10 B2B Content Marketing Best Practices Companies Need To Follow

What Is a B2B Content Marketing Funnel & How Do I Create One?

SEO Content Marketing (How To Use SEO & Content Marketing Together)

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Picture this: You're in the thick of a B2B marketing campaign, trying to keep up with the ever-changing dynamics. You're crafting content, targeting leads, and hoping it all clicks. Sound familiar? You're not alone. In B2B content marketing, moving prospects through the funnel can feel like a juggling act. Fortunately, we're here to simplify things.

This article covers the best practices for B2B content marketing that companies need to follow. Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to a more efficient B2B content marketing funnel. Feather’s notion to blog can help you make sense of it all.

What is B2B Content Marketing?

Business-to-business marketing isn't just about selling products or services to other businesses. It's about creating a content marketing strategy that resonates with a specific audience:

Business owners

Corporate investors

Decision-makers

This type of marketing involves creating, processing, and sharing diverse content like images, videos, white papers, and blogs. The goal? Connect with business professionals who have a vested interest in learning more about your business for their purposes.

Content marketing is going strong. The pandemic increased content usage by over 200%, and that trend will only increase. In 2023, 55% of marketers plan to post content more frequently, and 53% plan to boost the quality of their content.

B2B vs. B2C Content Marketing: Different Approaches for Different Audiences

B2B and B2C content marketing might seem similar but fundamentally different. B2B content marketing targets niche audiences with deep expertise. It addresses complex sales processes and focuses on delivering value. In contrast, B2C content aims for broad awareness and virality. It casts a wider net and segments audiences using demographic and psychographic data. Quizzes, contests, and interactive content are popular B2C tactics.

B2B content must address every stage of the long B2B customer journey. Executives want to see how your content will impact their bottom line, and many influencers in the buying group have a say in the final purchase decision.

B2C content focuses on entertainment and inspiration to build brand affinity with the masses. B2B content must deliver exceptional value to earn trust and drive conversions in a niche market

Why is Content Marketing in B2B Important?

Content marketing isn’t just for B2C companies; it’s also a cornerstone of success for B2B businesses. 72% of B2B companies maintain a blog, according to research by Backlinko. That leaves 28% without a blog and a powerful tool for building trust, visibility, and engagement.

Here are seven compelling reasons why content marketing is a game-changer for B2B companies:

Guiding Purchase Decisions with Expertise

In the B2B world, decisions are complex and high-stakes. Content marketing helps by educating buyers and positioning your company as a knowledgeable, trustworthy partner. Whether a detailed how-to guide, an infographic, or an instructional video, this content makes your expertise accessible to your audience.

Educational content does more than inform—it’s also highly shareable, leading to increased reach and backlinks. Notably, B2B blogs focusing on academic content see 52% more organic traffic than those centered on self-promotional content. Addressing buyer pain points and questions, you assist in decision-making and build long-term trust.

Boosting Visibility and Rankings Cost-Effectively

Content marketing and SEO are like two sides of the same coin. Every blog post, case study, or whitepaper is an opportunity to improve your website's rankings by:

Targeting keywords

Building links

Maintaining consistent updates

Done well, this can significantly increase your online visibility.

If your team has content creation skills, the cost of creating SEO-friendly articles is minimal. Nevertheless, quality matters; a poorly written blog could harm your rankings. If expertise isn’t available in-house, outsourcing to an SEO agency can help ensure the content aligns with best practices while staying engaging and professional.

Delivering Long-Term Results

Content marketing isn’t a one-and-done effort; it’s an investment in longevity. Evergreen content, like industry guides or FAQs, remains relevant and attracts traffic long after publication. This content can also be repurposed for:

Social media

Email campaigns

Even internal training

Evergreen content that ranks well in search results becomes a constant source of leads. Regularly updating this content keeps it relevant, ensuring it delivers value and maintains its rankings.

Building Strong Connections with Your Audience

B2B buyers crave relationships with trusted brands, and content marketing is the perfect tool for fostering these connections. Whether through blog posts, webinars, or social media, your content engages and informs your audience, making your brand memorable.

You position your company as an industry authority by consistently providing content that is:

Accurate

Timely

Solution-focused content

This builds rapport with your audience, increases customer loyalty, and encourages referrals. When your content speaks directly to your customers’ needs, it becomes a bridge between them and your business.

Generating High-Quality Leads

Content marketing is a lead generation powerhouse. By creating content tailored to different buyer journey stages, you can attract leads at the:

Awareness

Consideration

Intent stages

For example, offering a free downloadable eBook or a webinar in exchange for an email address can help attract potential clients.

Pop-ups, subscription forms, and gated content are simple ways to turn site visitors into leads. Once captured, you can nurture these leads with email campaigns and personalized content, gently guiding them toward conversion.

Showcasing Products in Engaging Ways

Complex or niche products can be challenging to explain, but content marketing offers creative solutions. You can present your offerings in a digestible, engaging format through:

Video demonstrations

Interactive infographics

Customer success stories

You can grab attention quickly and leave a lasting impression by making your content visually appealing and concise. Engaging content hooks potential customers and complements more detailed resources that drive more profound decision-making.

Staying Ahead of Competitors

Content marketing sets you apart from the competition. While 72% of B2B companies may have blogs, many don’t fully leverage their potential, only 24% use pop-ups, and 35% offer newsletter subscriptions. This leaves a wide gap for companies willing to take a strategic approach.

