If you think content marketing is a passing marketing trend, think again. Research shows that B2B marketers are paying more attention to content marketing than ever before in 2022, with 66% of respondents saying they will increase their content marketing investment in the next 12 months, and 20% of marketers will increase their investment by 10% or more.
So why are B2B marketers investing so much in content marketing?
Changing B2B buying habits
In many ways, B2B marketers are mimicking trends previously adopted in B2C marketing circles. B2B marketers have concluded that B2B buyers are not that different from B2C buyers: People buy from people they like and trust. A good way to earn that trust is to be as open and transparent about your product or service as possible.
Trust can be a significant issue when it comes to B2B sales. Many buyers simply no longer trust salespeople and hate being sold to by someone they perceive as being driven by a sales quota and pressuring them into commitments they may not be ready for. They want to feel like they have done their research and that any interactions with sales professionals are in an advisory or managerial role when it comes to processing an order.
How to buy B2B solutions?
Most B2B buying decisions are norway phone number library made around solving a specific problem in the business. Unless a sales professional has personal experience dealing with this problem (and most don’t), they may have a hard time understanding your needs. This is where expert-led content comes into play.
Think about it, how do you typically start looking for solutions to your business problems? It might be a quick search on a search engine, or a question to a group on social media. Chances are your customers will follow a similar route. If you don’t have content readily available to find or share, your competitors will.
When customers have the information they need to make a purchasing decision, price is no longer an issue. Buyers are more interested in how your product or service can help them achieve their goals. Great content won’t suddenly devalue your product.
Competition for content
In a competitive market, companies that publish high-quality information that demonstrates the value of their products/services and highlights their industry leadership are likely to win the interest of most customers.
If you think about any product how an email marketing strategy benefits a subscription business or service, there are usually businesses that generate buzz around their industry, who rarely have to introduce themselves to potential customers and can charge a premium for their products or services. Conversely, businesses that are less active in their industry will always appear at the bottom of the rankings.
It’s also worth remembering that your content not only has to compete with your competitors, it also has to hold its own against a constant stream of professionally published and user-generated content, including product reviews, product/service comparisons, online forums, and social media posts. If you don’t publish content in a timely manner, there’s a good chance that it will be lost in the search engines and replaced by your competitors.
Avoid the “gatekeepers”
The days of industry magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and event organizers controlling the dissemination of information are over. This is good news. While any content marketing requires an investment of time and money, B2B marketers no longer need to use high-priced advertising to drive media coverage without a guarantee of results.
B2B marketers now have a phone number united states of america voice, affordable routes to market, and content at their fingertips to reach the masses. If you find it challenging to publish relevant, timely, and engaging content on a regular basis, you may be making excuses.
Content continues to serve you
When you stop spending money on paid search, it stops delivering results; an email campaign might have a shelf life of a day or so; a social media post might only have a lifespan of a few minutes… Unlike many other marketing strategies, content will serve you long after it’s published.
Great content provides the perfect destination to which all other marketing activities can direct customers. And it remains visible and discoverable weeks, months, or even years after it is publish.
Great content is also widely share by your customers and prospects, who are keen to tap into your thought leadership. It doesn’t matter how old the content is, as long as it’s still relevant and engaging, it will appear fresh in the eyes of someone who’s never seen it before. This makes well-crafte content evergreen fuel for email campaigns and marketing automation strategies.
Content shock
Content shock refers to the sheer volume of content produce, which can make it difficult for your content to be see in a competitive market. There is a simple answer to the content shock problem: the best quality content will always be rank at the top. Don’t be discourage if all your content doesn’t generate significant traction, as 80% of traffic comes from just 20% of your content. Search engines love fresh, high-quality content, and if you want your content to really resonate with your audience, it’s best to have an ongoing creation schedule.