Content marketing strategies for all stages of the B2B buyer journey

At the center of every digital marketing, the initiative is content. It is read, heard, or experienced by the audience at various stages of the B2B buyer journey (awareness, consideration, conversion). It is this valuable content that slowly gets them interested enough to invest in your offering.

What if you could awe them in the awareness stage, retain an interest in the consideration stage, and convince them beyond doubt in the conversion stage? All this is possible by delivering effective content to the right audience at the right time through content marketing.

87% of Marketers say that prioritizing the audience’s need for information over an organization’s promotional messages is the way to go about content⁽¹⁾ marketing. Find out how you can meet the audience’s need for information at various stages of the B2B buyer journey.

Grabbing attention at the awareness stage

At this stage, the prospect has started recognizing a challenge they are facing and is looking out for a solution. They want something quick, something to skim through – so grabbing attention with a bang-on copy at this stage will unlock the key to the rest of the buyer journey.

For example, a growing clinical lab is struggling to train the new trainees on best practices. While looking for some tips on the internet, the lab owner could find your blog that talks about best practices or maybe even a useful tutorial. Not only does it catch his attention, but as he reads the blog, he goes deeper and comes to know of various products and service offerings. One great piece of content can take the buyer toward another.

As per marketers⁽²⁾, social media posts are the most used content type. Here is the complete list of the content types you could try

• Social media posts –

  Consistent posting on social media about your brand, the USPs of your product, and how your service can satisfy the audience’s needs will help in generating interest and building awareness.

• Ads –
  

  Ads on Search Engine Results Page promoting blogs and other website pages will make the audience aware of your brand. Ad copy that specifically talks about the challenges faced by your prospect will instantly grab attention.

• Infographics –

  While audiences are often looking for numbers, percentages, and trends. But nobody likes boring statistics unless they are depicted interestingly and are interlinked with each other to tell a story. That is infographics. They are handy in dissipating educational content

• Videos –

  92% of marketers⁽³⁾ say video is very important for their marketing strategy and gives a positive ROI.

• Blogs –

  The audience looking for information typically skim through blogs. So, making insightful blogs, which are well-structured and have a visual representation, will help create awareness and interest.

• E-Books/Guides –

  Businesses are offering their expertise in the form of free downloadable content such as eBooks. Not only does it help to showcase proficiency but also builds credibility because the more value you provide, the more trust you will build.

Providing value at the consideration stage

In this stage, the audience wants to gauge the capability of the product or brand and is interested in finding out about more offerings.

Here is the type of content that works best for consideration.

• Emails –

  In a study⁽⁴⁾, 60% of marketers said email with content such as newsletters works best. Newsletters cover many topics – new product launches, customer testimonials, awards and achievements, plans, etc. This content helps audiences know your company better and start building trust in you.

• Blogs  –

  Blogs are great for awareness, as well as consideration. One can create as many blogs as needed. In the consideration stage, blog content highlighting the USP of your product, compared with other technologies, cost advantage, competitive advantage, and so on, can help audiences know how your product or service is different.

• Case Studies  –

  This type of content help to showcase how successfully you have addressed the challenges faced by other businesses. Take a look at how we have posted case studies to showcase our capabilities.

• Webinars  –

  Webinars are a great way to pool experts from within and outside the organization and share their knowledge and expertise with the target audience. Not only does it build credibility and respect but also helps in lead generation and opens up avenues for targeted communication. One of our healthcare clients saw a steady increase in lead generation by conducting regular webinars and offering free access to webinar archives.

• Videos  –

  The power of video is undeniable due to its audio-visual nature. They are versatile and can be used for showing the uniqueness of your product, drawing comparisons, or showcasing your quality processes.

• Infographics/Steps/How-to –

  At this stage, the audience is looking for reasons for choosing a particular product. Credible and convincing statistics shown visually through infographics can do wonders. Infographics could show the time or money saved in percentage. It could be used to show the simple steps of a given procedure or any relevant information visually.

• Social Media Posts –

  With consistency, you can turn audiences into followers on social media. Content highlighting the product USP, drawing subtle comparisons, talking about the value addition of the product, etc., can gradually create a strong brand impression, which helps in moving them further down the marketing funnel.

Driving decisions at the conversion stage 

By now, assuming that you have created awareness, built intrigue, and convinced the audience about your capability, another great piece of content can help them make the final decision. What could that ‘great piece of content’ possibly be?

• Discounts/Offers –

  The majority of marketers⁽⁵⁾ feel that offers help make the final conversion.
  

• Case Studies –

  Prospects are always keen on knowing what other customers feel about your service or product. Detailed case studies or crisp ones just highlighting the success of a given business that invested in your product or service is something you could create. For example, for a medical device dealer who had just begun its digital journey, we achieved a rise of 300% in user engagement using a combination of content marketing and marketing automation. See how !

• Customer Stories and Testimonials  –

  Your website is a great place to publish customer stories and testimonials of happy customers. They add to the brand’s credibility and build trust.

• Product Demos and Collaterals –

  In B2B marketing, product demonstrations, brochures, and flyers are required to understand the product in detail. These collaterals help the buyer in making a decision.

   

• Free Trials –

  Free trials are a great way of building trust and confidence in your product. You can send free trial offers through emails, or have a paid or organic campaign on social media.

• Landing Pages  –

  Once the audience has shown interest by clicking the CTA in ads and social media posts, crisp content on landing pages can further retain their interest and answer their queries. A landing page is a connecting link between the initial engagement and the lead generation. Thus, it plays a critical role in the conversion stage. A long, wordy landing page can be a put-off, whereas a catchy title with essential pointers can take the audience further in the buyer journey. Take a look at the landing page that we have created for HubSpot services.

Content marketing has great potential to build brand awareness and credibility, but only when it offers value to the audiences it serves. When you deliver valuable content through the right channels at the right time in the buyer journey, the entire exercise becomes rewarding. Many businesses choose to outsource content marketing to free their schedule for their core work. You can consider it too.

How can Ethosh help you with content marketing for the B2B buyer journey?

Ethosh helps brands deliver a memorable experience to B2B customers through successful content marketing strategies. Whether you are looking for top-of-funnel awareness, middle-of-funnel engagement, and education or bottom-of-funnel conversions, we deliver smart, creative, digital, interactive, and immersive content – reliably and at scale.

Reference and Citation-

1.https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/B2B_2022_Research.pdf 

2.https://databox.com/content-marketing-funnel-using-different-types-content 

3. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-video-marketing-new-data  

4.https://databox.com/content-marketing-funnel-using-different-types-content 

5.https://databox.com/content-marketing-funnel-using-different-types-content