“Content without strategy is just stuff!” – Arjun Basu, a Canadian Writer
As per an article in Constant Content, only 42% of the companies globally have a designated content marketing strategist. Neil Patel, Blogger & Entrepreneur states in his one of his blogs that only 30% of the B2B companies who create an online store believes that content marketing is effective and according to Stephanie Stahl, only 45% content marketers achieve their goals of building subscribed audiences, generating sales and building loyalty with existing customers. Hence, a comprehensive guide to B2B Content Marketing Strategy is much needed:
Identify your audience– Understanding your target group is crucial to define your content marketing strategy. This slowdown of 2020 gives you a fresh opportunity to dig out your audience and discover new insights about them. Your content should always highlight their needs and pain points.
Storytelling is the key – Audiences need stories. No unwanted jargons and no unnecessary adjectives! Just keep it simple, straight to the point. Let your content flow in the story form (don’t miss out on professional writing).
A content audit is a must- Content audit is the most unrecognized task. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the content is important for creating engagement and conversion.
Write Unique Content – Unique content is what makes you stand out from the rest. To check that your content is unique you can use a plagiarism checker. This is one of the most important factors in content marketing and you cannot ignore it
Know your competitors- Undoubtedly, they target the same audience as you are targeting.
Assess the content of your competitors’ website as well as their content on social media. Know the hashtags they use.
Infuse content marketing strategy with other plans– Make content marketing a part of your overall marketing goals.
Consistency of content across the team- To direct the whole strategy towards the same goal, set an internal code of conduct for content. Moreover, document the whole content strategy which can act as a roadmap for moving forward.
Track your success metrics- Page views, time on page, social shares and conversion are the success metrics that need to be tracked for each post.
Always welcome new content ideas- With time, even content ages and there is time for new content ideas to flow in. After regular intervals, ensure that you always think of new ways to present your content that breaks the monotony and averts the audience from getting bored.
Put in the right keywords- Keywords are the soul of content. Put such keywords in your content that your audience would relate. Use keyword research tools like Google Adwords or Google Correlate.
Prefer blog posts- Blogs are the most preferred choice of content for businesses. 65% of the content strategy revolves around blogs, as researched by Lyfe Marketing. A recommendation of minimum 1000 words blog post, which shall incorporate the answers to the most pressing questions of the audience and address their concerns.
Seek help: It’s no harm to seek help from agencies who understand content marketing better. Also, their way of looking at your strategy might help you to introduce a fresh perspective to your content.
Experiment taking baby steps- Last but not the least, gradually experiment with strategies. Although it’s likely to do all at one time, see what strategy is working for you.
Now that you have a comprehensive guide to B2B content marketing, implement it and help to grow your business. Though it may take some time to create a perfect plan, refer back to these tips and you are sure to get some direction. After all, if you are clear about the end goal, nothing can stop you from achieving it via content marketing. If you need to tweak any of the above tips, feel free to do so.
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