Businesses of all sizes, across industries, startups and well established enterprise all struggle for market share.
And the competition is fierce.
Savvy organizations have come to embrace B2B content marketing as a critical tool that, if leveraged properly, can successfully distinguish their brand.
But if you cannot clearly articulate your value proposition, and herald that through meaningful content, you’ll lose out to your competitor.
At MarketingWise, we’ve worked with dozens of brands and have found the companies that realize the best results with their B2B content marketing efforts all have certain attributes in common.
If you are embarking on a B2B content marketing initiative, or perhaps you just aren’t seeing the traction you need, embracing these characteristics will help change the course of your efforts.
1. A clear, focused and refined sense of value
A meaningful value proposition is the foundation of any solid marketing effort.
It explains, in an instant, why people should buy from you.
- It should be short
- It should be clear
- It should be focused
- It should address what makes you special
And then, your value proposition should be integrated into all aspects of your B2B content marketing campaign.
2. A deep understanding of your target customer
Certainly you want to understand, demographically and philosophically, what your target customer ‘looks’ like.
How big? What industry? Where are they located? How qualified?
But beyond that, you want to have a very deep sense of their pain points and business frustrations.
Ask yourself:
- What questions or complaints do you hear repeatedly from your customers?
- Do your products or services solve specific problems?
- Are you filling an obvious gap and providing new value?
Knowing exactly what your target customer wants and needs allows you to reframe your B2B content marketing strategy from their point of view.
3. A preemptive strategic planning process
So many companies waste time, resources and effort reacting with their B2B content marketing efforts.
A proactive approach, that considers the organization’s needs within the context of a broader business strategy, always yields much better results.
Laying out a thoughtful strategy allows you to map out your content marketing plan over a period of time, taking into consideration all other variables at play.
4. An allocated marketing budget
It’s true that fast-emerging platforms and open source content marketing systems have made certain strategies more affordable and scalable.
But marketing is expensive.
Website design and development calls for specialized expertise. And any strategic content marketing effort requires the ongoing development of solid resources to fuel your blog and social media communications.
Whether you develop internal resources or outsource to a marketing firm, these supports can be costly.
But we’ve found the companies that prioritize B2B content marketing and allocate ample budgets preemptively ultimately realize the best results.
Approaching your marketing in a piecemeal or ad hoc manner, and always looking for the most affordable option, usually results in a watered down and substandard campaign.
5. Executive buy-in
My friend (and content marketing genius) Marcus Sheridan writes a lot about the importance of optics and executive buy-in when it comes to any content marketing campaign.
Essentially, Marcus underscores the importance of a corporate culture shift, originating at the top and trickling down, proclaiming the implicit importance of B2B content marketing.
Needless to say, at MarketingWise, we agree wholeheartedly; we find that when the directive is genuinely embraced and evangelized by the executive leadership of the organization, the impact is dramatically enhanced.
6. A thoughtful web presence
Sure, you can develop a website on your own, hire your spouse’s sister’s nephew’s fiancé to slap something up, quick and dirty.
But I can pretty much guarantee that in due course, it will prove woefully inadequate.
Your web presence should:
- Enhance your brand
- Engage stakeholders
- Capture leads
- Help to convert sales
Is your web presence set up to do these things?
If not, you are simply not going to realize the same success with your B2B content marketing campaign.
We always recommend WordPress as the web development platform of choice, since it is easy-to-use, easy-to-customize, search friendly, and can easily accommodate beautiful design.
7. Consistent execution
B2B content marketing requires a lot of ongoing effort.
It is not a ‘build it and they will come’ approach.
It’s more like a ‘build it, renovate, repair, add on, improve, build it some more and keep building” approach.
You have to continue fuelling your website and social media outlets with solid content, every week – arguably every day – or you just won’t see results.
Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to B2B content marketing.
8. Accountability through analytics
This final, and perhaps most important attribute, is overlooked all too often.
You can’t know if your B2B content marketing campaign is working if you don’t have the right insight.
Google analytics offers tremendous visibility, but too few organizations leverage these tools properly.
Do you know how visitors are navigating your website?
Are your Calls to Action working for you?
What is your page rank?
Where is your traffic coming from?
What terms do people use to find you?
Make sure that you are using analytics and holding yourself accountable to your B2B content marketing efforts, otherwise, you won’t be able to adapt and improve as needed.
Your Turn
So, be honest – how many of these attributes do you have? Have I missed any from my list?
Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below, and don’t forget to tweet and share this post if you found it useful and interesting.
Oh wow, that’s a great research! Thanks. It makes complete sense to me. sense of value should be number one solution for anyone who’s looking to start some business online.
Evan recently posted..WordPress Church Theme collection 2013
Twitter: robinjemdon
says:
Yup – a lot of solid advice here! Particulary liked the section on understanding your target customer! Very well said!
~Robin~
Robin J Emdon recently posted..Free Life Coaching and errrrr One Million Dollars – Interested?
Thanks so much Robin for the validation! Glad you enjoyed it!
Twitter: gonzogonzo
says:
Awesome summary, Ruth.
