Last updated on October 26th, 2022
B2B content marketing is defined as a marketing approach that involves attracting and retaining business through strategic marketing with the ultimate aim of converting them to actionable leads. While the ultimate goal of B2B marketing might be the same as B2C marketing, one must remember that B2B marketing often aims to forge long-term relations.
The foundation of a B2B relationship is thus the trust between the two businesses. Buyers want to be certain about to who they’re making a long-term commitment, and it thus falls upon the service provider to effectively build that level of confidence among their potential leads.
This begs the question – how should marketers think of B2B content marketing to drive the best possible results? We’ve detailed an approach that’s sure to help you achieve your content marketing goals going ahead. Read on to find out more.
B2B Content Marketing Practices That Drive Results
1. Write to Convert, and Not Always to Rank Higher on Search Engines
Content marketers across industries have always given keyword research a very high priority. This helps their content rank higher on search engines, which inevitably gives them the visibility that every brand aims to achieve on the web. However, in this quest to constantly rank higher, marketers often optimize content solely for keywords, rather than tuning it to drive meaningful conversions.
In fact, using keywords in a few strategic places such as the title, subheaders, and a few times across the body is more than adequate. The larger focus, however, must be on answering the user’s query. This approach is one that’ll benefit you in the long term, as opposed to simply focusing on ranking higher. The reason behind this is that while being higher up on the list of search results might give you more clicks, people will see through your content if it doesn’t really give them the answers they’re looking for, taking them more often than not to your competitor’s website. Creating content based on ‘user intent’ is the way to go.
2. Create Content That’s Both Evergreen and Answers Specific Questions
The ideal B2B content marketing strategy must include creating two types of content – that which answers specific questions and holds true over time.
At WittyPen, for example, while it would certainly make sense for us to create content that provides a guide, as we have done here, the fact remains that by 2022, it will become largely redundant. On the other hand, if we were to create content on the topic of what we’ve learned from SEO over the past decade, or about the myths surrounding hiring in-house writers, viz-a-viz the benefits of freelance writers, we’d have content that continues to remain evergreen and relevant through the years.
However, to maintain this content as evergreen, this content must be revised and updated with time, and also constantly interlinked with newer content produced as part of your marketing efforts. This approach ensures that your content is more reliable and that your blog is a one-stop shop for all the necessary information in your domain.
3. Understand Your Audience’s Pain Points and Cater to Them to Build Trust
As a content marketer, you must reach out to your audience through every step of their buyer journey. This starts from the top of the funnel and all the way to the bottom. Through every stage, be it awareness, consideration, or purchase, your content must speak to the audience.
For instance, at the awareness stage, your content must inform your audience about who you are, and what services you offer, while also making a strong case for the need for this service. At consideration, your objective must be to make a strong case for your offerings viz-a-viz your competitors, while the final stage requires giving your leads a push to sign up or make a purchase.
While this is a tried and tested approach, it mainly benefits you as a business. However, your content must also benefit your audience by recognizing their pain points or issues and creating content that acknowledges and solves them. This approach is of immense value, as it shows to your audience or leads that you understand their needs and care for them. This, in turn, will benefit you, as you will be seen as the only natural option for them to even consider, while also building trust, which as we discussed, is the foundation for a successful relationship between two businesses.
4. Continually Track the Success of Your Content
Your content marketing efforts will not bear much fruit if you don’t continually track its success. This involves analyzing its strengths and weaknesses to get an idea of how you can improve your approach. The use of a tracking system comes in very handy here, and there various options to choose from. Ahrefs is one such example.
A major aspect of tracking is also a content-gap analysis. Once you’ve figured out what content you have, a content gap analysis helps identify gaps you can then fill. This helps make your approach a lot more comprehensive, and a detailed plan can also help you streamline your marketing efforts across various channels.
5. Keep Track of Your Competitors’ B2B Content Marketing Initiatives
The world of marketing is highly competitive, and will only continue to be so as more and more startups surface across various domains. Marketing your content, thus, cannot exist in isolation, and keeping track of your competitor’s content marketing efforts becomes of great importance. This helps achieve two main things – you can keep yourself aware of the topics they’re discussing, while also keeping track of the channels they’re using, and how they’re doing so.
Also Read: 25+ Content Marketing Tools – Drive Growth For Your Business
In Conclusion
Marketing your content is only successful with a streamlined approach to promotion. The latter, however, is heavily dependent on the former. A B2B content marketing strategy that guides your audiences through their buyer journey and continues to support them with the aim of retaining them is key to your business’ success. We hope this guide has helped you understand how to tune your content marketing efforts to drive the best results!
