The value of content marketing through the many, varied and growing number of channels to reach your end audience is now widely recognised in the B2B technology sector.
Effective content marketing is crucial in a B2B environment where potential customers now gather information from the Internet, via the media and through social channels, and only contact a potential supplier when they are almost at the point of making a sourcing decision. Committing to a content marketing approach as a way of working is supported by the fact that companies utilising content marketing get around 55% more website traffic – a clear indication that good content marketing drives traffic and also that valuable assets on site keep people coming back.
But there can be a big gap and significant challenges between recognising the need for a content marketing strategy and turning it into tangible, working reality.
Creating a piece of content, whether it be an article, blog, sales presentation, white paper or video takes time, skilled resource and of course, at the beginning, a strong, compelling and relevant idea. This considerable investment means that it is vital to re-use and re-purpose the original content as much as possible through the plethora of available channels.
Each specific piece of original content presents different opportunities for re-purpose and re-use, and recognising just which of these might be appropriate is a skill in itself.
For example, an article may or may not lend itself to becoming a single or multiple blog; a sales PowerPoint may or may not have scope to become a technical article or white paper or even a video.
The skills needed to make the right judgements in terms of re-purposing B2B content in the engineering and technology sector are several:
- An understanding of the technology /products in question
- An understanding of the end audience and its needs
- Awareness, knowledge and relationships with those holding the keys to the available and best channels to reach the audience
- Marketing skills to understand lead generation, lead nurturing and the workings of the modern day B2B sales funnel
- And of course, the skill and know-how to create the content in the first place!
B2B marketing has certainly become more complex in recent years with many more routes to reach the market and engage with your target audience. But the opportunities are great if the content blend is optimised. Quality content in its many forms is at the hub of everything, and its efficient creation and then extensive re-use holds the key to a long-term and successful B2B technology marketing strategy.
