Content marketing has become the bread and butter of many B2C businesses’ advertising efforts. Consumers type their questions into Google, ask their AI assistant, or browse social media. What they discover influences what they buy.
But content marketing may seem like a shot in the dark for B2B. Do businesses search for solutions on Google? The answer is YES, and we have the results to prove it.
Not only do they search for answers, but they also learn to trust the businesses that can provide them. That leads them down the conversion funnel from awareness to happy, long-term clients.
What is Content Marketing?
A Strategy For a Big Impact
A well-rounded marketing strategy is more sustainable, effective, and often more affordable than a “spray and pray” strategy. By consistently producing valuable and informative content, businesses can establish thought leadership. In other words, they position themselves as industry experts and build trust among their target audience.
Trust is especially important to B2B relationships. Business decision-makers have high stakes, so they must feel confident that their investment will support their goals. It’s rarely enough to cold-call or target prospects with “buy now!” ads. Good content tied with targeted promotion helps prospects visualize their success and understand how the B2B business can solve their problems.
Content marketing also plays a vital role in boosting search engine visibility and generating qualified leads. It can bring prospects to the door rather than chasing them down. It also complements sales efforts. For example, an outreach email makes a much bigger impact if the B2B business offers some valuable information.
In today’s increasingly competitive market, content marketing enables B2B businesses to engage their best prospects and demonstrate expertise that addresses specific industry needs and challenges.
Elevate Your Business Through Thought-leadership that Builds Credibility in Your Niche
It’s one thing to claim you’re the best in the business. It’s another thing to prove it.
Creating valuable and informative content allows B2B content marketing to position themselves as industry experts. By sharing knowledge and insights through content marketing, these businesses can show off their expertise and build credibility among their target audience. Thought leadership helps foster trust, which is crucial in B2B relationships.
For example, HEPACART® is a B2B manufacturer that provides dust containment, air filtration, and surface disinfection solutions to keep people safe in high-risk environments. Their products and services are in particular demand in hospitals, schools, and workplaces, especially in this emerging disease era.
HEPACART’s target audiences include facilities managers of these buildings and contractors doing remodels or repairs. These are busy people who don’t need a lot of technical jargon or sales talk. They want solutions — fast.
Between 2020 and 2021, HEPACART’s blog views increased 124% from their overall views for 2018-2019. They were answering questions and providing solutions to critical issues during the pandemic.
For example, one of their top-performing blogs is “ULPA VS. HEPA Filter: What's the Difference & Why Does It Matter?” Professionals trying to choose a filter may search for this question on Google. When they discover high-quality answers from HEPACART, this business gains credibility. As a result, they’re more likely to consider purchasing from HEPACART.
This blog also features a guide for prospects to download and reference later as they make their decision, allowing HEPACART to stay top-of-mind.
So, how did this blog perform? Among all readers, 21% decided to download the guide. This contributed to 28 opportunities for HEPACART to nurture new leads — all from just one blog. Imagine what a consistent stream of high-quality content could achieve!
B2B enterprises can further elevate their thought leadership by aligning key topics across various content channels. This way, wherever prospects encounter your brand, they build their trust in your expertise.
Create Consistency Through High-quality Content
Competition is fierce, especially as digital spaces continue to grow. To stand out, you need content that resonates with your target audience. Content marketing helps B2B businesses increase their brands’ visibility.
By consistently producing high-quality content that addresses their target audience's pain points and challenges, they can attract potential customers — even if they haven’t heard of the business before.
For example, POWWR creates software for energy brokers and suppliers that provides a bridge for doing business together. They target their audience by addressing their common questions and challenges. These topics come in search results or recommended content, allowing POWWR to gain brand awareness among its most qualified prospects.
Thanks to their content marketing efforts, POWWR has seen a 600% increase in organic traffic in the past two years compared to the previous year. It’s driving bigger business growth without necessarily spending more on paid search or other advertising.
Turn Website Visitors Into Potential Clients
In the classic marketing funnel, prospects become aware of the business. Once they’re engaged, they become leads and ideally convert into customers. This process takes multiple touchpoints; unfortunately, many prospects will never convert. Perhaps they’re simply not the target audience. For example, someone may be searching for HEPA filters, but if they’re a homeowner, they’re probably not going to order from HEPACART.
This clogs the marketing funnel with “unqualified” leads, creating extra work and expenses for the business. However, content marketing can minimize the influx of unqualified leads — and even attract qualified leads.
If people are searching for a solution, there’s a good chance they’re much closer to buying than some random person on the street. Content marketing enables B2B businesses to attract and engage their target audience effectively. By creating valuable content that addresses specific industry needs and challenges, they can capture the attention of potential customers actively seeking solutions.
That content can also double as a lead capture method. For example, “gated content” is a helpful resource that people must provide their contact details to access. A qualified prospect instantly becomes a lead after downloading that free how-to guide. This way, B2B businesses can quickly convert website visitors into potential clients.
What is B2B Content Marketing?
Helping Your Target Audience Understand the Value Your Products Have to Offer
The industrial marketing space often involves longer sales cycles and complex buying processes. Content marketing allows B2B businesses to engage and nurture their prospects and customers throughout these extended periods. By delivering relevant and helpful content at each stage of the buyer's journey, B2B businesses can build stronger relationships, educate their audience, and ultimately increase the chances of conversion.
Leveling up Content Strategy Goals
Great content isn’t just for digital marketing efforts. It can be a powerful tool for B2B sales teams. When sales representatives possess informative and engaging content, they can leverage it during their interactions with leads. It fuels a more valuable conversation that engenders trust and forecasts a strong business relationship. And when many B2B sales teams still rely on persuasion, having well-crafted content could be a deal-maker.
This content includes case studies, white papers, or industry reports, which could also serve as gated content. If a lead is already warmed up, it’s a great way to prove one’s talking points and expertise. Sales reps can share high-value content to address specific pain points, demonstrate solutions, and reinforce the value of the business's products or services.
Targeting Your Website Traffic With Search Engine Visibility
B2B buyers increasingly rely on search engines to research and find solutions to their business challenges. According to a study conducted by Google and Millward Brown Digital, 71% of B2B researchers start their research process with a generic search on search engines. This indicates that B2B buyers rely heavily on search engines to gather information and find solutions to their business challenges.
By producing high-quality and optimized content, B2B businesses can improve their search engine rankings and increase their visibility among potential customers. This isn’t just a matter of keywords either: Google’s Helpful Content Update to its algorithm now prioritizes high-value content. In short, it’s more likely to rank B2B businesses’ web pages higher if they offer helpful information.
This organic traffic can increase brand exposure, website visits, and business opportunities.
For example, Pack Leader USA, a labeling, filling, and capping equipment manufacturer, produces consistent blog content for its target audience. They have been working with us since 2014 and creating content since 2016. Their blog traffic has increased 94% over the last two years.
Create a Market Expansion Plan that Includes B2B Digital Marketing
Content marketing achieves three powerful results for B2B businesses: more apparent industry expertise and credibility, greater brand awareness, and versatile lead generation/nurturing. All that said, generic content isn’t enough. It should be high-quality and high-value, tuned into what the business’s ideal clients need and want. The payoff is usually well worth the effort, as good content typically leads to higher organic traffic and more qualified leads.
Learn how content marketing can help your B2B business grow and thrive. Schedule a consultation for a custom market expansion plan.
