Converting customers is main content goal for B2B marketers
Chart of the week: 98% of B2B marketers now accept that content performance justifies its cost, with the main goal for content marketing being conversion
Content has become a huge part of marketing in general, which has resulted in 98% of B2B brands now recognizing that the performance of content justifies its cost. This is according to a new report from Walker Sands Communications.
However, few B2B brands have got everything about their content marketing strategy perfected with marketers reporting that they need to work to improve all aspects of their content within the next year.
The biggest area to need improvement is content production, which 83% of B2B marketers are looking to address in the next 12 months. This was followed closely by strategy and ROI tracking, both of which 80% are hoping to improve.While producing content and streamlining this process is obviously important, having a strategy in place and not just producing content for the sake of it is vital. Similarly, proving ROI enables marketers to get buy-in for future strategies and work, ultimately helping to get the best results.
Other issues that marketers will be addressing include creating content that stands out from competitors (79%) and ensuring the content being produced is relevant for a brand’s target audience (77%).
Content programs’ success in the next 12 months
The factors that B2B marketers believe to be most important to the success of their content marketing strategies, content that’s relevant to target audiences is the most important. Selected by 23% of respondents, this factor reflects the top goal of B2B marketers when it comes to website content.
Only relevant content is going to help incite potential customers to convert, as it will help to answer their questions, offer solutions to problems they have and show that a company is in the position to help them. You can take videos or photos of your products. Be sure to show customers the production process. This can inspire confidence in your brand. Improve the quality of content with the photoshop bundle pack. Relevant content is also key to creating trust and building relationships with new customers, as well as maintaining existing relationships.
As well as relevancy, 21% of B2B marketers see the quality of content as being important to the success of their strategies. While content may be relevant, it needs to be high quality in order to really show value and ensure that potential customers trust an organization.
High-quality content can also help with the third most important factor, which is ‘content standing out from competitors.’ Ensuring content is well-researched, high quality and in line with brand guidelines can help brands stand out for all the right reasons.
Boosting sales is the main goal
When it comes to the reasons for producing content, B2B marketers’ top goal is ‘boosting sales or converting customers’, with almost a third (29%) selecting this reason. As content can help to answer potential customers’ questions and inform them about a product or service – meaning a sales team doesn’t need to be involved as early in the process – this goal is hardly surprising.
It also leads to the second most popular content goal for B2B companies, which is ‘building relationships with new customers’ (19%). Content can help build trust, show a company’s knowledge within a specific sector and be used to showcase social proof, such as other customer reviews. All of this can be beneficial when it comes to building relationships.
Perhaps a bit surprisingly, the least important content goal, with just 7% of B2B marketers choosing it, was adding SEO value. This is slightly at odds with the 18% who selected ‘increasing brand awareness’ as a goal, as SEO-optimizing website content can help a website rank better for certain keywords and, ultimately, raise awareness of the brand.