89% of marketing professionals specializing in B2B use valuable content in their communication strategies, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
“Content marketing represents the gap between what brands produce and what consumers actually want” Michael Brenner
The creation of content has never been as important for companies as it is now to interact with their customers, imagine for startups that need to connect with new audiences…
In an information-driven society, where users want to know everything before they decide, offering something useful, informative, and interesting can increase the number of potential customers who stay with the brand and come back for more.
However, when it comes to B2B (business to business) content marketing, it is crucial to differentiate it from conventional B2C (business to client) strategies.
B2B content focuses on educating and persuading other companies to purchase a brand’s products and services. Therefore, marketing efforts are not directed at the final consumer, but at the decision maker in other companies.
So what is B2B content marketing?
B2B content marketing is a strategy based on the creation and distribution of content to attract new customers. When relevant content is produced for a target audience, a sense of trust is created with the audience.
The content marketing strategy is based on a differentiating element: it does not focus on selling explicitly, but on attracting and retaining the user with useful and quality content.
However, the ultimate goal of any B2B marketing strategy is to use content to create leads, publicize products, and increase conversion rates.
Why is content creation important for B2B startups?
Content is a powerful tool for any business that wants to sell products or services online. Among the most relevant benefits are the following:
Improve SEO positioning
Content marketing is a great strategy to improve positioning. In fact, the more optimized content there is on a website, the more it will appear in the first search engine results. And if it is of excellent quality, even better.
The creation of useful and interesting content for customers and users of a brand, product, or service increases organic traffic to a website and, consequently, allows you to reach more audiences and get more leads.
No need to point out that this is fundamental for a startup in order to be acknowledged.
Allows you to position yourself as a market leader
With useful information that can help potential customers solve their problems and needs, content marketing allows a company to position itself as a market leader/expert.
An article on an aspect related to a sector that no one has talked about before is guaranteed success and stands out from the competition. If your product or service is new to the market it is an amazing opportunity to position your startup as the referent for all audiences.
Inspires confidence and shows the professional trajectory of the startup
When good quality content is published to educate an audience, it shows that the company knows its industry, giving it credibility and inspiring trust. If a business conveys this to their industry, it will be much easier to convert prospects into customers and customers into returning customers.
The seven most common types of content for B2B startups
Blogging
A blog with professional content is the most popular means of communication for B2B companies and the best way to show the history of a company and attract traffic to the web.
Hence the importance of publishing educational and informative articles, news, or curiosities related to the industry or the product or service being sold.
For this, there are tools such as Mindpath, which identifies the different businesses that visit a company’s website and, based on that, determines what types of valuable content can persuade them and guide them through the sales funnel.
Evergreen content
Evergreen content is “content that remains relevant and interesting over time, rather than based on current events or trends.” It can be included in blogs, social media, videos, or other media.
The most important reason to use evergreen content for startups in a content format is that it has very little risk:
- It is very likely to be shared because it does not expire
- It is always useful for the reader
- Constantly attract traffic
Social networks
Social networks are the most effective and widespread channel for sharing valuable information. On these platforms, it is possible to keep customers up to date on industry news, and on a company’s products, services or achievements.
The specialists of a company and the company itself can become leaders in their community if they share their research content on networks such as LinkedIn.
Videos
“68% of companies have used video among their content formats in 2020,” says SocialMediaPymes. And it is that video marketing is increasingly popular in B2B companies and startups.
In a video, you can offer more information than in an article. Videos are especially useful for highly technical information (such as from technology or architecture companies) that can be more easily conveyed with a visual accompaniment.
Visitors will understand the information more quickly and will remember it for a longer time.
Newsletters
In most cases, a B2B audience is made up of very busy people with little time to visit blogs or social networks. That’s why it’s important for content publishers to take advantage of email newsletters.
Newsletters with relevant information and the latest industry news and updates are often effective, because they offer users a closer connection with the company, making it a reliable source.
Moreover, keeping a database of all your visitors is essential for startups in order to grow their network and possible future leads.
Infographics
Infographics are one of the most widely used visual tools in B2B marketing. These charts harness the power of visual information to help the reader understand the characteristics of a company, market, or industry.
Webinars
Webinars are live broadcasts where you interact with people in real-time. They are widely used by technology companies because they allow them to share information about their products, educate potential customers about their sector and encourage them to buy.
Conclusion
B2B content marketing is a key strategy for many startups: it allows you to get leads, become visible, gain authority, help build customer loyalty and, of course, make your products known. The key is to have a well-thought-out B2B strategy.
The approach must be strategic, integrated into the sales funnel, and executed with a basic understanding of how the target audience thinks and how they prefer to interact with the media.
