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B2B Content Strategy

What are B2B inbound marketers struggling with?

Creating engaging and provocative content.

80% of B2B marketing and sales professionals feel that their demand generation campaigns are ineffective, according to Corporate Visions, who published this finding in their Q2 2012 Marketing and Sales Messaging report.

Most feel that their content isn’t engaging and provocative because it focuses solely on their own company’s products and services, rather than focusing on their customers’ pain points.

State of B2B Content Marketing

 

This isn’t surprising. B2B marketing isn’t as sexy as B2C marketing, where the focus is on connecting with human emotions, instead of touting features and benefits.

Share a Vision

The takeway for B2B marketers is that we need to think more like consumer marketers, focusing on connecting with people and sharing a vision and an idea — something that our market cares about, to build a passionate following.

Research has shown that branding in B2B affects the same part of the brain as consumer branding. Buying decisions for B2B products and services are emotionally driven, not purely based on economic analysis. It’s human nature – we go with our feelings and then look for the data to support the decision that makes us feel best.

Focus on Why, Not What

To get ideas, check out Simon Sinek’s discussion about the “golden circle” – a concept that explains why some organizations are able to inspire … and some aren’t.

Simon poses an important question: Why is your company doing what you do? Why should anyone care? 

Inspiring companies focus on the why – communicating from the inside out. Uninspiring companies focus on the what – we have this and that, and it helps you do ____. Is this provocative? Engaging?

To illustrate further, Simon gives an example for Apple:

Leading with What: 

We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. Wanna buy one? 

Leading with Why: 

Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Wanna buy one? 

The first example is how most B2B marketers communicate. We talk about what we have and how we’re different, and then expect some sort of behavior change, such as a purchase.

To shift your content from uninspring to provocative and engaging, focus on what you care about, instead of what you have.

People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.

 

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How to develop better messages

How do you respond when someone asks “what does your company do?”

Do all your team members answer the same way?

And is your response compelling so the listener wants to learn more, or do you sound like everyone else (blah, blah, blah…)?

“Messages” are written and verbal statements that quickly describe what you do and how you’re different.  They’re used throughout your interactions with your market:

  • The “elevator pitch” – the 30-second response to “what do you do?”
  • Sales & marketing materials – sales literature, websites, presentations and campaigns all use messages of various lengths
  • The introductory statement in a phone call
  • Press releases – the blurb at the bottom of the release that explains what the company does
  • Slogans
  • Your mission statement

Good messages take your competitive positioning and brand strategy to the next level.  They hone in on what’s important to your market and communicate it consistently and effectively.

So how do you create strong, compelling messages?

1.  Identify the key emotional benefits your customers gain from your product/service. People want to know “what’s in it for me” – that’s what makes a message resonate.  Build your messages around those key benefits.

2.  Think of your product/service as a person with a distinct personality. Describe him or her in detail.  Then make sure you use a tone, voice, style and vocabulary that’s consistent with this personality.

3.  Start with your verbal elevator pitch. In 30 seconds, you should be able to say who you are, what you do, who your customers are and why they buy from you (your key emotional benefit).

That’s a lot of info and 30 seconds goes fast.  The idea is to share the most important ideas, to get listeners interested without boring them to tears.

Once you’ve gone through plenty of drafts, test your pitch to see how it sounds and how long it takes.  Use it in conversation and see how people react.  Do their eyes glaze over or do they ask a followup question?  If it’s the latter, your pitch has piqued their interest.

4.  Develop your written messages. You’ll use these messages throughout your written materials – your website, sales collateral, campaigns, etc.

  • 25-word positioning statement: Includes your company name, what you do, for whom, and the single greatest benefit you deliver to customers
  • 50-word version: Use the same information as your 25-word statement but add another key emotional benefit and 1-2 of the most important functional benefits.
  • 100-word version: Now you have enough room to include features and the rest of your benefits.
  • Mission statement: An average mission statement describes why you’re in business.  A great mission statement is compelling, shows why you’re different and conveys your company’s personality.
  • Tagline/slogan: A strong, succinct phrase used in campaigns.  It can be one word or a short phrase and for most business writers, it’s harder to create.  Even if you’ve developed the rest of your materials in-house, you may want to hire outside creative help on this one.


5.  Use your messages consistently. Train your team to use the messages and audit your materials periodically to make sure they’re still working in the future.

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Focus on the details of marketing execution to get great results.

Download a plan for it ... in our marketing management app.