Establishing a presence in a B2B market can be difficult. Especially without the right content marketing strategy to back your efforts up. Whether you have a network of B2B associates or are looking for ways to kick-start that network, the first B2B message you write matters considerably. According to the Content Marketing Institute, there is a variety of reasons as to why businesses invest time and resources into B2B content marketing. They include:
- Improved credibility and brand trust (75%)
- Audience education and engagement (79%)
- Growth of global brand awareness (86%)
However, only 45% of B2B marketers manage to achieve their audience growth. This is due to improper alignment of content writing and their own business’ goals. No matter how good your business idea may be, proper research and subsequent writing matters just as it did in 2020. With that said, let’s take a look at what goes into writing a winning first B2B message, which will help with your lead generation.
The How and Why of B2B Marketing
What is the value of writing B2B marketing content in 2021? While B2C content writing will help you reach out to customers and clients more easily, B2B marketing is focused on corporate leads and company representatives. It is inherently more professional, cohesive, and laser-focused than B2C content given its target audience.
Based on Smart Insights, 66% of B2B marketers have a documented, well-planned content strategy in place, while 84% outsource their content creation needs to specialists. This is important because planning B2B content and writing it are two separate operations, best tackled by separate individuals with relevant skillsets.
Inherently, B2B content has to be of higher quality than any other form of content you create for digital publishing due to its audience. Writing content marketing materials aimed at B2B leads will allow your brand to network with relevant companies, startups, and industry representatives for cooperation purposes. Thus, writing a great first (and subsequently more) B2B message will bring several important benefits to your table:
- Effectively signal other companies in your industry that you are available for networking
- Improved lead segmentation due to focused B2B marketing, which doesn’t target B2C leads
- Improved international brand awareness and industry authority
- Direct control over your company’s PR and marketing narrative
- High return on investment (ROI) due to targeting high-value leads (company representatives)
Writing your First B2B Message (and Following Up on It)
Set Up your KPIs Early On
First off, you should be clear on why you want to write and publish B2B content. Judging by Impact BND, 52% of companies have different value propositions for different products, while 54% do nothing to optimize their value propositions.
In practice, this means that each of your products or services will require a slightly different marketing message in order to attract relevant B2B leads. You can rely on SMART Goals as a methodology for setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) prior to creating any content. This will help you focus your message and develop a different B2B message for any number of products/services in your portfolio.
Audit the Industry & Competitors
The best way to start working on your first B2B message is to simply research your industry. Specifically, how do your competitors and other companies in the industry handle B2B marketing?
Whether you want to attract investors or distribution partners through B2B marketing, there are others who already do that effectively. Use them as inspiration. How creative are their marketing messages? How aggressively do they publish content? Which channels do they use? Take these into consideration. Indeed, you will have to match or outdo what the market already does.
Settle for your Communication Channels
Depending on which B2B leads you want to attract, you should settle for a different set of communication channels before publishing your content. Based on HubSpot, LinkedIn has proven to be the most popular social media networking platform. It seconds only to Facebook in the eyes of B2B marketers.
To target lower-level executives, you can use social media stories, email marketing. You can also publish on your own website. However, to target higher-level executives, CEOs, and company decision-makers, you should use direct email. It will maximize the effect of your content.
Keep in mind that you should also take personalization into the equation since you will target specific B2B leads in the latter scenario. If you opt for email marketing, address your recipient by name, and use courtesy throughout your B2B writing.
Use Social Proof & Empiric Data to your Advantage
For better or worse, B2B leads won’t react to motivational or creative content the same way B2C leads would. Instead, they’d like to see the performance data and results of your company’s operations before they decide on whether or not to reach out to you.
Creating B2B content in the form of an infographic, charts, or other forms of data visualization will preempt their expectations. These content pieces can be sent to B2B leads as social proof of your brand’s value. It gives them a reason toeach out for more information. First impressions matter, and presenting undisputable, empiric data about your company’s performance will do wonders. Especially for your first B2B message aimed at corporate networking.
Actively Engage & Communicate with B2B Leads
The point in which B2B and B2C content marketing meet relates to audience engagement. Specifically, the fact that you should respond to messages, emails, or posts concerning your brand. Once you develop a punchy B2B message, B2B representatives will likely reach out to you with further questions. It is pivotal that you respond to each inquiry and engage your potential B2B networking partners as soon as that happens.
You can look for professional marketing expertise through a reliable platform such as DOZ if you are unsure how to engage B2B leads going forward. There is no point in marketing your company in the B2B circles only to ignore incoming requests for discussion as a whole. Be communicative and proactive – the right leads will react to your B2B message as you intended them to.
Building a Stable B2B Marketing Presence (Conclusion)
You settled on the direction and narrative your B2B messages will take? Now, you should consider building a long-term B2B content strategy to build on. B2B marketing can always pay off, whether you work as a startup or a large company with offices worldwide.
Write the type of content you yourself would be attracted by in order to pique the interest of likeminded companies and representatives. Before you know it, you will have a stable B2B marketing strategy on your hands, which will efficiently help establish your presence in the industry.
Angela Baker is a professional content writer and business development advisor. She is a dedicated writer, editor, and an established content creator. Angela also dabbles into academic writing for students with the “I need someone to write my papers for me” mindset, given her varied skillset.
