B2B content marketing is highly effective for marketers to stay on top of the market. While almost 81% of B2B businesses use content marketing, many are still unaware of what B2B content marketing can do for their business.
You may miss out on vital opportunities if you are still not taking advantage of B2B content marketing!
As someone from the same field, we closely examined how content marketing works for B2B. Therefore, this guide covers how B2B content marketing works with some valuable insights and guides.
In this article, we will shed a spotlight on what a well-planned B2B content marketing does for your business, along with our tips to help you kick-start your B2B content marketing journey!
With that, let’s dive into the details below!
B2B Content Marketing: An Overview
Content marketing itself is a broad term that is classified into different categories. However, B2B or business-to-business content marketing is a powerful marketing strategy business organizations use to increase brand awareness, reach a wider audience and clients, market themselves, and generate higher sales/leads.
Like content marketing, you can use podcasts, blogging, emails, and more as a B2B content marketing form. In B2B content marketing, your target audience is focused, and your primary goal must be to understand your client’s pain points and provide them with an effective solution.
For instance, selling software to existing companies increases productivity or reduces hassle. Another example of B2B can be selling a service to other companies like marketing, management, HR services, and more. In both cases, you are a business looking to sell its product or services to another business. Therefore, your content marketing strategy should target other companies to better understand your product or service.
Your B2B content marketing strategy depends entirely on the type of business you are conducting. For instance, before proceeding ahead, understand whether you are a product-based B2B, software-based, or service-based B2B company. With the proper B2B content marketing, you can grow your audience, present yourself as an industry leader, and create an impactful image of your brand in the market!
B2B vs B2C Content Marketing: How Do They Differ?
As we have seen, B2B content marketing focuses on one business selling and marketing its products or services to another business. On the other hand, B2C or business to consumers follows a different approach, where they create content targeting their customers directly.
Both content marketing types can use the same content for marketing their business. However, various aspects are followed for B2B and B2C content marketing that make them different from one another.
Here is a quick breakdown of the differences between B2C vs B2B content marketing.
| Parameters | B2B Content Marketing | B2C Content Marketing |
| Target audience | Other businesses | General audience |
| Sale Cycle | Targets long-term and slower cycle. | Targets faster and shorter customer journeys. |
| Language/Tone | Industry-appropriate language and professional tone. | A conversational tone and causal language. |
| Role of Social Media | Specific professional platforms. | Highly crucial. |
| Goal | Focuses on how your brand can solve other business organizations’ problems and help them to reach their goals. | Focuses on how your brand can resolve your consumers’ issues and assist in reaching their lifestyle goals. |
Note that even though both marketing types differ, you need to focus on the content your audience will like in B2B content marketing. A perfect balance between professional and conversational during B2B content marketing will help achieve better results.
Why Is It Important To Have B2B Content Marketing Strategy?
A marketing strategy is more like a blueprint or roadmap for your business, which keeps changing depending on the market’s demands. The same goes for B2B Content marketing strategy, if you’re planning to bring in customers through content marketing, then you will need a solid strategy. With a marketing strategy, you will know what content you need to create and what you need to publish at what time.
This will help you reach your clients at the right time and as quickly as possible. Since your business is a B2B business then, you always need to remember that your clients are also other businesses. For that, you will need to properly execute your strategy of the right content at the right time.
Businesses want to know if you can solve their commercial problems, and if so, how. For that, you need to cover content on your website. This will help them understand your standard practices properly, increasing your chances of securing the clients.
B2B Content Marketing: Different Types
Your audience as a B2B content marketer will be different than B2C content marketing. There are various visual, written, and audio B2B content marketing methods that you can use to create an excellent impact on your brand in the market.
Let us understand the different B2B content marketing types you can utilize.
1. Blogs
Publishing blogs that solve user intent is one of the best ways to effective B2B content marketing. When crafting your blog, you must understand your competitors’ topics and common problems your audience may have. You need to ensure your blogs are well-optimized for SEO so your brand can rank better.
Additionally, ensure you support your blogs with reliable data and sources to help build trust. Moreover, adding reliable sources will also back your statement with evidence. You can also answer common questions for your audience through your blog posts through how-to guides can also help significantly. Lastly, ensure that you are consistent with your blog posts so that when your prospects head to your blog section, they can find all the reliable resources.
2. Reports
Conducting your research and publishing in-depth research reports is yet another robust B2B content marketing method. Instead of picking someone else’s report, you can conduct your research through surveys, analytics, and more to provide your audience with unique information they can count on.
Ensure to present all the statistics and methods of your reports so that your targeted audience will know how you conducted your research for the reports.
3. Webinars
Another way to get higher engagement and educate your audience is through webinars. You can conduct live or pre-recorded webinars by the expert in your company. Doing so will help your audience to get detailed information about your company and products/services and inspire your audience.
When you conduct a webinar, make sure you use the right webinar software to get the best outcome from your webinars. This will help you eliminate minor errors and create a better brand presence.
