It’s harder than ever to engage with B2B buyers in today’s fast-paced digital economy. Thanks to the proliferation of technology, the balance of power between buyers and sellers has caused a monumental shift in the traditional B2B purchase funnel. B2B buyers have become extremely savvy and often dictate when, where, and how they want to interact with brands. At the same time, they’ve grown very skeptical of advertising, which makes it difficult for brands to attract and retain customers. Enter content marketing. A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent messages to help attract and retain a clearly defined audience. This guide offers a brief introduction get started with a content marketing strategy for your B2B organization.

1. MARKETING
B2BCONTENT
ROCKS!

2. HOWLONGISTHEATTENTION
SPANOFAGOLDFISH?

3. HOWLONGISTHEATTENTION
SPANOFAGOLDFISH?
9SECONDS

4. HOWLONGISTHEATTENTION
SPANOFAHUMAN?

5. HOWLONGISTHEATTENTION
SPANOFAHUMAN?
8SECONDS

6. Andrew Davis, Monumental Shift
Content builds relationships.
Relationships are built on trust.
Trust drives revenue.

7. TODAY’S B2B DECISION MAKER…
IS DIFFICULT
REACH
& HARD TO
ENGAGE
TO

8. 47%
Viewed 3 to 5
pieces of content
before engaging
with a sales rep*
*2016 Content Preferences Survey Report
**Harvard Business Review
***CEB
51%
Rely on content
to inform their
buying decisions*
96%
Want content
with thought
leadership versus
“Marketing”*
73%
Viewed a case
study during their
research*
90%
Say they never
respond to cold
outreach** 57%
Of the purchase
decision is complete
before they speak
to a sales rep**

9. ENTER CONTENT MARKETING
87%Of B2B Decision Makers
SAY CONTENT HAS
A MAJOR OR MODERATE
IMPACTON VENDOR SELECTION*
*2015, CMO Council

10. Content Marketing
Institute
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach
focused on creating and distributing valuable,
relevant, and consistent content to
attract and retain a clearly defined audience —
and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

11. JOURNALISM
CONTENT
MARKETING
MARKETING

12. Provide people with relevant and actionable
insights about meaningful and relevant topics to
help them overcome business challenges,
build stronger customer relationships, and thrive.
A Good B2B
Content Marketing Mission

13. Content Plays an Important Role
in the B2B Customer Journey
AWARENESS
Customers in this stage of their research
journey aren’t necessarily aware that your
brand can help solve their problems.
Here, your job is to create the need for
your thought leadership. Content in this
stage thus focuses on customer pain
points, not your product/solution features.
CONSIDERATION
This stage is about building trust
and credibility. Here, customers
begin to discover what
product/solution criteria does and
does not meet their needs.
Educational content like articles,
whitepapers, analyst/industry
reports, and fact sheets can be used
at this stage.
At this point in their research,
customers begin doing in-depth
comparisons of each B2B vendor
they’re considering.
This is the stage where they drill
down into specific product
features and solutions that align
to their needs. Customer
testimonials and integration
guides also are used in this stage.
DECISION
This stage is about closing the sale.
Here, customers are securing buy-in,
refining selections, discussing
preparation costs/customer support
needs, and ultimately making the
purchase.
In this stage, product tours, demos, and
trial offers provide a path for customers
to realize value quickly after purchase.
PURCHASE

14. KEYSTOCREATINGGREATB2BCONTENT
ü UseHumor
ü LeverageVisuals
ü BeHonest
ü BeTopical
ü KeepitSimple
ü Don’tSell
ü ReadMore,toWriteBetter
ü ThinkLikeaJournalist,ButActLikeaMarketer

15. Content Marketing Framework
Strategize
Ideate
Calendarize
Allocate Resources
Collaborate
Write & Edit
Design
Repurpose
Deploy Across
Relevant Channels
Optimize
Assess
Content Performance
Identify Opportunities
to Optimize Content
Research &
Discovery
Activate
Create
CONTENT
Measure

16. CONTENT HUB
Content Strategy Content Operations Content Factory
Define, document, and
educate the organization
on how to apply content
strategy best practices to
content planning and
creation
Define and implement
the tools and
processes required to
manage, measure,
and optimize the
content supply chain
Produce content that
maps to a content
strategy and audience
journey for multi-
channel programs to
drive awareness,
demand creation, and
sales enablement
Content Strategy & Operations:
A Team Effort

17. Foundational Content is Key
• eBooks are compelling ways to tell a
complex, deep-rooted story, while driving
leads through being gated
• The story should be told visually as well
• Important to partner with design team on
these types of assets
• The real benefit: This piece can be broken
up into individual blogs and infographics
to get more use out of this, as well as
tease out the message

18. When Words Can Be Visual
• Look for ways to tell complex
stories with visuals
• Infographics don’t just have to
show numbers on data, a
graphic can sometimes tell a
story better than words

19. Spotlight Interviews
with Subject Matter Experts
• Positions the brand as industry
thought leader
• Allows brand to positon its message in
a very casual, consumable way
• Great way to get other team members
to share our content
• Helps elevate individuals within your
organization

20. Share With Slides!
• SlideShare is a great way to
drive organic awareness…
• Accompany a larger asset…
• And tell a simple, visual
story!

21. Turning Data into Content
• Data Journalism is Hot, when
possible, brands should jump on this
• Tell a very quantitative story visually
• Helps break down information and
make it simple for people to read,
understand and share

22. Insights from Being On Site:
Making Content from Events
• Industry events (sponsored, speaking
engagements, general events) can be a
great way to build new content streams
• Cover other thought leaders in the
space ensuring your message is aligned
with the hottest industry topics
• Partner with social team for real-time
engagement

23. THANK
YOU
@HeavyMetalMG
/mikegoldberg1