According to many B2B marketers, 2017 is going to be the year that content marketing fully crosses over into the mainstream. Just check out some of the adoption and usage statistics below on B2B content marketing…
Growing maturity and sophistication
According to the latest data from the Content Marketing Institute, 88% of B2B marketers are now using content marketing, up from 86% in the year-earlier period. Moreover, not only are more B2B marketers experimenting with content marketing, they’re also getting better at it. 32% of B2B marketers now consider themselves to be “mature” or “sophisticated” in their use of content marketing. That means that they are starting to think in terms of an overall strategy and specific campaigns, rather than just posting content as it becomes available.
Expanding variety of formats
When it comes to content marketing, there’s no “one-size-fits-all.” Most B2B marketers experiment with a wide range of different content marketing formats. And, in fact, the average B2B marketer has used 13 different formats – including blogs, newsletters, case studies, social media, video, infographics and white papers. The really interesting movement here is in the creation of new video formats and the embrace of a wider range of social media networks beyond just the obvious ones (Facebook and LinkedIn).
Better understanding of best-in-class practices
Given all this activity around content marketing, it’s not surprising that a number of best practices have started to emerge. For example, consider the question of where to post all this content (assuming you’re not just posting it on your own website). The clear winner appears to be LinkedIn. In many ways, this is a reflection of the fact that, of all the social networks, the one that has the greatest orientation toward business leaders and business influencers is LinkedIn. There is also growing consensus about what type of content to post, when to post it, and how to craft a call-to-action that will drive the best results.
Emphasis on lead generation
It’s a natural question to ask: Why exactly are you creating all this content? Historically, the answer has always been “sales.” However, in 2016, “lead generation” over took “sales” as the primary reason for embarking on a new content marketing initiative. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B marketers named “lead generation” as their #1 goal.
Focus on engagement
The hot buzzword within the social media marketing world is “engagement,” and it’s clear that this same type of thinking is starting to influence the way people think about content marketing as well. The primary focus of any B2B content marketing strategy is to create engaging, compelling content. That’s according to 72% of B2B marketers.
So, putting all this together, it’s possible to briefly sketch out a winning B2B content marketing strategy. Such a strategy would need to include a multiple number of different content formats. It would need to be exportable to LinkedIn. And it would need to be focused on generating leads. As long as the content is compelling, this strategy should result in a steady stream of new leads into the sales funnel.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.