The Definitive Guide To Content Marketing In B2B

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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In the B2B world, connecting with other businesses demands a unique approach. You can’t just shout into the void and hope the right people hear you. This is where the B2B content marketing funnel comes in. It’s about using content strategically to guide your audience through a journey — from awareness to interest and, ultimately, to action. Think of it as building a relationship, not just making a sale. This article offers insights to help you master this process and succeed with your B2B content marketing efforts.

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What Is Content Marketing in B2B?

Business-to-business marketing, or B2B marketing, appeals to a business audience rather than a traditional consumer audience. A B2B content marketing plan includes creating, processing, and sharing content such as:

Images

Videos

White papers

Letters

Blogs with a prospective business audience

This includes other business owners, corporate investors, and those with a vested interest in learning more about your business for their business purposes.

The Rise of Content Marketing

Content marketing isn’t new, and it’s not slowing down. The pandemic increased content usage by 207%, and that trend will likely continue to grow in 2023. Indeed, 55% of marketers plan to post content more frequently, and 53% plan to boost the quality of their content in 2023. It all comes down to choosing the right mix of content marketing media that will turn more heads.

B2B vs. B2C

B2B content marketing targets niche audiences with deep expertise, address complex sales processes, and focuses on delivering value, while B2C content aims for broad awareness and virality.

B2B content must address each stage of the long B2B customer journey. Execs want to see how you’ll impact their bottom line, and many influencers in the buying group have a say in the final purchase decision.

B2C content, in contrast, casts a broader net and segments audiences using demographic and psychographic data. Popular B2C tactics include:

Quizzes

Contests

Interactive content

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

Content Creation in Digital Marketing

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Why Is Content Marketing In B2B Important?

Content marketing is just as crucial for B2B companies as it is for any other type of company. Recent research by Backlinko shows that 72% of B2B companies have a blog on their website. That leaves 28% without a blog and, therefore, without a solid content marketing strategy.

There are so many reasons as to why content marketing is an essential aspect of growing a B2B company, including the following seven benefits:

1. Empower B2B Buyers with Knowledge

Content marketing isn't just about promotion; it’s about lending a hand to B2B buyers trying to make informed decisions. Your business has expertise; sharing it through educational content can inform and guide your audience. Consider using the following:

Instructional videos

How-to articles

Infographics

Boost Your B2B Reach with Educational Content

These resources become reference points for buyers, helping them make confident purchase decisions. Educational content is also shared, expanding your reach and building your reputation. B2B blogs focusing on education receive 52% more organic traffic, demonstrating the value of this approach.

2. Boost Online Visibility on a Budget

Content marketing is a budget-friendly strategy for increasing your business’s online visibility. Crafting quality content plays a critical role in improving search engine rankings through:

Keyword targeting

Consistent output

If your team has the skills, creating content like social media posts and blog articles can be cost-effective. But if you lack expertise, low-quality content might hurt your rankings. In such cases, consider outsourcing to a performance-based SEO agency.

3. Create Evergreen Content for Long-Term Impact

The content you publish today can keep benefiting your business for years. By developing evergreen content, you can extend the longevity of your resources. This content can be repurposed for cross-promotional activities like:

Social media

Email marketing

Sales and customer support teams can also use this content to improve customer interactions. Evergreen content that ranks well in search results consistently brings traffic to your site, proving the long-term value of good content marketing.

4. Build Strong Connections with Your Audience

Content marketing is more than just producing content; it’s about building meaningful connections with your audience. You can attract, engage, and convert your target audience by delivering engaging and informative content.

Build Trust and Loyalty with Expert Content

Establishing yourself as an industry expert through consistent, high-quality content builds trust and positions your company as a go-to resource. Focus on creating solution-focused content that resonates with your audience. A solid connection can increase customer lifetime value and foster loyalty.

5. Capture High-Quality Leads with Targeted Content

How does content marketing bring in new customers? By capturing high-quality leads. Tailor your content to target specific stages of the customer journey.

Valuable content can attract leads in the awareness or consideration stages. Use lead magnets to guide prospects further down the funnel.

Use email marketing to nurture and engage potential leads.

Offer downloadable resources that provide value and encourage action.

For example, a pop-up encouraging newsletter sign-ups lets you target your audience with relevant content, increasing trust and speeding up conversion.

6. Showcase Your Offerings in an Engaging Way

Complex or niche products and services benefit from content marketing, which presents them in an engaging, digestible format. Creating content that hooks your audience quickly is crucial, as attention spans are shrinking. Engaging content complements long-form pieces and gets initial buy-in from your customers, making your business stand out.

