B2B Myth of the Week: Content Marketing Is Overcrowded, Oversaturated, and Useless
by Emily Swet
The Myth: Content Marketing is Overcrowded, Oversaturated and Useless
The Fact: Content Shock Can Be Your Strategy, Not Your Roadblock
White papers. Emails. Ebooks. Long Form. Blogs. Infographics. Videos. Influencers. Vlogs. It’s official. We have finally reached Content Shock status. The exponentially increasing volume of content is exceeding our human capacity to consume it. As a result, we are becoming far more selective about what we want to see and engage in.
Before you throw up your hands over another fleeting marketing trend, take a pause. Content isn’t going anywhere. (If it was, why would big brands like Unilever be investing in in-house content creation studios?) Content saturation isn’t your white flag, it’s your call to arms. You’d be sorely remiss to think it was time to give it up.
Your customers still engage in content 100%. And your competitors utilize it full-tilt. According to Forbes, 89% of B2B marketers report they use content to increase leads and drive their brands forward. Fine-tune your content program now, or get left behind. To stay in the game, you need a focused, aggressive strategy based on human experience.
From now on, your content strategy needs to:
- Be written directly for each of your customer personas
- Create an immersive experience
- Determine when it makes sense to pay-to-play
- Have a clear-cut customer payoff
- Include video
- Use data to gain a competitive advantage
If you think content marketing is overcrowded, you’re right. But have a look at these false predictions of the past, then ask yourself: can your brand afford to stand this one out?
Continue ReadingB2B Myth of the Week: Simply Having a Website Is Enough
by Emily Swet
The Myth: Simply Having a Website Is Enough
The Truth: How Your Website Is Designed, Written, and Programmed Determines Its Performance
When was the last time you took a critical look at your B2B website design? In today’s market, B2B marketers simply can’t take a “one and done” approach to their web presence. Buyers have become acclimated to today’s standards. Content, searchability, user experience, aesthetics, and responsive design should be the drivers of your site layout. If your website hasn’t been updated in years, or if you haven’t fully fleshed out a recent redesign, we’ve put together a quick cheat sheet to get you up to speed.
5 Essential Building Blocks for B2B Websites
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Killer Content
Creativity and persuasive insights don’t just work for B2C companies. There is a still a person on the other side of your website making purchase decisions every day. The content on your website has the potential to differentiate you from your competitors and lead your prospects further into your sales funnel. Make sure yours is compelling and directive. And more than anything, check your content for clarity, accuracy, and usefulness to your prospects.
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Smart SEO & SEM
B2B marketers are getting savvier with search engine optimization and search engine marketing. And so should you. Since the rules are constantly changing, you can’t expect your site to produce results all by itself. Investing in an SEO/SEM specialist or using an agency to maximize your results based on cost efficiency is one of the smartest moves you can make. Use SEO and SEM to drive customers where you want them to go, then analyze their experience so you can make educated tweaks in the future.
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Intuitive User Experience
Is your site easy to navigate? Where are your visuals placed? Are your call-to-action buttons easy to find? The answers to these questions can mean the difference between a click and a bounce. Your users want to be led, and your user experience dictates where you lead them. A successful user experience follows the natural eye flow pattern across a website. If your site feels clunky or fraught with stopping points, you’re more likely to lose users. Consider a redesign that leads your user to a purchase decision.
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Engaging Aesthetics
The graphic design of your website has the power to elicit an emotional response as it is the first thing your buyer will see. Smart design works seamlessly with your content to convey a feeling, insight, or solution simply through imagery. You can set the tone right on the home page. The colors, fonts, photography, and illustrations you select can all affect those who visit the site. When done well, design can be a major point of differentiation from your competitors.
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Responsive Design
Considering Mashable called 2013 The Year of Responsive Web Design, if your site isn’t by now, you’re woefully behind. Responsive sites “respond to” the type of device they are being viewed on, resizing to a more appropriate layout and view. (Think: desktop vs. laptop vs. tablet vs. smartphone). Why is this important? Because your buyers aren’t on their desktops all the time. If they are on the road or in meetings, and unable to really experience your site on their mobile device, you’re likely to lose them – and fast.
Online presence isn’t something that is created overnight. It takes time, research, and a budget to make a website worth having. Yet the initial effort up front can pay you back in spades for the long term. Your ROI can make it well worth it. So with this in mind, it’s worth repeating: when was the last time you took a critical look at B2B website design?
Continue ReadingB2B Myth of the Week: Gated Content Will Bring In Loads of Leads
by Emily Swet
Myth: Gated Content Will Bring In Loads of Leads
Truth: Without a Strategy, Gated Content Can Kill Relationships
Gated content falls smack dab in the center of the B2B marketing wheelhouse. You can showcase your products and services. You can position yourself as a thought-leader in your industry. You can capture loads of sales leads in the process. And you can do it all on the cheap. Sounds like a win, right? So why not just jump in and dangle some gated content to your audience in exchange for their contact information?
Here’s why: according to a study done by Forester, 68% percent of buyers prefer to research information on their own. More significantly, 81% of Gen X-ers and Millennials opt out of downloading content simply because they don’t want to fill out a form. (If you think these groups aren’t making buying decisions, think again). This doesn’t mean employing gated content is pointless – there’s still tremendous value to be gained. It does mean, however, that you need to have a set strategy before you begin.
4 Tips for Gating Content
- Keep Your First Pieces Open. Too many forms at the start of a sales journey will do more harm than good. Establish trust, authority, and goodwill with quality content your audience can access immediately. This confirms that your brand offers information of value, and will be worth submitting contact info for down the road.
- Gate the Right Stuff. Resist the urge to gate every piece of content your marketing team produces. Lower value pieces (think tips, guidelines, and infographics) may not have a serious payoff and can leave your audience feeling misled. Whitepapers and case studies, however, can offer in-depth insight, and be worth exchanging an email for.
- Know Your Audience and Where They Are In The Sales Process. Are they seriously evaluating your product? Or are they still in education mode? Understanding your customers’ motivators will ensure the content you serve is relevant, and help you determine what to gate and what to offer instant access to.
- Don’t Ask For Everything. The more info you ask for, the higher the drop-off rate. Begin by asking for an email address, then nurture your customer further into your sales funnel by delivering relevant content from there.
For B2B brands (particularly those with lean marketing and sales departments), it’s tempting to gate everything you have. Granting free access and gating strategically, however, delivers leads that are far more qualified – saving time and money in the long run. And that’s where the value of gated content lies for you.
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