What’s Working in B2B Marketing

Content marketing has established itself as a highly effective method for marketing and selling innovative offerings (services or products) in B2B markets. For companies seeking to establish a Thought Leadership position and secure the many benefits conferred upon the company occupying that enviable space, Content Marketing is the operative strategy.

We recommend using a variety of different content types to appeal to different buyer personas and learning styles. In addition, a diverse content portfolio also helps avoid boredom among both the audience and the marketer and facilitates leveraging multiple communication channels (i.e., digital, print, face-to-face, etc.)

The purpose of content marketing is to help build the early stages of the sales funnel and facilitate moving opportunities to close. Statista reported on what types of content marketing are the most valuable in advancing opportunities through the sales funnel, based on feedback from 205 B2B marketers, illustrated in the graphic below.

Our take:

Based on our experience, we would rank Webinars ahead of Videos, but that is a minor quibble. Educating and informing your audience is essential to building awareness and interest biased to your value proposition.
We note that the survey did not cover one of the most effective content marketing types – the Case Study. Perhaps they lumped Case Studies under Whitepapers, but there is rarely anything more persuasive than someone reading about how someone else in their industry or role solved a problem with your solution.
Whitepapers, although highly effective, typically involve a lot of involvement from Subject Matter Experts. That means it is difficult to develop more than four quality Whitepapers a year. Furthermore, it means that a content marketing initiative based solely on Whitepapers will be challenged to maintain consistency and audience engagement.
Consequently, it is important to create a secondary track for Branding and Awareness. That’s where Articles/Blog Posts come into play and social media. We typically recommend two to four Blog Posts a month to complement Whitepapers that come out less frequently.
In our view, although they can be standalone content pieces, Social Media Posts are usually most effective when used to promote a Whitepaper, Video, Article or other content asset.

Contact us today to discuss how Prism Group can help you develop a content marketing strategy and create content marketing assets to advance opportunities through the sales funnel.

About Prism Group

Prism Group is a full-spectrum, multi-talented B2B agency focused on Energy Tech, Technology, Energy, Services and Media markets. Our work is telling stories that matter, because our clients are working to change the world for the better. What makes us different is that we put into action the strategies we recommend – we get it done, so you can get results and increase the value of your business.