7. Stay Ahead of the Competition

Want to be the best? Content marketing can help. With 28% of B2B companies lacking a blog, there’s room to outpace competitors. Even among those with blogs, many aren’t fully utilizing them.

A consistent content marketing strategy strengthens your brand’s reputation and visibility, keeping you ahead. Competitor analysis ensures your content delivers long-term results, setting you apart.

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B2B Content Marketing Metrics

How Content Marketing Helps SEO

How Content Marketing Drives Sales

Content Strategy for Inbound Marketing

End-to-End Content Marketing

How To Do Content Marketing Competitor Analysis

How Do You Integrate SEO Into Your Content

Types of Content Marketing

B2B Content Marketing Types

How To Measure Content Marketing Success

Content Marketing SEO Tips

B2B Content Marketing Best Practices

Effective SEO And Content Marketing

SEO And Content Marketing Trends

Benefits of Content Marketing

7 Best Practices for Content Marketing in B2B

Many B2B businesses need help making content marketing work. One reason is the need for more strategy. Other pitfalls are limited budgets and resources and the use of the wrong tools. A further aspect is the need for more knowledge from B2B content strategists on establishing a content marketing plan step by step.

1. Identify Your Audience

What’s the point of publishing a blog post or creating valuable content no one knows about or sees? You want people to read it! Thus, you need to identify your target audience first. The segmentation of your audience can be based on different perspectives. You either focus on one aspect or combine them.

Content is Key

Nevertheless, audience segmentation is only relevant if you have content to distribute to these segments. You need the resources to adapt your content to segment your target audience.

Segmentation Based on Sales Funnel Stages

Needs are different in each stage. A prospect looking for first orientation requires content different from that of a hot lead about to buy from you. These segmentation criteria work best if the human or personal influence is limited. This is when selling standardized or “one fits all” products.

Segmentation Based on Needs and Behavior

The “Buyer Personas” concept assumes there are archetypical personas. They are representative of a specific audience. The extent of segmentation knows no limit. It all depends on how well you know your audience. Use Buyer Personas if the targeted audience is heterogeneous and needs further segmentation. This is especially true if media behavior differs from audience to audience.

Further options include all types of classic market segmentation. For example:

Geographics

Demographics

Psychographics

Behavioral segmentation

2. Audit Your Existing B2B Content

A content audit (also called a ‘content inventory’ or, for websites, a ‘site audit’) is a great way to identify the gaps in your existing content. The audit phase is when you examine your existing content:

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Purposeful Content: Why Does It Exist?

This is essential for planning your content marketing strategy because you want it to align with your business's goals. Not just created because you thought, “Oh, we should have some ‘brochure’ type content on our site somewhere.” Simply put, ask yourself, “why does this content exist?”

Note: If you are creating a content strategy for the first time, you must define your aims first. Otherwise, you will be going around in circles.

Assess and Optimize

Evaluating your current state will guide you through creating and promoting new content and help you determine what you should be doing with your existing content and where to focus your efforts.

First, review the current status of each piece of your existing content: what it is, who created it, and when it was made. Then, analyze its performance, e.g., views and engagement. This will give you a clear picture of how to develop this B2B content asset further.

3. Define Aims

Defining your goals is vital to creating a good B2B content marketing strategy. Without defining the purpose of your content marketing strategy, you cannot create an effective campaign.

B2B content strategists start by brainstorming how content marketing can affect the product portfolio. Then, rank those opportunities based on their value and relevance to your audience.

The goals should be specific and measurable so you don’t waste time and money on content that doesn’t drive results. Don’t set vague goals like:

Generate more traffic

Improve SEO

Instead, think about what action you want people to take after reading your content, such as making a sale or downloading an eBook.

Then, map out how many people need this action to succeed. For example, if your goal is to collect 500 qualified leads monthly, you might need 2,500 eBook downloads for this strategy to succeed.

4. Determine Distribution Channels

This is the most crucial step. Choosing which channels to publish on is essential for all the stages in developing a content marketing strategy for B2B. You must narrow your options, select the right publishing platforms, and decide if you need the supplier’s help.

Publishing content on various channels is the heart of your content marketing strategy. This, again, reflects where your audience spends time. Ultimately, you have to decide which channels are relevant for your business. And how you can distribute your content using those channels.

Distribution channels are the paths that deliver the content to your customers. Here is a breakdown of each distribution channel type, including advantages and disadvantages:

Owned Media

Owned media is a term used to describe the different media channels that a business or brand wholly owns. The term is used for online and offline marketing resources. Examples are:

Your company website and blog

Newsletter

Social media

Although social media posts are still bound to the social media network.

