By the time they actually sit down with a company representative, the average B2B buyer is more than 50% of the way through their buyer’s journey.
What does that mean for your business?
It means you need to hook a B2B buyer early.
Which means content.
But content marketing is not easy. It’s insanely competitive, and if you’re not an expert in B2B content marketing strategy and content creation, you’re not going to accomplish much on your own.
In this resource we’ll break down the value of content marketing for your B2B business as well as help you make an informed decision about keeping content production in-house or outsourcing it to an agency.
While both B2C and B2B organizations need content marketing, those needs are very different.
A B2B marketer usually has to be focused on a niche target audience with a long and involved buyer cycle. As a result, you need content that hypes value and a personal connection — you need to build a lasting relationship with your buyers in a way that a B2C company just doesn’t.
Long story short, while B2C organizations have to keep their focus on brand building, you have to focus on lead generation.
That’s where content marketing comes into play. You have to create content that establishes those relationships, instills trust in your audience, and moves them through the sales funnel toward becoming a qualified lead.
There’s just one problem…
You’ve got a lot of content competition out there.
You’re fighting against a wave of competing content and an audience only getting more savvy.
That means not only do you need content, you need great content if you have any hope of success.
But if you’re an expert in your field, surely you have the ability to command trust and respect in a crowded industry with naught more than a blog post and your own authority backing it, right?
Wrong.
While you might be the end all be all source of knowledge in your chosen field, you’re going to need a whole lot more than expertise if you want to rise head and shoulders above your rivals.
So, to summarize, you’re looking at:
Oh, and it all has to come out on a steady and consistent basis.
That’s going to be a tall order for any in-house employee that isn’t a content marketing expert.
Everything outlined in the previous section should be a part of your overall digital marketing strategy.
Yes, you need a documented content strategy in place before you ever type your first word onto a Google Docs sheet.
Developing a content marketing strategy tells you a few key things.
Your content marketing strategy should include the following:
But if you’re not a content marketing specialist and you don’t have one on your team, you’re going to frustrate yourself time and time again by trying to put all of this together into a winning strategy.
That’s where outside firms like Codeless come into play.
If you’re contemplating hiring an agency, there’s likely a voice in the back of your mind telling you that you could achieve content marketing success with in-house staff.
We’re not here to tell you that this is impossible, because it isn’t.
But in our experience we’ve discovered a simple truth. Marketers often suck at writing and writers often suck at marketing.
Then there’s the cost. On the surface you might be thinking that one marketing professional working full time for you has got to be more affordable than hiring a team of highly-trained professionals.
Then you find out that the average content marketer’s salary in the United States is $64,090 per year. And then there’s also full time benefits to consider as well as bonuses. When you contract with a B2B content marketing company, you’re getting an entire team of B2B content marketers for that.
And that team is composed of not only writers, but designers, editors, SEOs, and an account manager to facilitate the whole process.
Some common benefits of using a B2B agency for content marketing services include:
That’s not to say that working with a content agency is perfect. There are some cons as opposed to working with in-house staff.
Some common cons of working with a third party agency are:
Of course, working with your own in-house team isn’t all bad. It comes with its share of pros and cons as well.
Some benefits of using a full time content marketing writer are:
Some of the cons associated with an in-house content marketer include:
If you decide that you want to go with a marketing agency for your B2B brand, we’re happy to hear it.
Here’s what to look for when deciding which marketing agency to choose:
First off, you want to take a long hard look at what the company you’re considering has done before. If they don’t have a portfolio or case studies, that should raise a red flag. They have to have experience working on a high level and getting results.
For instance, Codeless has written for a wealth of B2B organizations like Freshworks, Chargify, AdEspresso, and many more.
You also want to take a look at the company’s search optimization portfolio, taking careful note of the work they’ve done for past clients and the level of success they have achieved.
Codeless is experienced in SEO, utilizing some of the most advanced optimization tools on the market today to achieve search engine success for every client.
Our content is long-form, high-quality, optimized copy strategically produced following extensive keyword research.
Take a look at some of our case studies to see our high level of success at putting our clients on the first page of Google.
You also should have a good idea of who is writing your content. That’s something that the company you contract with should be upfront about. If one writer in the company has a wealth of experience and the rest are college interns, that’s not going to help you.
That’s why at Codeless we proudly tout the experience of our writers, listing all of them along with their specializations and links to their LinkedIn profiles.
You should also know what kind of software and tools the company you’re working with is using. Optimization and content tools are important for developing smooth and clean copy that will rank on a Google Search.
That’s why we use state of the art tools like Ahrefs or keyword research and strategy, Clearscope for content optimization, and Qordoba for plagiarism checks and copy editing.
Every piece of engaging content that we produce goes through these three vital platforms.
A B2B content marketing program allows you to communicate directly to consumers in your target B2B audience with content that is specifically geared toward them.
Through content marketing you can develop enhanced brand awareness, increase lead generation, and improve your standing on popular search engines like Google and Bing
B2B buyers have come to expect content marketing initiatives from the companies that they do business with because it has become so common in the marketplace.
By creating good content, you’ll be able to demonstrate your specific expertise and show how you can alleviate the pain points of your ideal customer. By regularly consuming your engaging content, customers will come to feel close with your brand and develop a sense of trust that leads to repeat business.
There are several steps to creating an effective B2B content strategy.
B2B and B2C companies exist in totally different universes, so marketing for each of them will look different.
B2B companies focus mostly on small target markets with a long buying cycle, whereas B2C organizations usually have large markets with a short cycle. B2C customers want personal and emotional connections to the businesses that they frequent, while B2B buyers care more about the value in what they’re getting.
Lastly, B2B businesses focus primarily on generating leads while B2C organizations want to zero in on brand building efforts.
At Codeless, we pride ourselves on being an agency composed of both marketing and writing professionals. We become an extension of your in-house marketing team, helping you become an authority in your industry.
We do this through the creation of high quality B2B marketing content, intended to drive brand awareness and earn you that coveted first spot on a Google SERP.
To get a better idea of how much your investment in B2B content might be, book a discovery call with us.