4. Email Marketing
Taking outbound marketing approaches like email marketing can help distribute your content and reach a wider audience. Email marketing has proven to be successful for B2B businesses over the years.
You can segment your audience into various categories and run effective campaigns relevant to your target audience. For example, you can send emails to your existing clients with relevant information or about your new products/services that can help their business. Similarly, you can use information from your webinars to send emails to new clients or possible customers.
5. Podcasts
Content in writing performs well, but recently podcasts have taken B2B content marketing to the next level. Currently, there are 383.7 million active podcast listeners globally, and predictions depict podcast listeners becoming a whooping 432 million by the end of 2022. Content in audio format, like podcasts with insightful information, will lure additional customers to your business.
To extend the reach of your podcast and get the best results, you can also invite guest speakers, such as top experts from the industry and market, that your audience will be excited to listen to. Your audience will likely be excited to hear from experts ruling your industry!
6. Guides and eBooks
You can create in-depth guides with detailed information about your product or services. You can also break down how to use your product for other businesses to better understand your brand. However, when creating these detailed guides, you need to ensure it comes from an expert from your company who has complete knowledge about your product or services.
On the contrary, eBooks are an excellent B2B marketing method that will assist other businesses. Remember, you don’t have to rush to create your eBooks. Conduct your research thoroughly and give your input based on your experience. It is vital to note that your eBook will speak for your brand, so you must be careful when writing your eBook.
7. Infographics
With the ever-changing needs of the B2B market, one thing that remains common is your audience’s demand to see something new from your content every time. Besides blogging, guides, emails, and other content marketing types, you can use infographics to present data, statistics, short guides, information, and numbers in a creative way.
Infographics use attractive designs and graphics to present your information to your clients. You can embed these infographics with other content marketing types to boost your engagement and get better results from your marketing strategy.
8. Videos
B2B content marketing will speak on behalf of your brand. Recently, brands have shifted to video content marketing for thought leadership and to bring their brand message into reality. Compared to written texts, people are likely going to watch videos.
Make sure you prepare well strategy for video content and follow all the best advice. Your videos should revolve around topics in your industry so that other businesses will be keen to know what your video talks about and how your business can blend with theirs perfectly.
9. Social Media Content
It is no surprise how social media has evolved throughout the years. Millions of daily active social media users globally eventually increase your engagement. Additionally, promoting your content on social media channels will open doors to reaching a higher audience in less time.
Compared to B2C content marketing, B2B does not emphasize social media much. However, it is all about understanding how your audience consumes social media and their habits. You can use professional platforms like LinkedIn to promote your other content, as 81% of B2B marketers prefer LinkedIn. For example, you can add links to your videos, blogs, webinars, and podcasts to promote them on LinkedIn, where most of your audience will be.
Since your audience is other businesses, you need to ensure different companies’ reliable professionals see your brand. Conduct proper market research and start with your company’s social media pages to promote your content for better reach.
10. Collaboration/Partnering
B2C content marketing follows influencer and collaboration marketing methods to reach a higher audience. But that is not restricted to B2C content marketing. In fact, collaborating with business leaders in your field and partnering with them will help you reach their audience too.
Compared to individual marketing, collaboration or partnering with other business leaders will give you twice your reach. One way to do this is by interviewing them, inviting them as a guest for your podcast, or investing in a collaborative asset like eBooks.
Benefits of B2B Content Marketing
Content marketing, in general, plays a vital role in the success of your business. According to Statista, over 30% of marketers have reported that content marketing has helped them significantly achieve higher ROI.
As a result, content is highly essential in B2B marketing. Let us go through a few top benefits of B2B content marketing.
- Building Brand Awareness
When a business delivers high-quality content that solves user intent, your post is likely to reach a higher audience. When your target audience reads your content that helps them overcome their problem, it will eventually help build brand awareness in the market.
- Drive Higher Engagement and Traffic Online
When you post top-notch content online, you will drive higher engagement from your targeted audience that will engage with your post. Additionally, your website will gain new visitors and boost your engagement simultaneously.
- Generate Leads That You Can Convert Into Potential Buyers
Content marketing methods like eBooks, webinars, and whitepapers can be highly effective in gathering contacts of all the people who may be interested in your product or services. Once you have the contact information of your leads, you can contact the prospects and convert them into your potential buyers.
- Speak To Your Audience
Your content speaks for your business directly to your clients. When you create content with your clients in mind, you can get closer to them. For instance, answering the most frequently asked questions by your clients and addressing your client’s problems. Doing so will also allow your clients to understand that they can rely on you since you address their issues.
- Establish Yourself as a Leader or Expert in The Industry
When you create content consistently with valuable insights and information, you set yourself as an expert in the industry. As a leader or expert in the industry, your prospects will rely on your company better.
- Provide Reliable Resources to Your Potential Buyers
When you want to convert your prospects into your buyers, your clients will have various questions about your product, services, experience, and ROI. When the situation arises, your sales team can provide your content like blog posts, case studies, and more, which eventually helps build trust and reliability.
