introduction toCONTENT MARKETING

for B2B

OverviewContent marketing is the new buzzwordin digital strategies. But few of us reallyknow what content marketing means, orwhat it can do for B2B businesses.

In this presentation, we introducecontent, its strategies and its principlesin a B2B context.

Ready? Let's make content!

Anabelle Bernard FournierContent Strategist

Stikky Media

ContentThe concept of "web content" includes a widerange of things:

Website copy (blog, static pages)eBooksSocial media updatesGraphics and picturesVideosMusicPresentationsWebinarsEtc.

Anything that isdelivered throughthe web iscontent!

ContentThe purpose of web content is to:

AttractInformEntertainInfluenceTeachConnectShare

Your business, sales and

marketing strategies will

determine the purpose of

your content.

"I have my website. Our team tweets a little.We have a Facebook page. Why focus onproducing content?"

That's a question we often get, especiallyfrom our B2B clients. Seeing the ROI ofcontent can be difficult when managers areused to traditional sales-driven metrics.

"There is no single metric you can show your boss that will categorically give theROI of the content you produce" -Kieran Flanagan, Hubspot

Content production

Content marketingContent marketing has tangible benefits:

Increases leadsIncrease salesAttracts more visitorsRaises your pricesImproves your search results positionDecreases marketing and advertising costs

Planned and executed by marketing professionals, your

content marketing efforts will drive traffic to your site and

increase leads. It’s capable of playing a role in helping you

better qualify leads, too. -Barry Feldman, Convince and

Convert.

""

Content marketingContent marketing also has intangiblebenefits:

Proves your expertiseBuilds trustSpreads awarenessEducates prospects, clients and employeesInfluences purchasing decisionsImproves customer serviceAttracts the right clientsConnects you to other experts

Content marketingmodel

The most consistently used content marketingmodel, in both B2B and B2C, has 4 steps:

Turning strangers into visitorsTurning visitors into leadsTurning leads into customersTurning customers into promoters

Models from different companies will usedifferent words, but the steps are alwaysessentially the same.

Strangers

Visitors

Leads

Customers

Promoters

Attracting strangers

Each step of the model uses a different set oftools.

To attract strangers, content marketers use:

Search engine optimizationBlogsSocial media

Catching leads

Once strangers are on your website, theybecome visitors. To turn them into leads,provide them with:

Calls to action to clickForms to fillLanding pages to visit

The point of these tools is to gather emailaddresses (always with the consent of theperson) by offering "gated" free content.

Making customers

Once you've captured visitors' emails andturned them into leads, you must convincethem to buy your product or service by:

Identifying and classifying themSending them emailsListening to their buying signals

Of course, giving them more content in theform of blog posts, ebooks and webinars isgoing to strengthen their trust in yourcompany.

Motivating promoters

The last step of the process is to motivateyour satisfied customers to promote yourproduct or service. You can:

Organize eventsLaunch contestsInvite their contribution to your content

Motivated promoters are going to spread theword to even more strangers, starting thecycle all over again.

Content for B2Bmarkets

The beautiful thing about content marketing(also known as inbound marketing) is that itworks for every market--yes, even the mostobscure B2B field. In fact, it's especiallyeffective for B2B.

B2B customers have a long buying cycle thatcan be supported by publishing content andusing email campaigns.

Content for B2Bmarkets

B2B marketers constantly face the challengeof explaining complex products, but longercontent forms like ebooks, webinars andpresentations make it much easier.

Inbound marketing is also a great way tosegment your leads and provide personalizedinformation that responds to specific needs.

Conclusion

Content marketing has completely changedthe way people do business. Permissionmarketing has supplanted interruptionmarketing. Cold calls are no longer necessary,as leads now warm themselves.

B2B marketing has yet to completely adoptcontent marketing, yet these are thecompanies that have the most to gain by thismodel.

All Digital. Real Sweet.

Our website: www.stikkymedia.com

Our blog: www.stikkymedia.com/blog

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