
But wait. What is content? Why the hype? Is content relevant to all marketers? Good questions.
Content creation begins with all the things your company knows about your product and market that are of interest to prospective buyers. Because content has to be consumed (read, viewed, heard, or otherwise taken in), the second part of that first statement (“of interest to prospective buyers”) is critical. Undoubtedly, your company has lots of product and market knowledge, but if prospects aren’t interested, they’ll pass your content by.
Content is a hot topic because the internet, email and social media are so popular. Marketers used to push their messages on prospects. Now we attract prospects to us with useful, engaging, shareable information. Education and/or entertainment value are critical to shareability.
What’s useful to prospects? Straight up product information may not cut it since it might be seen as promotional and self-serving. The people who use your type of product often want to get smarter about using it. So information that helps a user get better results, save money, save time or save both is useful and valued.
Here are ideas for content types that attracts B2B customers:
1. White Papers are educational, non-biased discussions of a topic of interest to prospective buyers, like a new technology.
2. How-To Articles provide specific information on how to get the most from a product.
3. Case Studies are problem-solution stories in which a customer has a challenge which is solved by your product. Often, the spotlight is on the user and the benefit he/she gets from your product..
Once you have an idea for some content, the next steps are producing it and figuring out where to publish it. Is it a web page? A blog post? A printed piece? All of the above? Where should you promote it? If you don't have the expertise in-house, work with a freelance content expert for best results.
When you need help with content creation, content strategy or content promotion, contact me, Claire Cunningham at claire.e.cunningham@gmail.com