9 reasons B2B companies should be leveraging content marketing
If you’re like most business-to-business marketing companies, a large part of your focus is on identifying the optimal lead generation techniques to be pursuing. Many B2B organizations are working to generate more traffic to their websites and wondering how they can get found by their prospects.
Meanwhile, prospects are celebrating caller ID and trying to avoid human contact with salespeople until the last bitter minute. The ability to remain anonymous has become a way of life, as prospects leverage the web to gather information and research topics until they are ready to take the next step.
Driving website traffic has become a critical lead generation technique for many B2B marketers. Banner advertising is now more expensive and less effective. One lead generation technique that is becoming more prevalent among many B2B marketers is content marketing.
Content marketing is predicated on the principles of inbound marketing. Inbound marketing helps you get found when prospects are thinking about your business or related content. Inbound marketing is based on a number of online marketing techniques, including content marketing, search and social media. The foundation of inbound marketing is to create quality, keyword-rich content that generates traffic and prospects to a website and, ultimately, delivers leads.
Here are 9 reasons that B2B marketers should adapt a content marketing strategy and begin taking advantage of the benefits of inbound marketing.
1. B2B prospects want to be informed before they talk to someone.
I can’t remember the last time I picked up the phone and asked a salesperson a question that I hadn’t researched first. The web has empowered business-to-business decision makers to try and get an answer on their own. The premise of inbound marketing is somewhat based on this hypothesis.
Inbound marketing leverages topics that prospects might be searching on the web during their buying process. This includes both direct keywords as well as indirect topics that they may research as they are formulating their approach. A solid inbound marketing strategy allows B2B marketers to put their content in a position to be in the right place at the right time.
2. B2B decision makers prefer to have relationships with people versus companies.
A lot has been written about whether business-to-business decision makers have relationships with companies or people. Much of what I’ve read points to that fact that people have relationships with other people, not companies. As a company leverages an inbound marketing strategy as a lead generation technique, it puts a face to the company.
3. Content marketing serves multiple masters.
B2B marketers are constantly challenged with too many priorities and not enough resources. Leveraging a content marketing strategy can help meet multiple objectives. Here are a few goals that an effective content marketing strategy can deliver:
• Generate web traffic
• Ensure that your company can get found when prospects are in the right mindset
• Serve as an effective lead generation technique by converting web visitors to leads
• Gather valuable information for lead nurturing as well as marketing and sales follow-up
• Provide a vehicle to package thought leadership content that can be leveraged for sales presentations, conferences and other purposes
• Measure the impact of the associated marketing spend
4. Content marketing strategies can be grounded in actual prospect behavior.
A solid inbound marketing strategy is grounded in keyword analytics. Initially, analytics are utilized to determine a set of words for content development. As the process unfolds, analytics are leveraged to determine the most appropriate follow-up for leads. This behavior-based approach creates a lead pipeline that is tailored and relevant based on individual engagement. Applying behavior to ongoing communications can increase the effectiveness of this lead generation technique.
5. Content marketing converts prospects to leads.
It is getting more and more difficult for B2B marketers to gain accurate prospect information. An effective inbound marketing strategy ensures that there is enticing information and then compelling landing page copy with a clear call-to-action. This combination provides a winning lead generation technique and improves the chances that the web visitor will complete a lead form.
6. Content marketing can support B2B social media efforts.
Many B2B marketers are constantly looking for topics to message in social media. Leveraging content in social media can transform these B2B efforts into customer versus company-centric communications. Utilizing content marketing in B2B social media marketing activities also transforms these activities into lead generation techniques. This transformation can be driven by leveraging content that drives to lead forms.
7. Inbound marketing is measurable.
Many B2B marketers are constantly justifying their marketing spend. Inbound marketing provides real-time tracking and the ability to measure. This includes metrics around website visits, leads generated, conversions and other hard metrics. Additionally, content can be analyzed based on user behavior and engagement. This information can help shape the ongoing inbound marketing strategy as well as other communications tactics messaging.
8. Inbound marketing is a proven winning approach for driving traffic.
According to HubSpot, companies that blog 20 times per month get five times more traffic than those that blog less than four times per month. Our most recent experience actually generated an increase of inbound visits to a website 10-fold within 90 days. And with an aggressive commitment, a B2B marketer can start to see results in 90 days from utilizing this lead generation technique.
9. Inbound marketing marries well to outbound marketing to deliver a more personalized experience.
As prospects engage with content, these learnings are applied to help generate meaningful and tailored follow-up interactions. The conversion phase is where inbound and outbound marketing meet to deliver the ultimate action. J&C’s approach is to apply information and integration with outbound marketing efforts, including email, direct mail, landing pages and other response-oriented tactics.
B2B marketers should consider developing an inbound marketing strategy to create a cohesive prospect lifecycle. Many marketers are turning to content marketing as an effective lead generation technique.