How to Develop a Solid B2B Content Marketing Strategy

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How to Develop a Solid B2B Content Marketing
Strategy

• https//goodmanlantern.com/

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Content marketing is a vital part of any B2B
marketing strategy. Not only is it effective for
generating new leads it is also useful for
nurturing warm leads into sales-readiness. It
also contributes to the entire sales and
marketing pipeline. The stats back this up. The
average B2B customer consumes between three and
five pieces of content before they engage with a
sales rep. 96 of those buyers choose to do
business with organisations who have provided
them with relevant content throughout the buyers
journey. So its clear that an effective content
marketing strategy can have a dramatic impact on
both lead generation and lead quality. There are
two parts to creating an effective content
marketing strategy the content and the
distribution. Whether your content is created
in-house, or its outsourced, you need to be
tactical about your content marketing strategy.
Leads nurtured by content spend up to 47 more,
so you want to make sure your content marketing
is done right.
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FIRST THINGS FIRST

• Content marketing differs in outlook from other
  B2B marketing strategies, because it hinges on
  giving something back to your prospects. Channels
  like email marketing and digital marketing push
  adverts and messages out, asking people who have
  an interest to express it.

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In the short run, they may gain a free
demonstration or trial, and in the long run,
theyll gain a product or solution.With content
marketing, however, youre offering something of
value in exchange for the expression of interest.
These objects of value come in the form of an
insightful or informative medium most commonly,
this is a blog or downloadable asset like an
eBook or whitepaper. It could also be something a
little more varied, such as a video, podcast or
infographic. This content is created with a
double intention to raise interest in your
product or solution, but also to share knowledge
and entice discussion in your field.
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This means prospects are further inclined to
inquire, as theyre thankful for the content and
now thinking about their business needs. But it
also works to nurture those who may not be ready
to buy just yet. After reading a few blogs and
watching a couple of videos, the prospect may
then realize you can help them, and come to you
for a solution. So how is this done? How can you
create an effective content marketing strategy
that generates both hot and warm business leads,
doesnt repeat itself and is consistent in its
results? 
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HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE B2B CONTENT MARKETING
STRATEGY

• Perfect your Buyer Personas
• If youre not already using buyer personas, you
  should be. And if you are, make sure theyre
  perfect. 
• In a nutshell, a buyer persona is a
  representation of your ideal buyer. The more
  information you can attribute to it, the better.
  Make sure youre covering both bigger picture
  factors and more detailed, micro preferences. For
  example
• What industry are they in?
• What facilities do they need for your
  product/solution to work?
• Who is their clientele?
• Whats their annual turnover?
• Whats their business size?

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• Where are they based? These are often similar to
  the questions used in turning a normal business
  lead into a qualified lead. Then look to more
  specific detail
• Whats their job title?
• Whats their seniority?
• Can they make a decision alone?
• Whats their time scale for purchasing?
• Whats their budget?

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• What are their needs?
• Which hours of the day are they in the office?
• What are they already aware of and what do they
  need to know?

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Other Details About B2B Content Marketing

• Pad your buyer persona out with these details.
  Some organizations have two or three different
  personas, where they have several use cases and
  market to varying industries. So why are buyer
  personas important? Once youre in the head of
  your ideal buyer, youll know what language will
  get them excited and intrigued, youll know what
  theyre looking for in research, youll have
  insight into the movements and advancements of
  their industry. This all feeds into making the
  most successful content for your specific
  audience that meets the business needs of your
  desired buyers. Last year, 71 of the
  organizations who exceeded revenue and lead
  generation goals were actively using buyer
  personas.

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This is because a buyer persona allows you to
appear less sales-y in your B2B marketing 81
of those using buyer personas were able to
improve their business proposition and product
value within their content marketing, so they saw
more leads generated! Dont forget buyer
personas change, just like every aspect of
marketing, so ensure you update them at least
every six months. Even if there is little or no
change, this will help ensure all your marketing
channels are tapping into the correct buyer
mind-sets.
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Make an Informed Decisions About Mediums and
Platforms

• Now youve got those buyer personas nailed, lets
  use them to make informed decisions and create an
  effective content marketing strategy.

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Start by asking, what information do our ideal
buyers want to know/consume? Think of broad
topics that apply to your product/solution, like
B2B sales and then delve deeper into niche
topics and subjects, such as sales analytics,
sales call techniques or sales pipeline. Pick
two or three of these broad, big starting points,
and draw five-to-ten detailed areas from each
one. Relate these back to the needs attached to
your buyer persona, also to their industry, job
title and clientele.
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Mediums

• Then you need to ask, how do our ideal buyers
  want to receive this information? Do they want to
  read it, or watch it, or listen to it? Its good
  to offer a variety, as we all have different
  preferences, but here you can rule things out you
  know wont appeal. If youre marketing to a
  persona that enjoys detail and information, then
  a 60-second video is unlikely to spark their
  interest more than a blog, asset or 15-minute
  podcast. Draw up a list of mediums youll
  definitely use. Prepare a list of ones youll
  test and try, and a list of those you dont think
  will work with your buyer persona.

