3 Steps for Better B2B Content

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Make sure your content is tailored to your audience

Here at the LinkNow Media blog, we’ve given plenty of advice to small business owners on the topic of creating content to reach out to potential customers. However, most of the things we’ve talked about have been aimed at B2C businesses – companies that are trying to reach out to consumers. B2B companies face many of the same challenges, but B2B customers are not average consumers.

Being a resource is important for B2B content

shallow dive

If you don't plan properly, you can end up putting in a ton of effort and still come up short.

When you’re using content to try to expand your business’s audience, grow brand awareness, and attract new customers, it’s important that you’re creating content that your ideal customers want to read.

What sets B2B content apart is that it needs to be useful and informative above all else. If you’re creating content to attract business customers, it needs to give readers/viewers concrete advice or strategies that will allow them to better meet their own business goals.

While B2C content can often have other purposes, such as branding or entertainment, B2B content needs to be very focused on establishing your company as a resource for businesses in the industry you target. Provide your followers with tools and strategies to accomplish tasks on their own. Help them understand complex topics that affect their businesses. Demonstrate the value of the services you sell.

So how do you create great B2B content and attract the right kind of audience?

1.      Identify your audience

Just as with any other kind of content strategy, you need to know who you’re talking to. Different types of people prefer different types of content. Try to identify a few basic types of customers and create customer personas that will help you tailor your content to their tastes. Are you selling to young entrepreneurs and small business owners, or are you selling to middle management at huge tech companies? Figure out what your audience loves and needs and do your best to give it to them.

only these cats entertain me

Hopefully your target audience isn't as specific as this guy, but if it is at least you know what he wants.

2.      Develop content ideas

The best way to figure out what kind of content your audience is craving is to actually listen to them. Find people like the audience personas you’ve developed on Twitter and listen to what they talk about. Conduct surveys of your current customers. Check on your competitors who are succeeding online and see what kind of content strategy they’re using. Do everything you can to make sure that you’re creating content your audience wants – not the content YOU want.

3.      Promote your content

With B2B content, you can’t wait for your audience to come to you. You’re creating stuff for busy people, and very few of them are going to be searching around looking for new blogs to read. You need to get it out there in front of them, so get on Twitter and Facebook and promote the heck out of it. Target the right audiences, and you’ll drive a huge amount of traffic to your site.

mcfly whoa

You can't impress your audience if they don't see your content. Get it in front of them, even if you need to pay for it.

Don’t be boring

Just because B2B content needs to be focused on providing useful information to your audience doesn’t give you the excuse to be dull. You need to engage your audience! Develop your brand voice and don’t be afraid to have some fun with the content you’re creating – just make sure that you put the utility of what you’re creating front and center.

Do you have any tips for other aspiring B2B marketers out there? Leave a comment or drop us a line on Twitter.

Lauchlin MacDonald

Author: Lauchlin MacDonald

About Lauchlin MacDonald

Lauchlin is part of the content and marketing team at LinkNow Media. He has nearly a decade of experience in copywriting and editing, and spends way too much time on the Internet. He can be reached at lmacdonald@linknowmedia.com and @Lauchlin on Twitter.