ensuring a strong ROI rests on ensuring that the material you’re producing is clear, relevant and directly addresses questions from your target audience.
Even as the amount of material you produce continues to build, you may find that the majority of traffic can be sourced back to a handful of updates. These will usually be well researched, full of links allowing visitors to explore the topic further if they wish and address a direct concern for people operating in the sector.
With other benefits, including increased brand loyalty, SEO and higher conversions, the reasons to get into content marketing continues to grow.
To find out more about how to produce a programme of activity that works, take a look at our overview, or contact us today and have a chat with our content marketing experts.