Paid Media

The opposite of owned media is paid media. But these are channels you pay for. Examples are:

All social media ads

Search engine advertisements

Industry magazines or platforms you advertise with

Fast access to your audience and scalability are the biggest advantages of paid media. The downsides are high costs and total reliance on these media channels. If you stop spending money with them, you lose access to your audience.

So, paid media is only to leverage owned media and balance the shortcomings of your media network.

Earned Media

Thought leadership builds earned media. Magazines, influencers, and other social media users will write about you if you are the go-to person in your industry. Earned media and active PR management are closely linked. An advantage is the high credibility you achieve when others talk about you. Social proof happens on social media when customers testify about your skills.

Offline vs. online is still valid in complementing the categorization of media channels. Nevertheless, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more hybrid channels are evolving. For example, an online version now accompanies a former offline industry event.

5. Determine Content Types for B2B Markets

This is the logical step after deciding on your distribution channels. Each channel has its own strategy and audience. Before starting, you will want to know which style and type of content to create.

Each platform influences the content type, as some work better than others. For example, you want to publish videos on YouTube, not animated infographics. This content is suitable for your website or an educational blog.

As a B2B content marketer, you’re expected to create different content formats, including:

Text

Graphics

Audio

Video

The formats are okay if the content is engaging and meets the audience’s needs. Therefore, a basic definition of content types is:

Text

Graphic and Image

Audio

Video and Animation

Content Types| B2B Marketing World

4 Content Types © B2B Marketing World

All assets (the final content piece) often contain many content types. For example, a blog post consists of text and graphics and may include a video. Yet, a printed brochure only consists of text and graphics.

In B2B marketing, you may have seen much multimedia content pushed aside in favor of written articles. The main reason is that most B2B marketers consider multimedia formats expensive.

Balancing Speed and Quality

There is also the issue of delivering content fast. The average online reader expects new content on a regular base. This requires quick turnaround times for writers. Small marketing teams often have other responsibilities beyond writing, like:

Updating social media accounts

Monitoring comments

Others

6. Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar is also known as an editorial calendar. It will help you organize, prioritize, and schedule your content marketing process. The calendar is the center of your content planning and production efforts. It includes all distribution channels like your:

Blog

Social media presence

Email marketing

A good editorial calendar helps you stay organized and on schedule, so your audience stays engaged. Content calendars typically include the following information:

Upcoming contents

Topic

Content type

Distribution channels/media the content is published

Copy date/publishing date

Status or production updates

A content calendar is essential if you simultaneously handle many media channels, topics, and markets. Let’s use some math here. Let us assume you publish on three channels and have 4 main business topics you want to communicate. Further, your company has two focus markets:

Germany

A reasonable aim is to publish at least two pieces of content per channel per week. Have a look at this simple example on your content calendar per week:

A total of 48 content pieces

24 content pieces per language

16 publications per channel

12 contents per topic

Further, a good content calendar also documents the content production process. Each content production has at least four states:

Planned

In production

Ready for publishing

Published

That's 192 information updates for the 48 pieces of content described above. So, a content calendar is vital for small and large businesses.

7. Measure Results and Analyze Your Content Performance

B2B Content Marketing is an ongoing process. It’s not something that you set up and then forget about. At this stage, you have:

Defined the goals of our content strategy

Targeted a relevant audience

Decided on publication channels

Created the right assets

Now, you can measure the results and analyze and review the content performance. You have to measure results to find what is and is not. This data is the basis for further content analysis and adjusting your strategy based on it. Which data to measure depends on the publication channels and your aims.

A basic set of KPIs may look something like this:

KPI Set for B2B Content Strategists

Total Impressions or Total Views: The total number of times your audience has seen your content. This number indicates your reach.

Total Engagements: How many people interacted with your content? For example, how many people liked, commented, or shared your posts on social media? Engagement can be measured via click actions or call-to-action (CTA) on your corporate website.

Engagement Rate: The ratio of engagements and impressions is called engagement rate. This ratio indicates how interesting your content is perceived.

Average Session Duration: If your website has a high average session duration, users will likely value it. ASD and similar KPIs indicate content quality, based on the assumption that people dwell on the content they like.

Number of Shares or Mentions: How often is others sharing, mentioning, or quoting your content? This number indicates high interest in the subject and positively influences your reach.

