52 Reasons to Use Content in Your B2B Strategy

52 weeks of Content Marketing

Why B2B Companies Use Content Marketing.

Today, content marketing is not an optional extra for B2B companies to include in their sales and marketing strategy mix. It’s a basic requirement to stay in the competitive race. And, if you play the content game well, your business may just win.

In 2018 Content Marketing reached mainstream status. According to the latest global research from Hubspot, State of Inbound 2018, 74% of all companies and over 90% of B2B companies use content marketing as a leading methodology fundamental to their entire sales and buying process.

Recently InnoFuture invited over eight hundred leaders of innovative Australian B2B companies to share their insights on how their businesses leverage content marketing.

Inspired by the response, we dug deeper to see what B2B industry leaders are doing globally. We tapped into research from CMI, Gartner, Forester, Forbes, Curata and Entrepreneur, and our own experience and ideas.

We distilled our findings to 52 compelling reasons to use Content as the core B2B marketing strategy. This list makes an ideal framework for creating Content Strategy, complete with Calls to Action (CTAs) for every week of the year, if you could manage.

Get the idea?

So, here are the red raw reasons to embrace Content.

  1. Drive sales
  2. Build brand awareness
  3. Generate systematic business growth
  4. Build authority
  5. Build trust
  6. Educate market
  7. Build momentum for startups and innovation
  8. Improve ROI (costs 62% less, 2x more SQL, 3x more MQL)
  9. Save the cost of a large sales force
  10. Shorten the buying cycle
  11. Support Distributors | distribution channels
  12. Support end-users
  13. Build Thought Leadership positioning
  14. Build Legendary Brand
  15. Engage with business allies
  16. Engage with stakeholders
  17. Generate Leads (e.g. find specific market segment (. start-up owners) and share opportunity with them]
  18. Build Partnerships
  19. Build Relationships
  20. Build advocacy from Non-customers
  21. Build advocacy of end-users
  22. Build an active community around the brand
  23. Connect with leaders and decision makers
  24. Control and manage WOM
  25. Create demand for your unique solution
  26. Build Traffic
  27. Understand customers / market
  28. Understand, reach and connect directly with end-users
  29. Be heard, be seen, be hired: This catchphrase has long been the secret of InnoFuture success in creating innovative business events, disrupting markets and building business communities around an idea. So, while the term “content” is the product of the digital era, it doesn’t mean it is completely new, or that it exclusively belongs to digital delivery. However, even the power of speaking or running events for your community, today, can be amplified by multiple digital channels.
  30. Build Reputation: Reputation always matters. In some industries, especially in technology, business consulting or digital business, if you are not doing content marketing, you may be perceived as a laggard. And, if you are not ahead of the game, you are not in the game!
  31. Leverage better market segmentation: The days of mass marketing are gone forever. Personalisation is the future and it starts with meaningfully segmenting your market and providing a more sophisticated communication if not offer.
  32. Building Brand perception as being bigger to attract bigger customers: Size doesn’t matter if you can demonstrate and deliver expertise. Yet, while large enterprises are prepared to use services of nimble, smart innovators, first you have to get on their radar. Content has the power to open some doors.
  33. Create legacy of Evergreen content
  34. Create new trends
  35. Customer engagement
  36. Customer retention
  37. Database development
  38. Disrupt industry and market segments
  39. Ensure 24/7 market presence
  40. Expanding geographic markets
  41. FOMO – competitors are doing it and Leaders doing it
  42. Help buyers make decision and choose you
  43. Industry leadership
  44. Cause market disruption and prevent it
  45. Permission marketing
  46. Embed values
  47. Research new topics
  48. Support the whole marketing and sales process (winning by design)
  49. Remind people that you exist
  50. Reinforce narrative
  51. Smart way to drum up business
  52. Curate content that gets attention and helps buyer through the buying journey

Margaret Manson is the Founder and Chief Inspirator of InnoFuture, s a specialist B2B marketing strategy & content consultancy, based in Melbourne. Our purpose is to help innovative B2B companies and start-ups build Sales & Brand equity through Inbound and Content Marketing.