8 Facts You Need to Know About B2B Content Marketing [Infographic]

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Have you and your business joined the 88% of B2B marketers that have built content marketing into their strategy?

Chances are, if you read this blog regularly, you’re at least dipping your toes into the content marketing pool. I just want to let you know that the water is fine! If you need some more encouragement to dive right in take a look at this interesting infographic that lays out the importance of improving your content marketing game and tells you how your peers are working at building it into their marketing approach.

Let’s have a look at what the infographic has to say.

  1. Content marketing isn’t just for B2C.

B2B companies can benefit from content marketing just as much as B2C companies – just look at brands like Adobe and Microsoft. That being said, there are some variations between B2B content marketing and B2C content marketing, including the subject matter, content formats, distribution channels, promotion, and objectives.

  1. The majority of B2B marketers use content marketing.

Last year, the number of B2B marketers using content marketing was 86%. This year, it’s risen to 88%. You could say that content marketing is a popular strategy! But why have so many marketers started using it? It produces sustainable value, helps them to communicate with their clients, and is a great way to exchange information in a meaningful way.

  1. Most B2B marketers use at least 13 content marketing tactics.

There are a LOT of different content marketing tactics out there, including blogs, newsletters, infographics, webinars, white papers, newsletters, case studies, social media content, videos – the list goes on. Why stick to just one, when you can use a number of different formats to reach different segments of your audience? You can even re-use the same information in multiple formats to extend your reach.

  1. LinkedIn is the top choice to distribute content.

For B2B marketers, LinkedIn is the place to post – it’s been rated the most used and effective tool for content marketing. LinkedIn is a great way to build relationships and brand recognition, establish thought leadership, run extremely targeted advertising, boost traffic to your website, and research your prospects.

  1. The most effective B2B content marketing tactic is in-person events.

Some of the best content marketing can actually take place offline, through in-person events that allow for engagement between a brand and its audience. Many marketers consider in-person events to be one of their most effective tactics. In-person content can offer the same information as written content, but also provide a personal experience for an audience. Strengthen relationships by following up after the event and use audience feedback to improve your future online content.

  1. Lead generation and sales are the two most important goals.

Lead generation is actually rated as more important to B2B marketers than sales, at 85% v 84%. Finding qualified leads is a great long-term goal which can lead to sales in the future as well as support and investments for upcoming projects.

  1. Creating engaging content is the top priority.

72% of content creators are driven by the goal of creating compelling content for the audiences. What can be considered engaging varies from audience to audience – B2B audiences tend to respond to information that is more data-driven and focuses on benefits in terms of ROI. B2B audiences want educational, detailed, high-quality content that helps them make decisions for their business.

  1. B2B marketing can be broken down into five maturity levels.

First steps: Beginning to experiment with creating content, but have not begun to put together a strategy.

Young: Experiencing growing pains, working on building a strategy and measurement plan.

Adolescent: Have developed a business case and starting to see a bit of success. Gaining experience with measurement and scaling.

Mature: Finding success and beginning to work on integrating the strategy across the organization.

Sophisticated: Able to accurately measure the impact on the business and can scale the strategy across the organization.

32% of B2B marketers would rate their contenting marketing maturity level as Mature or Sophisticated. Where does your company fit in? