Most B2B marketers know that in the age of digital sharing, “content is king”. And we also understand that the content we share is for our customers and prospects – not to talk about how great we are. But how many marketers really know which content is working? And how do you identify the right target audience for all this great content?
According to a recent survey, “2015 B2B Content Marketing Trends”, by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, B2B marketers are putting out more content than in 2014. However, last year, 42% of B2B marketers claimed to be effective at content marketing. This year, that number dropped to 38%.
Why the disconnect? While simple math suggests that putting out more content will yield higher results, SiriusDecisions reports that as much of 70% of B2B content goes unused. To avoid the content marketing landfill, check out these 5 strategies to help you refuel new life into your content marketing efforts.
Are you trying to increase awareness of your company, find new prospects, or cross-sell existing customers? Having several goals is fine – in fact, a good B2B content marketing strategy focuses on multiple goals. When writing content, be sure you are constantly focused on what you are trying to achieve with each piece. For example, are you targeting your current clients or prospective customers? Content will differ if you are trying to build brand loyalty with a current customer versus trying to engage interest with a new prospective audience.
Take a look at the top B2B content marketing goals according to the 2015 Content Marketing Trends survey:
2. Who is Your Ideal Audience?
When writing for your goals, knowing your audience is key. Begin by analyzing your marketing database to create a Best Customer Profile”. What job titles are you targeting? What problems are they trying to solve? Which industries? Once you know who your best customers are, you can apply the same characteristics to create a “Best Prospect Profile” and create content that caters to their needs as well.
3. Be Where Your Audience Is
So you’ve created great content, shared it to your company blog and posted it to LinkedIn groups. This is a great start but your prospects and customers are probably on other channels and sites as well. Do your research – are there industry publications that take guest blog submissions or editorial pieces? Many on-line publications are constantly on the lookout for good content – tips, resources, and how-to articles. Find the publications your clients and prospects are reading – and place your content there.
Expand your content sharing strategies to other channels and media as well. Do you have an eNewsletter? Are you using videos or infographics? Different types of content will appeal to different audiences, so cover your bases and create multiple types of content to appeal to your different audience segments.
4. Recycle Your Content
The great thing about content is that there is no expiration date. Share and re-share and the dividends will continue to pay off. Also, be sure you are “recycling” your content. For example, remember that great blog post you wrote last week for your company blog? Now turn it into a SlideShare presentation and a bylined article to submit to a popular industry publication. Or that 15 page white paper? That’s probably full of enough information to write at least 10 – 15 blogs.
5. Don’t Forget to Analyze
Always be measuring the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy. Track where your leads are coming from. What’s working and what isn’t? Continually refine your efforts and goals to ensure your strategies continue to deliver results.
You’ll soon be on your way to creating great content that is more likely to get shared – and ultimately, drive more sales.
To learn how to understand your customers and prospects for effective targeted marketing, download this free guide.
