6 reasons to get on board with B2B content marketing

In the age of the internet, traditional advertising is fast becoming an annoying interference to be skipped, muted or otherwise ignored.

Valuable, informative content – such as blog posts, white papers and videos – can help businesses to develop a relationship with their clients and keep them coming back for more. It’s a way of getting noticed in a world where consumers have the ultimate choice of what they want to read, watch and otherwise engage with.

Here are six reasons you need to embrace content marketing.

1. Content marketing educates
Content marketing is not only designed to get the attention of potential customers; it can also educate them on the benefits of your products. Most of the time, people won’t buy a product or service if they can’t see why it is they need it. A content-led approach makes it possible for businesses to demonstrate the value of what they do in an easy, accessible way.

2. It’s all about give and take
Many B2B marketers are suspicious of creating free content as they don’t want to give away their valuable knowledge seemingly for nothing. However, the truth is, the more free content you can give away to customers, the more you’ll get back in return. If you can provide content which helps someone to further their business, they’ll be more enthusiastic about purchasing your services in future.

3. It’s cost-effective
In comparison to a costly print ad, a blog post which took only a few hours to write could potentially be read by thousands of customers. Strategic, finely-crafted content can also provide multiple returns as it can be shared with customers again and again. While a Google ad could bring someone to your website for a one-off visit, good content can direct traffic to you for years.That’s a lifetime return on a small initial investment.

4. It gets shared
Websites like LinkedIn (or dedicated content networks such as 2degrees) are havens for B2B content, offering a potential reach of thousands of people with each post that gets shared. While website URLs are often only shared once and never again, if you regularly produce new content, the same person could share your posts with their followers week after week.

5. It keeps Google happy
If you only have static content on your website, you’ll only have a handful of pages which can be found through a Google search. A regularly-updated blog gives Google’s complex algorithms precisely what they want: fresh, compelling content. This helps drive valuable organic search engine traffic to your website.

6. You can target your efforts
Not only does content marketing allow your business to be noticed by a wide audience, it can also be targeted to the people who are the most likely to become customers. Personalised content can reflect a deep understanding of your audience and what they’re looking for, encouraging those all-important sales.

So, to wrap up, content marketing is:

1. Informative – It keeps customers coming back to your website again and again
2. Inspirational – If you provide something useful, customers will want to repay you with sales
3. Cost-effective – A well-written blog post can potentially reach many more people than a standard print ad
4. Shareable – A reach of thousands is available through sharing content on social media
5. Searchable – The more content you have, the more of it can be found through Google
6. Targeted – You can hone your efforts to reach the people who matter the most

Want to know more? Contact us today on [email protected].