The amount of digital content being generated today is astounding. And it ranges from high-quality, unique content all the way down to content mills and “click bait” that people don’t necessarily get much out of. The same is true for content in the B2B technology marketing space.
No matter what your industry, there’s likely a multitude of competitors vying for eyeballs, some of which probably don’t put a lot of time and effort into their content. What smart enterprise tech companies of the future will do is stray away from this kind of short-term thinking to simply generate click-throughs, but to develop a consistent program of high-value content that will foster long-term trust between your target buyers and your brand.
It’s a struggle for companies to bite the bullet and invest in providing content that does not always mention their name or provide for “quick wins.” Content creation can be very expensive. But there are two things that tech marketers need to realize when it comes to high-value content: The Rule of Reciprocity and the growing struggle for companies to be heard.
“The Rule of Reciprocity is that when you provide something of value, the recipient feels the need to give something in return. This may not happen right away. But eventually, the more value you provide, the more prospects will rely on you for high-value content and give you their time in return.”
Brittany Rothnem, Principal at Rothnem Integrated Marketing
And because so many other companies are striving for attention, getting past that initial point of entry makes high-value content even that much more necessary. But once you get past that point, and earn trust with your target buyers, you’ll be in a better position to complete sales than competitors that have been taking the cheap, low-value approach.
Whether you develop content in-house or decide to outsource to an agency or content platform, here are five traits that all your high-value content should share:
Every article, blog, or piece of content tells a story (even clickbait). The key is to tell better stories than your competitors. Take the time to analyze what others in the space are doing, and work to develop more unique (and more useful) stories than what’s currently out there. Remember, helping your audience is more important than helping yourself.
Some of today’s biggest brands tell great stories of how their solutions solve customer problems, impact customer lives or just provide an entertaining view on their business and culture. Think about how you would want to consume information. A B2B technology company can appeal to the humans they are selling to through powerful and even emotion-evoking content.
Rethink how you are telling your current stories and if they could be redefined as a documentary of a customer’s journey, a powerful interview or a day-in-the-life of an employee helping customers solve challenges.
Again, your high-quality content strategy should flow from your buyer personas. You might put out a few great stories to begin with, but they’ll probably resonate with some roles over others. Not all your content will be accepted by everyone, and that’s ok. What you’re trying to do is build credibility and thought leadership for each stakeholder individually, so in the end they’ll come together and agree upon your solution based on their own intrinsic motivations.
It’s important that when you create strategies and an editorial calendar that you develop an Audience Matrix that defines each person at a company who could be involved in researching or deciding to use your product. For each of those stakeholders, you can define their pains, goals and motivating factors – building a persona for each target customer is a must-do first step.
While individual pieces of content should be personalized, they should all come together in one centralized digital experience that’s connected to your brand. Having a “Resources” page on your website, for example, will drive everyone into one experience yet people will be able to find the stories and information that’s most useful to them. This goes for your social media accounts and video channels like YouTube as well.
Building a platform for content delivery that is connected will increase prospect confidence with each new story they interact with and improve their knowledge during the sales process. Built properly, these platforms can funnel leads through to conversion and into your overall marketing ecosystem.
Most important to any tactic is to deliver real value. First, if the audience doesn’t get value, they will not convert to the next stage of your marketing process whether a signup, download or buy. Even if you can get a lot of people to find your content, a lack of value will repel them from moving further which is the ultimate goal.
Second, when you deliver real value, it creates a positive brand impression. Your audience will lock in their minds that you are the subject matter expert and when they need help, you are the best resource to talk to. A positive brand impression can last for when you reach them through other marketing channels and increase the likelihood of conversion there.
So, what is “real value”? It isn’t just the surface-level info a visitor can get anywhere. The challenge here is to get over the fear of giving away too much – which many companies are afraid of. Wouldn’t you rather give away a couple of secrets to gain new customers than hold onto them and not acquire new leads?
The best place to look for these resources and areas of expertise is within your own company. What tools do you use, what questions do your customers have and what secret tactics or methods do you covet? Giving away more than the competition can give your company an edge balloon and significantly increase prospect confidence.
Most important to any tactic is to deliver real value. First, if the audience doesn’t get value, they will not convert to the next stage of your marketing process whether a signup, download or buy. Even if you can get a lot of people to find your content, a lack of value will repel them from moving further which is the ultimate goal.
Second, when you deliver real value, it creates a positive brand impression. Your audience will lock in their minds that you are the subject matter expert and when they need help, you are the best resource to talk to. A positive brand impression can last for when you reach them through other marketing channels and increase the likelihood of conversion there.
So, what is “real value”? It isn’t just the surface-level info a visitor can get anywhere. The challenge here is to get over the fear of giving away too much – which many companies are afraid of. Wouldn’t you rather give away a couple of secrets to gain new customers than hold onto them and not acquire new leads?
The best place to look for these resources and areas of expertise is within your own company. What tools do you use, what questions do your customers have and what secret tactics or methods do you covet? Giving away more than the competition can give your company an edge balloon and significantly increase prospect confidence.
And lastly, make it unique in some way. Today, people are inundated with information and content because the tactic has significantly grown in popularity. Whether the information or the delivery is unique, it must stand out.
Consider different media such as video, animation, or apps – maybe even consider past tactics such as direct mail. If you can make the information valuable and unique while delivering it in an unexpected way, it will pay off in spades.
“In our weekly editorial meetings, story pitches have to pass a basic litmus test: Has this story been done before? If so, has it been done well? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, it gets rejected.”
Joe Lazauskas, Contently Editor in Chief