Every business owner knows that they need to engage in marketing. If a business isn’t marketing, then gaining customers and clients is an uphill battle. While traditional forms of marketing still work, the internet has provided new opportunities for marketing. Truth is, the way businesses market themselves has changed, which is why content marketing is important for B2B companies.
Content marketing has a wealth of benefits for B2B businesses. It can help to boost a brand’s reputation, help a business become more discoverable in search engines, and even help to educate potential customers. When implemented properly, content marketing can generate more leads than traditional marketing methods, and those leads will come in at a lower cost.
Over the last couple of decades, the way businesses market themselves has changed. One opportunity is content marketing, something which over 70% of B2B businesses are currently engaged in.
Content marketing is a critical component of any successful B2B business strategy. It allows businesses to reach their target audiences, build trust and relationships with leads and customers alike, and strategically position themselves as thought leaders in their field.
Moreover, content marketing has the added benefit of helping to drive web traffic, increase visibility across multiple channels, and boost ROI through increased lead conversions from optimized campaigns.
In this blog post, we will explore why content marketing is important for B2B companies, and how it can help them stay ahead of the competition. So let’s get started!
What is Content Marketing?
In order to understand why content marketing is important for B2B businesses, you must understand what content marketing is.
Content marketing is about the sharing of information. This may be in the form of ebooks, blog posts, images, memes, videos, podcasts, and more. This content doesn’t directly advertise products or services. Instead, the content is meant to be purely informational. Of course, while the content is informational, it has the ultimate goal of boosting sales for a business.
If you have ever read a blog for a business, read their social media posts, or watched their videos on YouTube, then you have seen content marketing. Chances are, you already know just how effective it is.
Your Competitors Are Doing It
It doesn’t matter what industry your B2B business is in, we can guarantee that your competitors are engaging in content marketing. In fact, it is estimated that between 60% and 70% of B2B businesses in the United States are actively engaging in content marketing. Around 50% of the businesses that are not engaged in it are planning on doing so in the near future.
If your competitors are doing it, then there is some value there, right? They have seen the boost in sales that content marketing has given them.
If your B2B business is not engaging in content marketing, then your competitors will have the upper hand over you. They will be producing content that can drive sales for their business, and your company will struggle to catch up.
Thankfully, getting started with content marketing is easier and more affordable than ever. You just need to hire a company to do the job for you.
Can Provide Exposure to a Brand
In the B2B arena, it can be tough to gain sales. Businesses don’t like to throw their cash at the first business that comes along. This impacts their bottom line. They wish to work with companies that have proven to have a good reputation and knowledge. This is where content marketing comes in.
Content marketing is about sharing information. Each piece of information shared is an opportunity for a business to share the wealth of knowledge it has. Potential buyers will enjoy this. They want to work with companies that understand their products and services.
Quality content gets shared, too. It is not uncommon to find high-quality business-related posts shared on platforms like LinkedIn, providing more potential exposure for a brand.
In addition to this, quality information will often be shared (with a link) on websites related to the niche the B2B business operates in. This provides direct access to a target market, elevating a brand and, hopefully, driving sales.
Potential Customers Expect Content When Making a Purchasing Decision
Once again, it is tough to make sales in B2B. There is a lot of competition, and business users tend to want to educate themselves more than the average consumer.
In fact, one study estimated that as many as 70% of B2B purchasers will heavily research a product or service before making a purchasing decision. Content marketing provides an opportunity for B2B businesses to educate potential purchasers, hopefully drawing in sales.
If your B2B business isn’t producing content to educate people, then you can guarantee that your competitors are. Their content marketing will be snatching sales away from your business.
Can Boost Search Engine Positions
For every B2B business, the bulk of traffic their website gets will come through search engines. One study suggested that search engine traffic generates 70% more traffic than paid advertising. This is why companies must invest in search engine optimization (SEO) in order to be successful.
There are a lot of elements involved in SEO. However, at the heart of everything is content. Search engines love fresh, quality content. The whole goal of a search engine is to provide users with information relevant to their searches.
Content marketing is about producing useful content. This content can lead to an increase in the ‘reputation’ of a website in the eyes of the search engines and can result in a B2B business seeing a boost in its search engine ranking. This leads to more traffic and, ultimately, more sales.
Increased Lead Generation at a Lower Cost
Stats estimate that content marketing can generate around 3x the leads that traditional marketing methods generate. These leads tend to convert much better too, since the content marketing has given the lead the information they need and hopefully enhanced the brand.
The best part is that lead generation through content marketing is considerably cheaper than lead generation using any other method. While it will depend on the niche that you operate in, content marketers have indicated that leads from content marketing are about 40-60% cheaper than any other method.
This means that not only will content marketing generate more leads, but it leads to more profitable sales too. That’s why content marketing is important for B2B businesses – lower cost of lead acquisition.
Invest in Content Marketing for B2B Today
This is just scratching the surface of why content marketing is important for B2B. As we said, there is a reason why so many businesses are investing the bulk of their marketing budget in content marketing. It just works. To find out how content marketing can benefit your business, speak to an expert. You will get more information about why content marketing can lead to rapid business growth.
Final Thoughts: Why Content Marketing is Important for B2B
For b2b businesses, content marketing should be an essential element of their web strategy. Taking the time to develop and implement a tailored content marketing plan can quickly position businesses ahead of their competitors.
Content marketing is no longer just an option – it’s become essential in today’s competitive digital landscape. Companies looking to succeed and gain an edge in their markets must start leveraging content to expand their reach. This is why content marketing is important for B2B.