- Appear on Top During Searches
When running a business, you are likely going to have competitors. There is a high chance that your competitor may have missed an opportunity. Therefore, an effective B2B content marketing strategy will allow you to explore missed opportunities by your competitors and stay on top of search appearance -local and global SEO.
Effective B2B Content Marketing Strategies Tips!
The success of your B2B content marketing relies heavily on your strategy. Having a good content marketing strategy will open doors for better opportunities and boost your brand’s presence.
Note: There is no one ‘right’ way to do B2B content marketing. Each company’s goals, resources, target audience, and more decides which content marketing strategy will work for them.
Whether you are creating a B2B content marketing plan from scratch or revamping your current strategy, here are a few proven tips to ensure your B2B content marketing provides the best results.
- Understand Your Audience
The biggest key to successful B2B content marketing is understanding your audience. The better you understand your audience; your marketing outcome will be better. Gather insights from everywhere that will help you know where your audience is struggling, their problems and pain points, their mindset while buying a product or service, and more.
It is also crucial to understand what kind of content they consume, what content they like to see the most, and how they react to different content types. Having a buyer’s persona before developing a content strategy is the first step toward successful B2B content marketing.
- Lay Out Your Business Goals
If your content marketing strategy does not align with your business goals, it is not going to provide a better result in the long run. While you are ensuring your audience’s business grows from your content, you also need to focus on whether your strategy drives growth for your business.
Select the right content marketing type that resonates with your business goals. You can also try different content marketing methods to approach your audience with different goals. If you have content strategies for your business, ensure to let them know your primary goal behind content marketing and for your organization -short and long-term goals!
- Brainstorm Ideas With Proper Research
Once you know your buyer and understand your business goals, it is time for some brainstorming for content ideas! Always keep your buyer in mind when listing down ideas for your content. However, you must note that your content ideas may be unique, but they must also meet the needs of search engines.
Spend time exploring what your competitors have covered so far. Next, understand the missed opportunities that you can cover for your audience. You can also consider improving the existing information from your competitors by adding your input. You can conduct a thorough content audit to see if you have any underperforming content with the potential to boost in the market.
Lastly, invest in keyword research tools to find topics for your webinars, blogs, and podcasts.
- Determine Your B2B Content Marketing Approach
The next step is understanding the medium and types you will use for your content marketing. When deciding on the approach, you must ensure that the topics you have decided on will work with your strategy. For instance, if you want to cover a topic in detail, you should prefer videos or podcasts to blogs or other written forms.
Also, creating separate content for each platform is not necessary. Sometimes, you can use one piece of content for different platforms at different times for higher engagement. For example, you can present a guide that you have previously published in video content or a short social media post. Overall, you must decide how to promote your content across various channels for the desired outcome.
- Create a Content Plan and Prepare Your Content in Advance
The next step is to make a proper content plan based on your chosen topics. However, you should consider whether you have access to all the resources for creating the content you have decided on. For instance, if you have agreed to develop podcasts, you need to ensure you have all the resources for creating a podcast.
Similarly, if you decide on infographics, you need to have a reliable graphic designer who can create these graphics based on the topic. Once you know which resources you can access, you can create a content plan accordingly.
Lastly, it is crucial to have your content prepared in advance so that you can avoid inconsistency. Create a content calendar where you can write down which content, the platform, and when you will publish your content. You can also utilize various content calendar tools available in the market. These tools will assist you in preparing for your future content in advance.
- Experiment and Learn!
Lastly, marketing needs fluctuate from time to time. What worked ten years back may not work the same way in 2023. Same way, if one approach worked for a company, it may not work similarly for the other.
The best way to make sure you are on top of the trends is by keeping yourself updated with the recent market and introductions. Keep an eye on all the new updates, trends, and methods others follow.
Additionally, keep experimenting and see which content marketing type works best for your brand. The key to success for B2B content marketing for your brand is by experimenting, learning, and implementing the errors into your next marketing strategy!
Wrapping Up! B2B Content Marketing (2023)
B2B content marketing is proven to be successful for thousands of brands worldwide. As a business owner, you should know how to use B2B content marketing in your favor.
Spend some time learning about B2B content marketing, learning from the experts in the industry, and speaking to other professionals who have knowledge about the same. With the right content-driven strategy, you can skyrocket your brand in the market!
We hope our detailed guide on B2B content marketing was helpful in understanding all the in-and-outs of the market!
FAQs
Yes. There are a few factors that distinguish B2B from B2C content marketing. B2B content marketing focuses on delivering content to other businesses whereas, B2C focuses on distributing content to anyone who can be your customer.
There is no one specific B2B content marketing type that can be termed as ‘best.’ Instead, you can determine what works best for your business through research and understanding your audience.
There are various ways to generate leads from B2B content marketing. You can utilize the power of blogs, webinars, videos, podcasts, newsletters, emails, and more to generate direct leads. Distributing your content to your targeted audience directly will help attract your buyers.
