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.
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