All the marketing hype seems to be related to content marketing in both B2C and B2B markets. This article looks at the benefits of content marketing and suggests that it may be better to use external B2B marketing support rather than using an internal approach.
So why is content marketing so important? The main reason is the change in the B2B buying process in the last 10 years or so. In the past, the decision-making team at a B2B target customer would often get the information they needed directly from the salesperson, perhaps from printed material or (to some extent) over the Internet. The process has now changed and a great deal of internet-based research is carried out prior to any engagement with a supplier (particularly a new supplier).
Of secondary importance, but still vital to any business using their website as an information hub, is the importance of quality content for SEO. Google, in particular, and the other major search engines are now more than ever focused on quality content and how that content is shared and engaged with. Several major changes to Google’s algorithm during 2012 changed the game significantly, leading to all the hype about content.
The difficulties faced by many companies trying to incorporate content into their B2B marketing strategy are:
Deciding what content to deliver
Where can that content be found?
What form should the content be in and who will write it?
What is the best way to ensure content is read?
How the content will be delivered and who will do the work
Given these challenges and the sheer effort required, many companies are using outsourced marketing services to deliver their content marketing strategy. The advantage of this approach is that it allows the company to continue to ensure sales and delivery of products/services while marketing activities continue in the background. Additionally, a good outsourced B2B marketing agency will have a variety of skills in quality copywriting, SEO, social media, website, and social media that may not reside in-house.
The downside of the outsourced marketing approach is that the content may lack personality or have the personality of the agency and not the business. It’s also important to remember that hiring a marketing agency to do the work can’t be a simple hire-and-forget relationship. The agency will need basic content that only the company can provide. This content can be expanded or enhanced graphically, but without the basic content, the process will fail.
The first step is to plan (either internally or with the outsourced marketing partner) exactly what content will be of interest to the specific customers, market, and market segments. Next, review what media is read by customers and specifically by members of the decision-making team. With this in place, it will be possible to build at least a basic plan of what content will be delivered, through what medium, and on what time scales.
In many cases, a good outsourced marketing agency will be able to guide this process based on the experience of the various channels and what works and what doesn’t. An internal team or individual may struggle to learn the best approach initially, but once learned, the skills will be available to the business on an ongoing basis. A good outsourcing agency will train staff if needed, leaving this legacy behind when they are gone.
A lot of content will already exist in most companies in brochures, data sheets and white papers. Internal training documents and perhaps quality documents can be converted to deliver material that educates customers. There may be information that can be easily turned into practical guides.
In most technical or manufacturing companies operating in B2B markets, there will be a variety of in-house manufacturing, testing, and quality experts. These people can be tapped to write a piece of content (or at least a bullet point to be converted into content by an outsourced marketing agency) on a regular basis. The in-house or outsourced team can then take the content, publish it through various mediums including the website, break it into smaller chunks, and republish it to attract customers as needed.
We balance for the fastest results and the best chance of overall success, it’s best to outsource marketing. However, it is essential to choose a marketing agency that the company can work with in the medium term, since without a solid working relationship the process will fail. At home it gives you more personality and if you take the time to learn the process, a long-term asset within the business.
