Creating engaging articles and marketing content for seemingly unexciting B2B and industrial products might seem an impossible task.
In fact, the very idea of creating a vibrant blogs for valves, concrete, insurance products or steel boxes might seem a complete waste of time.
In fact, even in these niche B2B sectors, creating custom content on your website to be shared via social media, e-newsletters, guest blogs and other editorial opportunities is a proven and powerful strategy to grow awareness, attract interest, generate new business and support existing customers.
Did you know: Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads (source: DemandMetric).
Here are a few ideas to get you started with your industrial and B2B content marketing:
1. Know who you’re talking to
Customer personas are semi-fictional generalisations of your ideal customer/s. They not only suggest the age/gender/nationality of the people you are likely to be talking to, but other insights such as their job, why they might choose you and what their work involves (ie. why they might need help) etc. The best buyer personas are based on information from a variety of sources – research, data analysis and first-hand observations.
Combined with insight into lifecycle stage (i.e. where someone is in your sales cycle), customer personas allow you to map out and create highly targeted content.
2. How can I help?
Understand your customers’ pain! Once you know who your customer is, you need to know what help they are likely to need. This is ideal territory for B2B marketing. What keeps them awake at night? When might they need you? Build a repository of useful, easy to access, information, to educate and inform, and create a loyal audience.
By taking away their pain, you’ll have demonstrated your expertise and given your customers something entirely for free which should mean they come back to you again. What’s even better is you can then optimise these posts to perform well on search engines, because these are likely to be the issues that your customers are searching for solutions online.
3. Remember, it’s the benefits that count
Don’t turn your website or blog into a brochure.
Consider what benefits using your products might confer, such as ego-food (gaining knowledge, attracting new clients) but also the personal gains (more time with their family, more money, more leisure time). Then you can consider how this might work up into content, e.g. a contest to share tips which might win family tickets for a championship football match?
4. Have fun with your b2b content marketing!
Humour is a much underrated tool in life and the workplace. Used correctly, it can bring people together and a good joke is more likely to be shared. You can also use it to challenge corporate stereotypes, or even better, play to them!
General Electric, for example, don’t take themselves insanely seriously. They have a Pinterest board called “Badass Machines” for their “biggest and baddest machines” alongside boards like “Eco Efficient” and “The Art of Innovation.” Clever, eh?
So there are just a few hints to get you started with your industrial and B2B content marketing.
Happy blogging!
