What is B2B Content Marketing (and why does it matter)
As the name indicates, content marketing is a strategic marketing discipline for creating, sharing, and promoting content to reach your target audience. Content Marketing B2B happens between two companies. It’s a communication strategy by a business to target another business.
Definition of Business-to-Business Content Marketing
The renowned Content Marketing Institute defines the term as follows:
Content Marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
The importance of content marketing for B2B increases
In the 12th annual B2B Content Marketing report, 77% of B2B marketers state that their organization has a content marketing strategy. 68% already have at least one full-time content marketer dedicated to the subject. Every fourth large company (with 1,000+ employees) employs 6+ full-time B2B content marketers.
One reason for this growth is the proven success of taking content marketing actions. Content has a direct influence on the value your target audience receives.
For example, a 2,000-word whitepaper has much more value than a shiny full-page print ad for a potential customer. While both measures have their rightful place, content-rich whitepaper ads have more value.
Thus, a content marketing strategy is more demanding than classic advertisement plans. Not surprisingly, 22% of the marketing budget is already spent on B2B content marketing.
Is content marketing in industrial marketing more important than in B2C markets?
The nature of B2B content marketing is fact-based, educational, and more rational compared to B2C content. B2B content must be useful and value-adding above all else. Each piece of content strives to provide value to a potential customer. Industrial goods are by trend complex and have a high explanatory effort. Thus, the nature of B2B goods influences how B2B content strategists work at heart.
This is also a huge chance for savvy B2B content marketers. Creating and distributing valuable content, is a long-term strategy and creates a unique value proposition. If done right, your company is perceived as though leader in its specific segment.
The logical consequence is trust. Your target audience trusts your content. An outstanding base for every sales team to close a deal.
To put it briefly: No content marketing in B2B is not an option anymore. A proper content strategy in B2B is part of the foundation of every marketing plan. Content marketing allows you to build authority, trust, and credibility. It helps your potential customers and makes them understand your products or services.
