This week, we teamed with a group of local content marketing experts to present the ‘Four Key to Content Marketing Success’ and how AEC Marketers and Business Developers can apply them to their content strategy. B2B companies are using content marketing to ultimately identify and nurture leads that can then be handled by Salesforce and internal teams. By engaging our customers, B2B marketers increase brand awareness and create a connection between the customer and their company. By consistently creating and posting content that is relevant for our industry and clients, we can build a followership and gain our clients’ loyalty, look into the two different types of content marketing here.
So, you want to build a Content Marketing Strategy?
For many of our B2B firms, content marketing is becoming THE key initiative when marketing to a particular industry or client. Whether it be engaging with the 72% of customers who prefer video content, or setting up a series of blogs. But creating content marketing that delivers results is not an easy feat. Spending the time to develop a strong content marketing strategy that aligns with your annual business plan, particularly targets and services, will ensure you are focused on getting more tangible results. It’s important to note that development for websites and systems can be very difficult and so, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it is best to leave it to the experts.
Content isn’t a new initiative, but the way we distribute it certainly is. Creating relevant content for your audience provides them with an educational experience in a topic of interest. The key to this process is the educational piece. What you’re looking to achieve isn’t just a promotion of your brand, although a great content marketing strategy will do an excellent job of this, it comes down to educating your audience on “why we’re different” and moving them from the very beginning of the buyers cycle into a potential “purchaser” or “retainer” and ultimately becoming an external promoter of your company’s brand.
The Four Keys to Content Marketing Success
- Set Clear Objectives
- Define Your Buyer Personas & Audience Needs
- Plan, Execute & Amplify
- Measure
Strategy. It’s elusive. And it’s all but disappeared from many of our B2B content marketing initiatives. It’s time to bring strategy back. The best content strategies are those that are innovative, different, and evolving with shifting buyer personas. At the very least, challenge yourself to create and define a strategy that can be reviewed and realigned to match and promote your company’s business plans and sector goals throughout the year.
A special thanks to Master Builders Association of Western PA for hosting this educational round-table discussion this week. Be sure to check out photos from the event and be on the lookout for Part II of this series this fall.