A strong content marketing strategy builds your reputation and ensures you stay visible in organic searches. Regular competitor analysis can reveal gaps in their content, giving you opportunities to address unmet market needs. By creating high-quality, audience-focused content, your business becomes the go-to resource in your field.

All-in-One Platform for Content Creation

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10 B2B Content Marketing Best Practices Companies Need To Follow

Effective B2B content marketing for lead generation requires careful planning and execution. Here are some important best practices for lead generation teams to follow:

Know What Your Audience Will Engage With Most

Knowing what your audience will engage with most is vital for piquing and retaining their interest. Therefore, you must conduct thorough research to understand your target audience’s:

Needs

Pain points

Preferences

You must tailor your content to address their specific challenges, allowing them to feel like their voices are being heard.

Create High-Quality, Consistently-Branded Content

Not having content marketing materials may be bad, but having low-quality and inconsistently branded content may be worse. Therefore, you must invest in producing valuable, well-researched, and informative content that showcases your expertise and provides real solutions to your target market’s problems.

If you have content marketing materials that don’t accurately present your brand identity or voice, you risk losing the trust of potential buyers. If you can’t put effort into suitable B2B marketing materials, how can they trust you to provide a positive customer experience?

Diversify the Types of Content Marketing Materials Used

Selecting one B2B content marketing asset won’t do the trick, so you must offer various content types. This helps cater to different learning styles and preferences. Using various content marketing materials, including:

Blog posts

Webinars

Whitepapers

Videos

This lets you get your point across and convert more prospects and leads into sales.

Optimize Your Content Marketing Assets for SEO Value

To get the most significant impact from your B2B content marketing efforts, ensure your content is search engine optimized. This helps to improve visibility in search results, driving more traffic to your website, YouTube channel, etc. If you want your assets to be optimized for SEO value, include relevant keywords and meta tags and create high-quality, shareable content.

Sharing your B2B marketing content on social media platforms can help you reach a broader audience and get in front of more potential buyers who may still need to be in your pipeline.

Engaging with your followers and encouraging them to share your content is essential. This can help spread awareness and keep your brand at the forefront of your mind. If you want more social media users to share your content, it may be worth offering an incentive, such as a discount on a service or free product offerings.

Implement Assets Into Your Email Marketing Strategy

Inserting content marketing assets in your email marketing campaigns can help your sales development and marketing teams effectively nurture leads. For the most significant impact, segment your email lists and send personalized content to different segments based on their interests and behavior. This can ensure that you send the best content to the right leads at the right time.

Use Unique Content as Lead Magnets

If you want to drive more leads from your B2B content marketing strategy, consider using your assets as lead magnets, exchanging your industry-exclusive information for their contact information. While they may not be more ready-to-buy leads, it open up the conversation for the future, allowing you to nurture the lead over time.

To get the most soft leads from your content marketing materials, ensure your call-to-actions (CTAs) effectively promote these offers.

Measure and Analyze the Effectiveness of Your Materials

If you want to get the most impact from your assets, continuously track and analyze the performance of your content marketing efforts. This includes identifying what works and what needs improvement, allowing you to adjust your strategy accordingly.

Use B2B Content Marketing Materials for Both Sales and Marketing

While B2B content marketing has the word “marketing” in it, it’s also a critical component of sales and overall customer engagement. B2B content marketing materials can be used in sales aspects, such as the presentation your sales execs give to potential buyers.

Content marketing materials such as newsletters and sell sheets can keep customers engaged and encourage upselling.

10. Utilize Content Calendars for Better Distribution Organization

For a better content distribution strategy, maintain a content calendar to plan and schedule content in advance. This ensures consistency and alignment with your short- and long-term business goals.

By following these best practices, B2B lead generation teams can create a successful content marketing strategy that attracts, nurtures, and converts leads effectively while providing value to their target audience.

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How To Do Content Marketing Competitor Analysis

How To Measure Content Marketing Success

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5 Best Tips To Measure the Success of B2B Content Marketing Initiatives

1. Set Clear Goals & KPIs: Establish a Roadmap for Success

Defining SMART goals in your B2B content marketing strategy is crucial. These guide your content team and align everyone around a common purpose. Nevertheless, many stumble when setting KPIs that align with their goals. The Content Marketing Institute found connecting performance data to goals tricky for many B2B marketers. If your organization uses a RevOps framework, you're already ahead in setting and achieving these organizational targets.

2. Track Engagement & Metrics: See What Resonates

To understand how your audience interacts with your content, track critical metrics like:

Conversions

Email engagement

Website traffic

Social media analytics

Leverage tools like Google Analytics to monitor these metrics. This will allow you to learn what content resonates with your audience and refine future campaigns.

3. Monitor Leads & Conversions: Focus on Results

Leads and conversions are central to B2B content marketing. You can identify which content pieces and channels are most successful by monitoring lead generation metrics and conversion rates. This data helps you see what content brings in the most qualified leads and what campaigns attract the most attention from your audience.

4. Analyze Data Insights: Drive Continuous Improvement

Once you can access metrics and KPIs, analyze the data to uncover patterns and insights. Marketing automation tools, CRM software, and your MarketingOps team can help you understand this data and make informed decisions. Use these insights to improve and optimize future content initiatives.

5. Get Feedback from Your Target Audience: Hear What They Have to Say

An often overlooked way to measure content performance is to ask your audience directly. Share surveys, conduct interviews, hold focus groups, and request feedback from loyal customers and prospective buyers. This feedback helps you understand your content's relevance, perception, and value, allowing you to improve future campaigns.

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