The B2B Content Marketing Process
Each day more businesses are turning to Content Marketing in order to promote their products or services. This is because B2B content marketing is beneficial in a number of ways. But simply deciding that you want to start content marketing is only the first step.
In order for this new marketing strategy to have success, you’re going to need to meet with your team and run a content strategy session! Here are the things that this session should include:
#1: Define The Goals of Your B2B Content Strategy
Content strategy is a plan of action for your B2B content marketing campaigns. It includes how you’re going to write your content, where you’re going to post it, how often you’ll post, and how you’ll measure success.
It’s this last item that you should focus on first. Is it more visitors to your website? More sales? More social media followers? Take some time to clearly define what it is you’re after, and how you’ll know when you’ve achieved it.
#3: Identify Your Target Audience
Next, you should think about who this content is primarily for. For instance, does your company mostly cater to other businesses? Analyzing data insights to determine who your audience is will determine the voice that you need to use throughout your B2B content. You’re not going to speak to a lab equipment manufacturer the same way you’d talk to a software engineer, so it’s important to define your audience early.
#4: Determine the Style of Your Content
With the audience and voice nailed down, now you can the style of content you want to produce. Are these articles designed to promote a certain product, or simply provide valuable information to your customers? Would your visitors find How-Tos useful, or would they prefer articles made up of lists? Again, think about your audience here, and what it is they would like to see.
#5: Make a Content Distribution Plan
Now that you have a good idea as to what your content is going to say and how you’re going to say it, you need to decide where this content is going to go. For many businesses, the answer is on their blog. This is a great option, but there are others available.
You could post on social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You could also partner with other websites to get your content published – this is a great way to reach more people and develop backlinks to your website. The best content strategy will utilize all of the above, but you’ll likely need to prioritize some over the others.
#6: Create a Content Calendar
Then, you need to decide when you’re going to post your content. It’s a good idea to develop some sort of schedule, so that your customers can come to rely on a steady stream of content. How often you post content will depend on several factors, including the medium and how quickly you can produce content.
For instance, producing an in-depth blog article every day is not feasible for most companies. On the other hand, posting to your Facebook account once a day is a great way to keep people involved.
Go over all the different mediums you plan on using, and then create a schedule of content for the next several months. Download our user-friendly content calendar for the months ahead. Get ready! Get Set! Because too much planning is never enough.
Meet With Your Content Strategy Team Regularly
Once your meeting is done, you aren’t out of the woods yet. When it comes to B2B content marketing, you can’t create everything you need in a week, and then let it run for a year. You need to keep having these meetings, so that you can fine-tune your approach and make adjustments.
We hope this guide was able to shed some light on how to create a content strategy, and run a successful content strategy session with your team. Keep the above items in mind the next time you meet, and you will hopefully find that you are able to cover everything you need for a successful campaign.
Partner with a Proven B2B Content Marketing Agency
One last bonus tip! As a B2B content marketing agency in Philadelphia, we approach content creation and dissemination with intensive planning focused on attracting the right target audience.
Learn some of the results you can expect with valuable, targeted content that’s consistent in style, tone, and appearance. If you’d like to learn more about running a successful B2B content strategy session, contact Creative MMS to get started.
