4 Ways Content Marketing Amplifies your B2B Brand
In this article we discuss the ways that content marketing amplifies your B2B brand. Read on to discover how it can attract warm leads, present you as a thought leader and educate your potential client base.
For some business owners and marketing teams, content marketing can feel like just another thing on the to-do list. There are so many different ways you can market a business and every expert will tell you something different works best.
Here’s what they won’t tell you. Marketing for any single small business is different to any other small business. This is because their individual ideal clients have different needs, budgets, pain points and challenges.
Content marketing works over time for B2B brands because it solves problems and answers questions for potential clients. In a world where most questions are answered by google, consumers are very well researched these days. Think carefully about the questions they are typing into google that your business can helpfully answer for them. That is your perfect piece of content for your website.
Who is your Ideal Client?
These are your favourite customers. They are the ones that pay the bills on time and come back for more of your products and services time and time again. They are your brand advocates and recommend your company to their friends.
Taking a close look at these ideal clients and really taking the time to understand the challenges that they are facing, and in particular the problem that you solve for them is a useful exercise in any marketing activity.
The best part about this exercise is that it also starts to drive your brand content. You can design it to answer the questions that they are googling or searching your site for. You can specifically answer their FAQ’s and educate them as to how your company solves their problem.
What is Content Marketing?
It could be having a company blog, a newsletter, writing an article for LinkedIn or a guest blog for another site. Content marketing includes written content, video and visuals. It can include white papers, tutorials, case studies, or even a webinar.
It lives on your company website, is distributed via your social media channels and educates your potential client base and builds awareness of your brand over time.
Content marketing helps drive visitors to your website. As long as it includes a compelling call to action, it helps them linger a while, become a subscriber or to submit an enquiry.
Let’s get Strategic
Taking what you have already learned about your ideal client, the questions they are asking and what is keeping them up at night helps you understand what to write about.
Going one step further is to get a good understanding of how content marketing might deliver against your business priorities and most of all increase your market share and profits.
Strategic content marketing can deliver brand awareness, demonstrate thought leadership, build a following, educate your potential clients and These are the reasons that content marketing helps to build your B2B brand online.
- To Educate your Potential Clients
By using developing content on your website, you help inform your potential clients about how your products and services work, what they can expect and The types of content that works really well in this space are “How to” lists and also case studies that explain how you have solved a problem for a client, or transformed their lives by making something easier. Content marketing shouldn’t necessarily be about promoting your goods and services, but rather answering a question. You can mention your products, but no-one wants to read a 750 word advertisement or infomercial. - To Demonstrate Thought Leadership
You are most likely an expert in your field and your industry knowledge is top rate. Demonstrating this to potential and existing clients reminds them of your skills, your qualifications and may even convince them to your opinion on a topic. Potential customers sign up to hear more. Your audience is interested in trends in your industry and your unique insights. Your article or web page should add value to your audience. You want people to read it and take action such as to share it or link back to it from their own sites. - To Attract Subscribers or Followers
Ideally your content will tell a reader what it is that you want them to do when they have finished reading. It might be to subscribe to your newsletter to keep in touch, it might be to follow your company page on LinkedIn, it might be to submit and enquiry. Content marketing is another piece in the marketing tool kit to help you stay front of mind and in touch with your clients and potential clients. - Helps you Get Found Online
Whether by googling a question or by coming across one of your social media posts, good quality content helps you get found online. Regularly sharing new and fresh original content helps build
brand awareness and reminds people who you are and the problem that you solve.
One of the great things about content marketing is that in many instances it can be reused over time. One piece of content can be re-shared every couple of months and repurposed in many different ways. It can be useful to build a library of “evergreen” content, that is, content that does not date over time. Consider in your own industry niche the answers to the questions that never change and include these in your content plans.
Content marketing by delivering free, useful, value-adding information makes readers feel good about your brand. They feel helped. They come back looking for your guidance when they have another question on the same subject. They might even mention your helpful article in passing to a friend or colleague.
Analysing the results of your content marketing is easily done via google analytics. You can easily review what is being read and monitor conversion goals to determine who is taking further action. Like all good marketing, monitoring what works and repeating often will deliver sales, sign ups and brand awareness.
If you are finding you need help with your content marketing strategy for your website and socials, talk to me, I can help.