The internet and social media have changed how organizations interact with prospects. Customers are now relying on blogs, social channels and their own research to determine potential companies to work with, rather than trade shows and traditional sales channels.
With that being said, it’s important for B2B companies to create content to showcase industry expertise and ways to solve their customers’ biggest challenges. But it’s not only creating content, but making sure it’s engaging and keeps audiences wanting more.
Here are some of our secrets to creating more content with more impact:
Do your homework: research your audience
You may already know who your customers are from a sales perspective, but do you know what keeps them up at night? Or what will help them solve their problems?
Determine what they read, where they spend time online and get a feel for their interests and what they value. Once you do that, make a list of challenges facing your customers and then determine where you can help solve their problem.
Stay in the buyer’s mindset and answer the question: what’s in it for them? Once you do that, you can begin the content creation process.
Be organized
Remember that list we talked out earlier? Use it to your advantage and create a content calendar and fill it with those topics. The calendar will continue to change over time as you add to it and your buyer’s needs evolve.
It can be as easy as using a marketing automation software like, Hubspot, or keeping a content tracker to stay on top of your posts and progress.
Give people a reason to listen to you
Come up with ideas that are geared to solving the problems of your customers and position yourself as a thought leader. There are a few different ways you can take this approach:
You can pull content that addresses a short-term challenge or provide a unique view and tie it to your industry, or you can put it in a form of an industry outlook, market commentary or opinion piece.
Use this type of content is strictly about positioning you or your company as a thought leader and showcasing you industry expertise. Use it to your advantage.
Include a visual element
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: multimedia content is taking over the marketing space. Consumers are experiencing information overload with all the content that’s already on the internet. Stick out from the crowd and tell your story in a compelling way using videos and graphics.
Have interesting data and statistics you want to share? Create an infographic! Want to show your audience how to use your latest product? Create a video! Want to answer some frequently asked questions from your customers? Go live on Facebook!
You get the point. The possibilities are endless, be creative and use them to your advantage.
Publish, publish, publish
Once you write a blog post or create a new video you want to share to your audience, link it to your social media channels and to generate as much exposure as possible. Even consider sharing them in industry forums or LinkedIn groups you’re involved in.
Looking for even more clicks? Send them to people within your organization and ask them to share it to their networks, too.