5 B2B Content Marketing Examples

Slack's approach to B2B content marketing through social media is a masterclass in authenticity. Their strategy is all about valuable content, not intrusive ads, a method that resonates with savvy decision-makers doing brand research on platforms.

Slack's bio is concise and mission-focused on Instagram, using Stories and Highlights to spotlight new features. They cross-promote on X (Twitter) and Instagram for updates and support and get the event buzz going with short, engaging videos.

On Facebook, Slack opts for a minimalist style, cleverly repurposing content across channels. Their YouTube strategy stands out with regular, thought-provoking videos featuring eye-catching thumbnails.

Slack balances fun and professionalism on LinkedIn, crafting engaging blogs and creative ads that capture attention. Their social media presence is a blueprint for B2B brands seeking to make a genuine connection with their audience.

2. McKinsey: Case Studies That Tell a Story

McKinsey & Company can turn complex business transformations into captivating narratives with their case studies. Instead of dry reports, they craft compelling stories that take readers on a journey from opportunity to challenge and resolution. McKinsey’s client-centric approach focuses on the objectives and impact of their interventions, using stakeholder quotes to add a human touch.

McKinsey’s Masterclass: Effective B2B Storytelling

They provide tangible proof of their strategies’ effectiveness by backing McKinsey's narrative with metrics. Their language is professional yet accessible, establishing McKinsey’s authority without overwhelming readers with technical jargon. McKinsey’s case studies exemplify how B2B brands can showcase their expertise while engaging their audience.

3. Mailchimp: Holistic Podcasting for B2B Marketing

Mailchimp’s entry into the podcasting world is a masterstroke in content marketing. Their podcasts go beyond content creation to craft an experience that resonates with listeners. By exploring the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, Mailchimp speaks to the heart of its audience’s journey without the hard sell.

Variety is key to their podcasting strategy, offering a content buffet of:

Interviews

Stories

Insights

Humor

Mailchimp’s podcasts are seamlessly integrated into their broader strategy, with emails and social media buzzing with podcast updates. They also provide transcripts:

Aiding the hearing-impaired

Boosting SEO with keyword-rich content

Mailchimp’s holistic approach to podcasting is a prime example of how B2B brands can leverage this growing medium to connect with their audience.

4. Deloitte: Elevating Thought Leadership Content

Deloitte’s thought leadership content is a shining example of how to go beyond expertise sharing. Their website, Deloitte Insights, is a treasure trove of industry reports, expert insights, and specialized studies that offer practical insights and success stories.

Deloitte doesn’t limit itself to written content, offering audiovisuals to engage their audience, such as:

Eye-catching videos

Entertaining podcasts

By placing its key figures at the forefront of its content, Deloitte established itself as a respected authority and valuable asset to its audience. Their thought leadership content is a testament to the power of integrating expertise sharing into a B2B content marketing strategy.

5. Semrush: Education as B2B Content Marketing

Semrush’s educational content strategy is a standout example of how B2B brands can leverage their expertise to engage their audience. Recognizing that not all visitors to their site are SEO pros, Semrush offers a variety of free courses covering diverse topics like:

Technical SEO

Keyword research

Strategic Approach

They seamlessly integrate product-led marketing into these courses, positioning Semrush as a thought leader without making their products the sole focus. Their robust SEO strategy employs keyword placement and effective internal linking to enhance content visibility in search engine results.

Semrush’s educational content approach is a blueprint for B2B brands leveraging their expertise to connect with their audience.

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The power of B2B content marketing lies in its ability to:

Engage

Educate

Convert

Feather takes this to a new level by seamlessly integrating your blog and newsletter operations with Notion, eliminating the need for coding or design prowess. Imagine crafting compelling blog content in Notion and publishing it to an SEO-friendly blog with a few clicks.

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Feather lets you manage your CRM and website blog through Notion, giving you the HubSpot experience without the complexity. This integration means you can collaborate with your entire team during the publishing process, ensuring:

Everyone is on the same page

Your content is consistently high-quality

Feather offers flexible content marketing tools tailored to your needs, including:

Custom CSS

Email collection

And more

Effortlessly Connect with Your Audience

Feather also allows you to set up and send newsletters to your email subscribers directly from Notion. This means you can easily keep your audience informed and engaged with your latest:

Content

News

Updates

With Feather, you can easily run your blog and newsletter, freeing up your time to focus on creating great content that resonates with your audience.

Get Started with Feather Today

Feather makes it easy to get started with your blog and newsletter. Create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes. With Feather, you can streamline your content marketing and focus on what you do best: creating great content that drives results.