Content marketing is a highly effective marketing tool for building relationships with customers. Over 82% of marketers actively use it to generate invaluable nurturing and lead generation for a business. Since the last two years of the pandemic, content has shifted significantly, with B2B buyers finding it crucial in their purchasing journey, as it allows decision-makers to learn about your business without a formal demo.
As a bonus, it costs 62% less than other marketing functions and generates 3x more leads. As a result, many businesses have also reported an increase in their 2022 budget for content functions.
This article will cover the five best trends in B2B content marketing that will be apparent over the year.
B2C isn’t the only segment that consumes more content via mobile anymore. With more B2B professionals working remotely or in hybrid environments, about 70-80% of B2B decision-makers prefer remote interactions for added convenience and cost-effectiveness.
Mobile devices account for just over 50% of global website traffic. It has been found that the average B2B professional increased to 3 hours a day of content consumed via smartphones, as buyer journeys can easily begin from a phone transitioning to a computer.
To implement a mobile-first strategy, invest in your website design and check the following:
Additionally, consider changing the CTA for a call-scheduling link instead of an email address for better conversions. This will allow your commercial team to give a more human approach when reaching out to prospects.
The most significant B2B content marketing investment is video; the 2022 CMI survey found marketers increasing video investments up to a staggering 69%, much more resource allocation to any other content tools.
However, creating videos isn’t new in B2B, but a trend that could benefit your business is to pivot your video content to a shorter run-time. The 2022 video benchmark report found the viewer’s engagement level peaked at the first 10% of a video, irrespective of length, with over 56% of all B2B videos being under 2 minutes long.
Use resources such as Canva to create graphically pleasing videos that can easily be formatted to all platforms. (Source: Hubspot)
Content is king! But creating impactful content in an environment of mass information and constant change can be challenging, especially if your business has an omnichannel presence with customers.
Natural Language Generation (NLG) technologies such as OpenAI have the ability to create AI-powered text ranging from copywriting, translation and even summarisation.
More marketers will shift to AI-powered tools and automation for content marketing, allowing them to track new trends with data analysis. This will help create more targeted content and personalised campaigns to an individual audience, curbing the complexity of creating real-time content.
A trend that’s becoming a need is focusing on content copy with a human-centric approach rather than having content created in mind for a B2B company. It was found that being more empathic to customer challenges and needs created the necessary trust and created better long-experiences with customers.
Secondly, creating a distinct brand voice will make your business personality clear and consistent in your communications. In practice, this will likely involve sales teams collaborating with marketing teams on account-based marketing (ABM), and creating personalised campaigns with your brand voice to find and convert target accounts.
Thirdly, create content that’s inclusive and accessible to a diverse audience. This can be implemented by showcasing your CSR initiatives and your business’s diversity. A Microsoft study found that 70% of gen-z think a brand is more trustworthy when the brand represented diversity. Moreover, to ensure your content is accessible, add Alt Text; providing a short text description for images if the user can’t see the image.
Lastly, try to improve your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) by optimising keywords to get higher rankings which will allow users to find your resources for their queries.
Podcasting isn’t a new phenomenon, but last year in 2021 the listening hours amounted to a staggering 15 billion hours. One of the key benefits of creating a podcast is that it encourages engagement with the audience more intimately for thought leadership content, which can lead to higher brand awareness and even aid in the buyer’s journey.
Recent statistics show that over 60% of listeners searched for a product after hearing about it on a podcast. Additionally, with podcasts, you could invite key team members onto the show to explain all about your company projects, highlighting a success story to prospective customers, while further humanising your brand.
Finally, it’s worth noting the emergence of newer audio chat-room platforms such as Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse which allow users to listen and directly engage in conversation with your brand directly, making them great platforms for Q+A sessions which provide increased engagement.
Heb je weinig of zwakke leads, weinig bezoekers, weinig clicks? We sommen in deze whitepaper 14 redenen op waardoor het fout kan lopen en geven tips hoe je dit kan vermijden.
