Life is hectic when you’re a B2B marketer.
Between attending meetings, planning campaigns, and publishing endless content, you might have trouble keeping up. You barely have time to analyze your own activities – let alone find out what other marketers are doing to succeed.
In the day-to-day rush, you may miss out on chances to engage leads and turn them into customers. Here are seven big opportunities that many B2B marketers overlook:
A recent Seismic and MarketingProfs survey found that only 18% of B2B content marketers provide their sales teams with content in an effective manner, as well as ensure that their materials remain updated and on-brand.
Adding to Sales’ frustrations, a CSO Insights survey revealed that only 12% of reps can bring up critical sales material up on their smartphones.
If you don’t have a process to provide reps with the content they need to close deals, your sales cycles will grow longer. The more time reps spend searching for and creating content, the less time they will have to do what they do best – sell.
Equip your reps with content that supports buyers who are in the later stages of the sales process. For example, they may need case studies that provide proof that your products or services deliver results. They may also want content that contains detailed information on your offerings, such as brochures or competitive comparisons.
According to the 2017 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report, only 37% of B2B companies have a documented content marketing strategy. If you’re not getting the results you want, it might be because you haven’t built your content foundation.
Publishing without a strategy is like taking a road trip without a map. You’re likely to take wrong turns along the way.
In addition to a map, you’ll also need a GPS that warns you of upcoming roadblocks and detours. This is because the most successful B2B marketers quickly adjust their content marketing strategy – and get on a better route – when things change.
Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all content. Customers won’t respond unless your content speaks directly to their needs, challenges, and goals.
The demand for personalized content stemmed from the consumer world, where buyers can do everything from view customized Amazon recommendations to pick the exact produce in their organic delivery box.
Eccolo Media found that 48% of B2B buyers consume two-to-five pieces of content before they make a purchasing decision. Meanwhile, TechTarget found that 65% of IT buyers require at least four pieces of content to make a vendor shortlist.
In the B2B space, content personalization can include giving customers relevant white papers, case studies, and email content. And you don’t necessarily need to recreate the wheel to personalize all of your content.
For example, you can take one of your white papers and change parts of it – such as the case studies and introduction – to speak to a different audience.
Then, you can give leads the option to select their role, industry, or biggest challenge when they download a white paper. This gets them more involved in the process. If they know that they are downloading a piece of custom content, they will be more likely to read it. They will also get more value from your content, as it speaks directly to their needs.
The more content you produce, the more customers you will attract. However, you may not have the time or resources to create a large volume of original content.
Repurposing your content is a great way to do more with less, so you can:
Customers buy from people. They want honesty. They want stories.
Stories help you connect with customers on an emotional level so that you can show your value and stand out from the competition.
The most effective content marketers apply elements of journalism and storytelling to their content. Here are three keys to creating compelling stories:
Address your weaknesses to make your brand more human. Instead of hiding your product’s flaws, put them out in the open. Customers will appreciate your honesty and be more likely to trust you.
When you bring these key elements into your content, you’ll connect with members of your audience and motivate them to take action.
The B2B Technology Marketing Group surveyed more than 600 tech marketers to find out the latest content trends and best practices. The results revealed that the most effective B2B content marketing tactic is case studies, with 44% of respondents saying that it helps them achieve their lead generation goals.
Here is the rest of the survey’s top 10 list:
Multimedia can make your content more engaging and help you connect with auditory and visual learners. For example:
Here are some ways you can use media to connect with customers and motivate them to take action:
Check for holes in your content strategy. For example, did you launch a new product but don’t have case studies to support it? Can you make your blog posts more shareable by adding images and videos to them?
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