The role content marketing encompasses today as a part of a companys overall marketing strategy is becoming more and more crucial. As a result, content marketing distribution strategies are critical as a key to success. Where it used to be considered a cutting edge move to have a blog and a social media account, those tools are the bare minimum for any content marketing strategy. You need to know what the latest trends are in B2B content marketing practices so that you can maintain an edge over your competitors.
Recent survey results published by Spotlight reveal some interesting movement among content marketers and can be useful in developing your strategy and maximizing the effectiveness of your content. Here are six important trends to consider as you plan your content marketing strategy:
- Content calendars are a central part of the process. Six out of 10 marketers report that they use advance planning for their content strategies. Most content teams are scheduling content throughout the calendar year, thinking ahead about their comprehensive strategy and how each piece fits into their overall plan. Using a content calendar is an effective way to focus your teams marketing goals and think broadly about cross-promotion and other techniques for your content.
- Targeting is becoming more precise. Spotlights survey showed that three out of five marketers are targeting their content to a specific audience. They are learning more about who their potential clients are, with data expanding beyond items like gender and job title. Marketers are learning about the specific challenges of their audience, their preferred social media platform and what types of content they are already consuming.
- It is important to know what kind of content your audience prefers. In the B2B industry, you have many formats at your disposal, including blogs, video, infographics, white papers and e-books to name a few. Do you know what kind of format your audience prefers? Spotlights survey found that their respondents prefer blogs, white papers and videos to other formats like e-books or spreadsheets. Read further on this topic by looking at our white paper and the results we found on the opportunities that marketers are missing by not including enough white papers in their content strategies.
- Its important to focus on SEO. Its critical that your keywords are highly relevant to your target audience and that your content is turning up when your target audience goes to try to solve a problem or challenge theyre having. Sixty percent of marketers are prioritizing the refining of their SEO. Its crucial that you set aside enough in your marketing budget for SEO.
- Effective marketing means working smart. The survey found that the marketers that utilized the best technology had the best results for their marketing efforts. In many cases, this meant combining various tools rather than using one comprehensive resource for all marketing activities. Get to know the tools that are out there for tracking your target audiences responses to your content and keeping you on target with your content calendar. Start investing in technology to support your strategy and youll see a quick return.
- Good marketers keep an eye on the other guy. Do you know what your competitors are doing with their content? If you do, youre likely better at keeping your edge and staying with the trends. Spotlight found that 36 percent of marketers are purposeful in tracking what their competitors are doing.
What you can do to get ahead of the trends
If you read the above list and wonder if you can ever keep up with changing marketing trends, this section is for you. Getting ahead of the trends in B2B marketing often means pulling in a different technique that your competitors havent considered.
Including telemarketing in your content marketing strategy is one of the most reliable ways to give your techniques a boost and find out whether your tools and distribution choices are effective ways to reach your audience. Here are a few benefits you get when you implement telemarketing into your strategy:
- You receive immediate feedback about your content and how your target audience is receiving it. Marketers often have lopsided ideas about which formats and distribution channels their target audience prefers. You can miss opportunities if you keep pushing down a particular path, but your audience prefers another style of content.
- You find out critical information about your potential buyer. Maybe youve been sending content to a person that has no need for your particular product or service, or maybe there are several more individuals that are involved in the decision-making process. You can also gather important details about where your potential buyer is in the buying process and whether there are any obstacles or challenges that could prevent their choosing your company.
- Your target audience has the opportunity to tell you exactly what you can do to pull ahead of your competitors. When you include telemarketing in your marketing plan, you may gain game-changing information that helps you refine your strategy to push out your competitors. Whether you hear that what your contact would really prefer is to be emailed content rather than accessing it on social media, or that they prefer white papers to video formats, youll hear insights that help you gain business.
- Real time actionable leads are generated. While your sales and/or marketing representative are on the phone talking to your clients and prospective clients gathering information about the effectiveness of your content marketing strategies, they are building relationships. You can set up a process to take advantage of this opportunity and have additional questions that can be asked to understand their business needs and challenges. This generates real time leads. Clients can be asked about product/service needs, upcoming projects, budgets, schedules and who decision makers are. Take the extra steps to add well qualified leads to your sales funnel while learning everything you need to know about the effectives of your content marketing strategies.
Blue Valley Telemarketing is experienced at helping companies like yours design comprehensive content marketing strategies that include the latest trends, plus tried-and-true methods that help grow your business. Schedule an appointment to talk more about your current marketing techniques and where youd like to do more!
Last Updated on September 14, 2023 by Ronen Ben-Dror