Content Marketing for B2B: How To Amp Up Your Web Presence
Over the past few years, more marketers have started to embrace content marketing as a viable strategy to rank higher in search engines and gain popularity among Internet users. Big brands like Coca-Cola and Mint are already knee deep in content marketing campaigns, because they see the benefit in creating unique and inspiring content for the masses to consume.
Content that educates, informs, and entertains can drive traffic and most importantly, creates long-lasting and loyal viewers who will (fingers crossed) develop into customers over time. According to the infographic*, 60% of B2B marketers plan to spend more on content marketing in 2012 and 90% are already doing some form of content marketing. That same research shows that 79% of B2B marketers are involved in article posting as a means of content marketing.
Before we can get into the nitty gritty of content marketing, we must first clearly define it, so you understand WHAT you should do, not just WHY you should do it.
What Is Content Marketing?
In “The Five Pillars of Content Marketing,” Joe Pulizzi defines Content Marketing as…
- “Editorial-based (or long-form) content. It must tell a relevant, valuable story. Must be informative, educational or entertaining.
- Marketing-backed. The content has underlying marketing and sales objectives that a corporation, association or institution is trying to accomplish.
- Behavior-driven. Seeks out to maintain or alter the recipient’s behavior.
- Multi-platform. (print, digital, audio, video, events). It can be, does not have to be, integrated.
- Targeted toward a specific audience. If you can’t name the audience, it’s not content marketing.”
What Makes a Good Content Marketing Strategy?
We found an amazing infographic* that describes the make-up of a good content marketing strategy for businesses. According to the infographic, a good content strategy is quality, shareable content.
Coca-Cola’s Content 20/20 Campaign is a perfect example of how business can create a good and "liquid" content marketing strategy.
What are the Most Used Content Marketing Tactics?
As content marketing is a form of marketing, it must be aligned with measurable goals that are accomplished through tactics. The Content Marketing Institute released “B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends,” a report on their findings related to content marketing. In it, they identify article posting (79%), social media (74%), blogs (65%), eNewsletter (63%), case studies (58%), and in-person events (56%) as the most effective content marketing tactics used by B2B marketers.
What are the LEAST Used Content Marketing Tactics?
One or two of the tactics that made the 'least used' list were a bit surprising. They are: Ebooks (16%), podcasts (16%), mobile content (15%), digital magazines (14%), and virtual conferences (10%). Ebooks and virtual conferences ranked surprisingly low. However, there are many B2B marketers who have success with these two tactics. As a B2B marketer, I find loads of value in ebooks and virtural conferences, but to be quite honest, it is not a tactic for the inexperienced. So, leave that to the pros who have mass appeal.
Content Marketing Take-Away
To conclude a long story, content marketing is the way of the future for B2B marketers. The best thing you can do is figure out which content marketing tactics will work for your business and come up with application methods. If you are unsure about how to move forward with your new content strategy, give us a ring and we can help you brainstorm ways to get the ball rolling.
Is Content Marketing the Hot New Trend? – Infographic*http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/10/is-content-marketing-the-hot-new-trend-infographic/