I think point #1 is the most important to begin with, because too many companies go on without having that clear sense of purpose, or what Simon Sinek refers to as the “WHY”. Why are you in business, what makes you different, what’s in it for customers? Defining the unique selling proposition (USP) is essential to establish what your corporate vision will be,
I also like your point #5, executive buy-in. I would perhaps bring it a step further in saying: corporate alignment. Yes, it starts with executives in the C-suite believing in the vision and mission, but the whole company must steer in the same direction, and hiring processes must follow as well.
Great stuff!
Cheers from Quebec City,
Frederic
Frederic Gonzalo recently posted..Content Marketing Is The New Advertising
Alignment is indeed a word I may have overlooked in this post Frederic. And it is so critical, at so many levels. In particular, a content marketing strategy that is well aligned with higher level business goals always has the strongest impact. So thank you for the reminder along those lines!
Twitter: adriennesmith40
says:
Hey Ruth,
I think all of these are fabulous of course but I think 1 and 2 are the most. I know that a lot of people come into this industry with way too many things on their mind.
Although you know I’m not quite a small business like the ones you handle but I spoke to a blogger last week who had four of them going and wondered why she wasn’t having any success. She couldn’t keep up with them all and didn’t even understand how to drive traffic to her site. After having a little discussion with her she decided to toss all of them but one.
Know why you’re here and know your audience. You can’t go any further without those in place.
As always, you give away the farm. Thank you for providing such value once again Ruth. You are the queen of marketing.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..My Favorite Social Sharing Plugin, Share Juice Pro
Losing focus and having a watered down understanding of your clients’ needs is a certain recipe for disaster. You can’t be all things to all people, and especially when it comes to your marketing efforts, anything short of a laser sharp brand focus is simply not going to yield the results you crave. I think your advice was sound Adrienne.
Giving away the farm? I learned from the best
. Thanks as always for your support!
Twitter: adigaskell
says:
Really good summary Ruth. Really great content marketing has to be a part of the culture of an organisation. Producing great content isn’t something they do just for particular campaigns, it’s something they do each and every day.
Adi Gaskell recently posted..Management by walking around in a social world
Ya, and facilitating that culture shift is sometimes the most challenging part of the campaign. We have clients who ‘get it’ intellectually but really struggle to activate those sensibilities across the organization. It takes time, and a consistent application of these best practices to really feel that shift.
Ruth Zive recently posted..Is Your WordPress Website Safe & Secure?
I like #7 and 8 the best, #7 to be a turtle with slow and steady is the way to go and of course without #8, any learning is sort of thrown out the window.
Matt recently posted..The most popular full-time professions for people Telecommuting
Must say, a well researched post!! A rooted understanding about the target audience acts as the preliminary step in getting on to the path of the success. If one is not aware about the requirements or the dynamics of the audience, one can never build a success oriented marketing campaigns. Thanks for the share.
Understanding the target market is the most essential step before you start out with b2b marketing. Great share.
Absolutely, positively, 100% agree Fatima!
Ruth Zive recently posted..Is Your WordPress Website Safe & Secure?
Twitter: carollynnrivera
says:
Ah, you hit the heart of one of my biggest frustrations! The people who hire their “spouse’s sister’s nephew’s fiancé” to build their website, because they “know computers” or something. It’s amazing that in this day and age it’s that much work to convince people that their web presence matters. And even if you do manage to convince them, they still think you’re just trying to take their money.
Another key point: it takes effort. None of this is a one-off. You can’t do some marketing and then sit back and wait. It’s ongoing and it requires planning, thought and effort.
I really liked the way you broke this down. great points and easy to digest.
Carol Lynn recently posted..How To Write An Email Newsletter (That People Will Read)
I always tell my clients that websites are not a “Field of Dreams”. If you build it…you can pretty much rest assured that they will NOT come unless you feed the site with meaningful and dynamic content. Often.
I’m glad you liked the post Carol Lynn and thanks for taking the time to comment.
Ruth Zive recently posted..The Top 5 Mistakes That Sabotage Your Email Campaign
I think all the tips you shared are equally important in marketing campaigns. I’ll be sure to use your tips when marketing my own services once I start up my own business. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us.
Understanding your market is definitely the key. Without knowing who your market is, I highly doubt you’d be able to get anywhere with you marketing strategy.
Budgeting is definitely important. Some companies just don’t see the importance though. Hopefully administrators will learn that marketing is as important as sales.
Thanks for sharing that information. I found it very helpful especially now that I am about to open own business. I need all the tips that I can get.
Excellent tips you’ve consolidated here. This will definitely help out our marketing team. I’m going to share it with them tomorrow at our meeting.
Kristine recently posted..How to Use the Backstage View in Microsoft Word 2013
Brilliant tips here. Thanks for sharing them with us. We’re planning on launching a campaign soon and you’re definitely helping out a lot.
Emilia recently posted..Architecture and nature co-existing happily together – is it possible?
Thanks for giving us marketing tips. There are a lot of interesting info on your site. I’ll be looking around. Great job on this post.
In today’s daya and it’s important to be visible online. Without that you’re looking at your competition getting an edge.