B2B marketing isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon.
What this means is that the buyer’s journey for B2B industries is a lengthy one. It has many touchpoints, beginning with top-of-funnel content. This is important to keep in mind when building your content strategy. The start of every buyer’s journey begins with brand awareness, and that starts with top-of-funnel content. Getting the attention of prospective buyers is step one. And what kind of content grabs their attention?
Let’s walk through it.
Get to the point
Within B2B marketing, it’s tempting to want to throw all of your product or service knowledge at your audience at once to show them how great it is and why they should work with you. But, let’s be honest, the stakeholders making those purchasing decisions don’t often have the time to sit down and read 2,000-word articles.
Those longer pieces of content should be targeting buyers who have moved past the awareness stage of the funnel and are interested in learning more about your company. While these more robust pieces of content have their strategic purpose in your marketing toolbox, they won’t do much for people being introduced to your brand for the first time if they can’t quickly read it or scan for the most pertinent information.
In that way, B2B content marketing isn’t so different from the B2C marketing world. The individuals making B2B purchasing decisions are still people who live in a fast-paced world where an overwhelming amount of information is readily available at their fingertips. If your content isn’t catching their attention and engaging them to read past the first few paragraphs, it’s a lost opportunity. Keep top-of-funnel short and devoid of filler.
Inform, then influence
The basis of any B2B content marketing piece should be educating your reader. Educate first, then subtly influence your audience to take that next step – which could be downloading a white paper, signing up for your mailing list, requesting a product sample or contacting a salesperson to learn more. Whatever it is, your content should be the key that unlocks the door for your prospective buyer to walk through to further connect with your company.
You can think of your content marketing strategy like feeding a meal to your audience. Start off with top-of-funnel content that is small, with an appetizer that will grab their attention and leave them wanting more. Then give them something more substantial like a white paper or in-depth article. Feed your readers digestible pieces of information that leaves them hungry for more.
Start broad, with top-of-funnel content
The best way to succeed with your content marketing is to have a road map of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Whether it’s a blog series, email campaign or social media, having a content calendar can help keep you consistently create content that aligns with your goals. Here are some steps to help you create a content calendar:
- Know your audience – who are you speaking to?
- Have a goal – what is your content trying to accomplish/influence your audience to do?
- Determine your timing – how often will you publish content?
Setting aside time to strategize and to create a content planning calendar will not only help you create more intentional content, but it will also help you stay consistent. Looking for help creating a B2B content marketing strategy? Let’s connect.