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Platforms to Use for B2B Content Marketing

• Now the final question- where would our ideal
  buyers like to find/interact with our content?
  This is where the strategy deepens and you look
  to the practical use of the content youll make.
  Of course uploading content to your website is a
  must, to grow a community and boost SEO, but
  think about how youll announce and share that
  content, via email, social media, direct mail
  even? Look at all the options through the eyes of
  your ideal buyer. Also, contemplate how often
  they would want to receive content. B2B
  organizations who publish 11 blogs per month
  generate an average of 4x as many business leads!
• Answer all these questions in detail, and youll
  be ready for the next step.

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Create a Content Calendar

• A content calendar for your B2B content marketing
  plans takes time to create but is the key to
  implementing and maintaining an effective content
  marketing strategy. You should be planning out
  every week what content youll publish, when and
  where.
• Start on a large scale apply a broad topic to a
  month or choose a campaign to run the length of a
  quarter, then go deeper. Spread those niche, more
  detailed topics across the assets, blog posts,
  infographics and podcasts for that month. This
  way youll cohesively cover that topic on both a
  surface level detail and a more in-depth, adept
  level of detail in the mediums you deem
  preferable to your ideal buyer.

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Plot titles for each piece on the calendar in the
week you want them published. Also, and describe
where theyll be published, promoted and shared.
Then you need to expand the calendar from a
practicality perspective- when do you need to
start constructing the content to publish on a
certain day? What input will you need from your
internal or external copywriter and/or graphic
designer to complete the content? How many checks
and amendment processes will you undergo? This
content calendar will be what gives your content
marketing that ability to nurture leads through a
journey, along with the ability to run a content
market strategy with the power to bring constant
results and reliable lead quality.
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Be a Thought Leader

• 96 of B2B buyers want more input from thought
  leaders in the content they read. To become one!
  Conduct the appropriate research for B2B content
  marketing and position yourself as a thought
  leader in your field. Whether you choose to
  relate closely to modern influencers in your
  ideal buyers industry, or you aim to carve your
  own path of learning and expertise, make sure
  youre working with reliable resources. Find
  statistics from surveys or academic studies.
  Also, look to different schools of thought within
  your industry, to create content with superior
  knowledge. Set up your own surveys and use the
  results to make benchmark reports. Aim to be
  teachers- your prospects should come to you to
  learn about their industry and find research for
  their own strategies.

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This does wonders for many factors outside of
lead generation. Namely, credibility. The name of
your brand, when positioned as a thought leader,
becomes associated with expertise, knowledge and
trust. This helps all of your B2B marketing
channels by legitimizing their message and
increasing their standing in the market. This
also helps your sales team when leads come their
way, they already believe youre a brilliant
organization and the best in your field, so
closing that sale comes far quicker and easier.
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Track the Right KPIs for Effective B2B Content
Marketing

• With any marketing strategy, the reporting and
  analysis are as crucial as the build-up in its
  success. This is especially true of content
  marketing, where youre running a constant
  campaign and nurturing journey. So make sure you
  not only have a good reporting system in place,
  but youre recording the best metrics to improve
  your strategy.

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There are no right or wrong key performance
indicators to measure as every content marketing
strategy will differ due to its buyer persona.
Its KPIs will of course, also vary. We would
recommend, however, ensuring you have a good
website analytics software, that will enable you
to see the number of views or downloads your
content has achieved. This is a great starting
place to track the reception of your content and
its conversion rate.  Remember, content takes
time to work. Its not as instant as some
channels as it focuses more on the nurture of a
lead. When you launch a new content marketing
strategy, make sure you allow a few weeks for it
to take effect.
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FINAL THOUGHTS

• Content marketing offers that softer approach
  that many buyers not only appreciate but also
  feel a benefit from. So it balances out your B2B
  marketing department where other channels focus
  on getting that instant yes!. Though it seems
  theres loads to do to get started, the
  contribution of an effective content marketing
  strategy to sales and retention is as valuable as
  its B2B lead generation capabilities. So youll
  not only obtain more customers, youll keep them
  too.

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THANKYOU!

• Goodman Lantern

• Phone

• Email

• Website

• 1 9292993999

• hello_at_goodmanlantern.com

• https//goodmanlantern.com/