How to Make Your B2B Content Stand Out
by Emily Swet
The B2B content marketing landscape is like a riptide. It moves strong and fast and has the potential to sweep your marketing out to sea if you don’t have a plan in place. But your content needs to do more than stay afloat – it needs to stand out. Here are a few tips to make sure you do both:
Know the Basics.
Before you can think about standing out, make sure your team nails the following:
- Identifying the valuable organic keywords for your market.
- Creating standout content optimized for search, but written for a human.
- Leveraging that content with visuals and rich data.
- Using strong calls-to-action wherever relevant to bring leads in.
Create a Content Mission Statement.
An ambiguous goal results in ambiguous results. A clearly defined mission statement can help define your goals in the content marketing process. Knowing what you want your content to do helps you decide what to create, where to post it, and how to promote it. Here are two examples to get the ball rolling:
- “Our content will increase qualified leads by ___% annually by providing a resource on purchase decisions” or
- “Our content will establish our brand as a trusted authority in the field of ____”
Don’t Imitate Your Competitors.
It’s tempting to look at what the other guys are doing and hop on the bandwagon. Don’t. Instead, look at what your competitors are offering and analyze it. What customer needs aren’t being met? What questions can your brand answer that they don’t? And how is your brand voice different from theirs? And on that note…
Deliver What You Promise.
Your content must give your audience what they are looking for. If it doesn’t, scrap it. Even if you aren’t giving them the ol’ bait n’ switch, content that promises a deep dive and doesn’t deliver will leave your audience feeling duped and annoyed.
Be Authentic.
This one goes across the board. Customers are savvier than ever before and have comparison tools in their pockets. Be forthright and truthful to your brand in your voice, in your campaigns, and in your content, and your audience will respect your authenticity.
Analyze What Worked and What Didn’t.
Conduct A/B testing throughout your campaigns to determine what’s a success, and what isn’t. Once armed with that info, you can tweak your less successful campaigns to mirror what worked in others. You can test everything from headlines and visuals to ad placement, social channels, and call-to-action placement.
Don’t Rely Solely on Organic Reach.
Social channels continue to change their algorithms, making organic reach more difficult to rely on. Paid distribution is far more effective in connecting content to potential leads.
Whatever you choose, don’t wait too long. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 72% of B2B marketers say having a strategy in place has contributed to the success of their programs. The longer you wait to adopt a content strategy, the harder it will be to rise above the tide.
Continue Reading4 Types of Engaging B2B Content
by MGB2B
Rising above the noise can be a difficult task. According to Google Search Statistics, Google processes over 3.5 billion searches a day. So what’s the best way for your company stand out from the crowd? As with most things, content is about quality, not quantity. It’s worth your while to develop engaging content that allows the customer to interact with your brand. One way to enhance the quality of your content is by sharing interactive posts that will engage your audience and drive leads.
Here Are 4 Examples of Engaging B2B Content to Consider Using:
- Infographics: Infographics have been popular for a while now and can be particularly useful for B2B brands. Data can often be dry and boring, but infographics allow you to display it in an interesting and engaging way. Keep the design simple and eye-catching. If a buyer feels overwhelmed with information, they may lose interest, so present data in a way that is easy to read and comprehend. Make it stand out by adding an interactive element that requires readers to scroll or click to retrieve information (like this example from iLevel). Think of your infographic as a story. Stories are more memorable and keep your audience interested and wanting more.
- Calculators: Interactive calculators are a great way to increase engagement because they show potential buyers the benefits your company can provide. Buyers can get personalized cost estimates in an easy, non-stressful way. Calculators can also ignite a conversation between the company and buyer, pushing leads further into the sales funnel. By using a calculator, customers are assured of the value that your service can provide to them.
- Quizzes: Personality quizzes. Product evaluations. Knowledge tests. The options for interactive quizzes are endless. People love quizzes because they give unique results based on personal answers. The best thing about quizzes is that they can generate leads by requiring a name and email before releasing the result. Quizzes are a two-way road. They allow you to subtly share information about your products and services. Most importantly, if you ask the right questions, the answers can give your brand insight into your audience. Which is helpful when developing personas. And last but not least, quizzes can encourage people to share their results, which will result in more people taking the quiz and more leads captured.
- Surveys/Polls: Surveys and polls are great tools because they make clients feel like their opinions matter, and they enable you to gain important insights. Survey questions can be made up of closed or open-ended questions that allow you to find out even more about your audience than quizzes. Keep your surveys and polls short and sweet. That way people will take the time to fill it out and give the most accurate answers possible. It can also help to offer an incentive, like a gift card, which usually increases participation.
Sharing engaging content is one of the best ways to build your brand image and get more leads into your sales funnel. If you take the time to produce quality interactive content, you will engage your audience. And generate leads instead of yawns.
Continue ReadingB2B Myth of the Week: Social Media Content Should Be All-Business
by MGB2B
Myth: Social Media Content for B2B Brands Needs to be All-Business
Fact: Social Media is the Perfect Channel to Show Brand Personality
Social media content for B2B brands must revolve around statistics, numbers, and charts. Right? Wrong. While buyers do need practical information, it’s also necessary to humanize your brand. To do so, make sure some of your content resonates with your buyer’s emotions. After all, at the end of the day, it’s a human making purchase decisions. Need help getting started? Here’s three jumping off points to get your creative content up and running:
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Tell Stories
Storytelling is a simple way for buyers to relate to the brand. This, in turn, strengthens the relationship between brands and buyers. By sharing stories on social media, your company has a chance to develop a personality that strikes a chord with your audience. According to a study at Stanford University, information shared through stories is remembered 22 times more than facts alone. So what kind of stories can you tell? Try a testimonial from a satisfied client. Polish up your brand creation story. Or consider a story that demonstrates how your product or service can solve a problem.
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Use Humor.
People often assume that social media content for B2B brands is limited to stiff and serious posts. Including humorous content is a great way to get people interested in what your brand is doing. Let’s face it, most people don’t expect B2B brands to be funny. Use that to your advantage. Incorporating humor can be an extremely successful way of getting attention from potential buyers. There are plenty of ways to mix a little humor into your content calendar. Get creative with photos and videos that your brand is sharing. Is there something people find confusing about your brand? Poke fun at yourself (like MailChimp does). Or maybe there’s a common challenge in your industry you can make light of. A little levity can go a long way in ingratiating your brand to your audience.
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Show the Brand’s Personality.
Developing a personality that is associated with your brand has way more impact than just facts and numbers. Audiences remember personalities over stats. This one’s tricky – it’s easy for B2Bs to fall into the same-old personality traits: committed, quality-oriented, eco-friendly, etc. But who is your brand really? And how does that resonate with your audience? Make yourself memorable. Think about what ultimately motivates your brand, and develop your character from there. Is your brand personality wise? An explorer? A trusted advisor? Do you aim to challenge or inspire? Whatever you feel your brand is, infuse those characteristics into your content (not to mention your ad copy and visuals) and stand out from the pack.
Even though it seems like social media content for B2B brands is limited, it’s just the opposite. It’s an opportunity to showcase just what makes your brand tick. While facts and stats provide the proof, your brand personality will resonate far longer.
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