Tips for B2B marketers

We explore a number of tips to secure more leads with your B2B content marketing efforts.

Give to receive

Most B2B marketing campaigns adhere to the ‘pay it forward’ rule. You have to provide value first, before you get anything of value back. B2B prospects nowadays expect a huge amount from selling businesses.

Many concerns surround the thought of giving ‘too much’ could actually cause a loss of a sale. This isn’t the right way to approach the situation, and encourages inaction. You shouldn’t be afraid to let your prospects know how you approach problems, and definitely don’t be scared to push prospects towards resources that will help them solve problems on their own. Although it is possible that you may lose a sale or two, you will gain their trust and become a reliable resource in the process. This is invaluable in the B2B sales cycle.

Know what pains your audience

B2B content can be painfully self-serving and very boring. So if you want your content to succeed, you need to make it stand out from the pack.

Try to refrain from using industry acronyms and obscure terminology if possible, and make sure to stay away from the passive voice. But don’t step into a vague and unhelpful writing style, as that can push prospects away too. The best way to write your content is to put yourself into your prospects shoes. Create a persona (or a human face) on your target audience, then relate the content to them.

Pay to promote content

Social media networks have barely any organic reach these days. Facebook’s organic reach is approximately 2-6% and although Google fairs better, it is getting smaller as time goes on. So if you are able to put some budget aside to promote your content on social media, you may find yourself leap-frogging your competitors that don’t.

Read and comment on the original Social Media Today article.