Here\u2019s an example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outbound marketing:<\/strong> a Google ad that says \u201c#1 Software Platform for Telehealth Providers\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inbound marketing<\/strong>: a blog post titled \u201c7 Elements Your Telehealth Platform Must Have to Retain Patients\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Content marketing for B2B tech companies, like content marketing for other industries, generally falls into the following categories: <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, there are many different types of content that B2B companies can utilize to attract customers to their brand. Some, like whitepapers, infographics, and blog posts, have been used for a long time in the B2B space\u2014others, like B2B influencer marketing<\/a> and memes, are only now becoming popular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of whether you think a specific type of content marketing would work in your industry, it\u2019s important to take stock of all the different types available to you and consider whether they might actually benefit your audience. Chances are, that audience has needs and interests you may not be aware of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While content marketing is critical for brands across sectors and industries, B2B marketers, in particular, are under huge amounts of pressure to create content that actually generates sales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n For one thing, the B2B buyer journey<\/a> is long, non-linear, and complex, with many stakeholders and many milestones involved along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, a buying team that consists of six different people from six different departments will necessarily spend more time choosing a CRM for their entire organization than, say, a consumer deciding which scarf to buy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The stakes, risks, and consequences of B2B buying decisions are simply much higher. That means more time spent on research before choosing which brand to work with\u2014and in order to do research, they need content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To be effective, B2B content must be created for each stage of the buying journey: for the discovery\/research phase, the deliberation phase, and finally, the decision phase. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is true for three reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re also extremely used to comparative shopping for technology in their personal lives, for everything from apps to smart appliances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re trying to appeal to these buyers, and you should be, then you\u2019ve got to give them the information they expect in order to move them forward in the buying journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you know why content marketing is so important for B2B brands, let\u2019s take a look at the marketing tactics<\/a> that actually work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a survey of B2B marketers by Netline<\/a>, there are two major concerns for marketers who feel their content is not performing well: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution to this is to first hone in on whom you\u2019re targeting. This can be done using your persona map (if you\u2019ve never created one, here\u2019s a guide to creating B2B personas<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n So if your audience target is, for example, a COO who\u2019s looking for CRM solutions that will help the sales and marketing teams to collaborate more closely, while also be more efficient and cut costs, you might create content like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, you could seek out a review or testimonial from a client who can speak to how your product helped them do exactly what your audience is looking to do: cut costs, improve collaboration, and increase efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see that the key here is to keep a laser focus on the message you want to get out and to build your content around that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One finding to keep in mind: most B2B tech content marketing is aimed at the top of the sales funnel (TOF)\u2014generating awareness and acquiring new customers. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While there\u2019s nothing wrong with creating content designed to get your name out there and attract brand-new visits to your website, it too often means that the rest of the funnel\u2014content aimed at those in the consideration, purchase, and perhaps most importantly, retention stages\u2014is neglected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a problem because, according to Netline\u2019s survey, 86% of senior B2B buying executives say that content plays a critical role in their supplemental<\/em> buying decisions once they\u2019ve signed on with a brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s more, 92% of those executives said that they seek out third-party content (which could be customer reviews, thought leadership by your brand\u2019s executives, and guest blogs on sites other than your website) when deciding whether to stay with a brand, as well as to affirm or justify their previous investments with your brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The takeaway here is to make sure that your marketing team is creating content not just to get new people to your website, but to keep your current customers coming back, making new purchases, and feeling good about the money they\u2019re spending with you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Promotional copy tends to be easier to produce than a measured, thoughtful article by your chief executive on an upcoming industry trend. So it\u2019s understandable why B2B tech brands are creating so much promotional content versus the \u201cobjective, neutral\u201d (according to Netline\u2019s survey) content that B2B buyers overwhelmingly want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see in the above image from the survey, most marketing teams are spending most of their time creating content that doesn\u2019t actually deliver the best leads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider that your website is already full of promotional content. It has, or should have, all your tech product\u2019s features, specs, benefits, and use cases. Potential customers already know<\/em> that websites house all that information for a brand they want to learn more about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, your content team should be focusing on the rest of the content marketing you need: thought leadership like white papers, reports, articles in industry publications, and more. You want both current customers and potential buyers to read your CEO\u2019s thoughts on what\u2019s next for the industry or your marketing team\u2019s tips for creating a social campaign that works. That\u2019s how you build trust and nurture long-term customer relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re not yet convinced, take a look at these stats from the Netline survey: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gating B2B tech content can be an effective way to grow your email list, but it must be done with care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There has to be enough perceived value in your content to convince people to sign up with an email address, or whatever other information you\u2019re requesting of them. If that perceived value doesn\u2019t match up with their perceived cost (their personal information), then you\u2019ll be driving leads away, instead of bringing them in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you think about gated content, think comprehensive, educational, and high-value\u2014reports, studies, ebooks, webinars, and whitepapers. If you have statistics you can provide, proprietary or original research you\u2019ve done, or a step-by-step guide to a complex topic or undertaking, these are good candidates for gated content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Why content marketing matter so much for B2B tech brands?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What this means for your brand is that if potential buyers can\u2019t find answers to their questions easily, on their own, there\u2019s no guarantee that they\u2019ll seek out one of your salespeople to get those answers. In fact, it\u2019s more likely that they\u2019ll simply move on to one of your competitors.
<\/li>\n\n\n\nContent marketing tactics that will drive leads for your business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Narrowly-focused content specifically created for each stage of the buying journey<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Go all-in on neutral, objective content\u2014thought leadership over promotional content<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Gate content thoughtfully and strategically<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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