Businesses require a unique approach that embodies their brand authority, establishes thought leadership, and fosters long-term relationships with other businesses. In a nutshell, a strategy that can drive conversions, customer loyalty, and business growth simultaneously. These goals build the foundation of B2B content marketing strategies.

Content is the lifeblood of a successful marketing strategy, and crafting tailored content that meets your business needs can be complex. It requires creating a detailed plan that includes key content marketing formats, strategic distribution channels, and best practices. 

Koda has meticulously crafted an in-depth guide that will empower your B2B marketing campaigns to be more effective, and efficient, and yield remarkable results. 

What is B2B Content Marketing?

B2B content marketing is the strategic approach of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and informative content to attract and engage a target audience within the business-to-business space. According to the Content Marketing Institute, marketers predominantly utilize content marketing to enhance brand awareness, educate their target audiences, and establish credibility within their respective industries.

B2B brands prioritize an array of content formats that showcase their expertise in a particular subject area. This content aims to inform and inspire, potential buyers by addressing their pain points and offering solutions.

Why content is a crucial part of B2B marketing?

Any marketing strategy’s primary objective is to generate leads. Content plays a crucial role in B2B marketing, impacting entire marketing campaigns, and greatly influencing buyers’ purchasing decisions as highlighted by NetLine’s research. However, the significance of content in this marketing goes beyond what meets the eye. Are you wondering how? 

Here’s the answer. 

1. B2B content consumption is continually growing- As of 2022, B2B content consumption grew by 19%. Buyers are now more inclined to consume content online to gather insights, make informed decisions, and stay updated with industry trends.
2. B2B content consumption is interlinked with purchase decisions- Content consumption is integral to the decision-making process in business purchases. By providing valuable, relevant, and informative content, businesses can establish trust, influence perceptions, and impact the purchase decisions of their target audience.
3. Content format influences purchase intent – How content is presented and formatted significantly influences purchase intent in the business-to-business context. A well-crafted and visually appealing content format conveys valuable information and instills confidence and credibility in the audience.

Key formats for B2B content marketing strategies

Approaching content with a format-first mindset hinders the creative process. Instead, a story-first approach yields optimum results. The process involves identifying the core message you wish to communicate and then strategically selecting the most powerful method to deliver that message, ensuring it connects deeply with the audience and conveys the intended meaning. 

These tried-and-tested content formats can be effectively incorporated into the B2B content marketing strategies.

1. Blog posts- Blog posts are valuable for engaging with the top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) audience, capturing their attention, and driving initial interest in your offerings. 
2. Infographics- By condensing complex information into a visually digestible form, infographics enable audiences to grasp key concepts and insights more easily. 
3. Gated content- eBooks, whitepapers, and case studies/success stories, provide businesses with valuable information and evidence to guide their decision-making process. 
4. Videos-Through visual and auditory elements, marketers can convey their brand story, showcase their products or services, and highlight customer success stories in a captivating and visually appealing manner. 
5. Thought leadership- By sharing unique insights, perspectives, and expertise on relevant topics, thought leadership content establishes a company or individual as an industry authority and expert. 
6. Podcasts- Audio content is a powerful medium for in-depth discussions, relationship building, and convenient accessibility, enabling businesses to deliver valuable insights, and connect with their target audience on a more personal level.

5 Best Practices for B2B content marketing

In a business land space, excelling requires more than creating exceptional content. The following B2B content marketing strategies can help marketers to achieve this goal. 

1. Create content for every stage of the marketing funnel 

According to CMI, B2B content primarily focuses on the top of the funnel (TOFU). While building brand awareness is essential, having a content marketing strategy encompassing all stages of the buyer’s journey is essential. Here’s how you can do that: 

• Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU)/Awareness Stage: Address your target audience’s critical needs by delivering valuable content through blog posts, videos, and social media. Stand out from your competitors with superior organic reach and content outreach, ensuring you make the initial connection with your audience. 
• Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU)/Evaluation Stage: Help your potential buyers in their decision-making process by providing them with case studies, product demos, webinars, and comprehensive research reports and whitepapers. These resources will assist them in evaluating available alternatives and choosing the right solution.
• Bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU)/Decision Stage: Prospects are narrowing down their options at this stage. Stay engaged with them by sending reminders about your offerings through drip email campaigns, free trials, discounts, and consultation opportunities. These tactics will reinforce your value proposition and encourage them to choose your solution. 

2. Creates cohesive content experiences 

The content experience aims to deliver a continuous flow of branded content across numerous platforms and channels throughout the buyer’s journey. Companies can engage with their target audience consistently and efficiently by strategically distributing content through various touchpoints, such as websites, social media, email campaigns, and offline channels. 

The key to creating a cohesive content experience is curating a diverse content mix. Marketers should integrate different content formats into their strategy, allowing their content to reach audiences through various channels and mediums. Whether leveraging YouTube for videos or utilizing LinkedIn for thought leadership articles, the goal is to establish a centralized content repository that ensures easy accessibility for users. 

3. Repair thin content 

Thin content refers to content saturated with keywords but lacks substance and fails to provide meaningful value to the audience. Identifying thin content on your website can be done by analyzing pages that receive decent traffic but exhibit a high bounce rate or low average time spent on the page. How can you address thin content issues? 

1. By removing outdated or obsolete topics.
2. By writing about relevant and trending topics. 

By addressing thin content and producing high-quality, valuable content, marketers can improve their search visibility, attract more targeted traffic, and enhance the overall user experience on their website.

4. Repurpose content 

Content repurposing involves taking an existing piece of content and reimagining it in a different format or distributing it across various channels. This approach combines the strengths of content creation and distribution to expand your reach. Here are a few ways to repurpose your content:

• Transform blog posts into engaging infographics or visual presentations.
• Convert written case studies into video testimonials or customer success stories.
• Compile a series of related blog posts into an ebook or comprehensive guide.
• Use data and insights from research reports to create compelling social media graphics or data visualizations.

5. The art of storytelling 

Storytelling is a powerful B2B content marketing practice as it fosters emotional connections, enhances engagement, and promotes memorability. Businesses can communicate their value proposition by simplifying complex information and using relatable narratives. Stories differentiate brands by showcasing unique attributes and successes while building trust and credibility through evidence of expertise and customer satisfaction. With storytelling, marketers create a deeper connection, stand out in a crowded marketplace, and drive conversions by resonating with their audience on an emotional level.

Summing it up 

The digital landscape has seen a paradigm shift in the last decade, driven by the widespread adoption of social media platforms. This shift has brought about a fundamental change in the way B2B marketers approach content marketing. To succeed in this dynamic environment, marketers must diversify their content mix by exploring different formats and mediums and experimenting with various B2B content marketing strategies tactics. 

Koda specializes in helping businesses with  B2B content marketing strategies focused on delivering tangible results. Whether crafting thought leadership articles, producing engaging videos, or optimizing website copy, our expertise, and unique approach enable businesses to create tailored marketing strategies that establish their brand’s credibility and drive meaningful results in the B2B space.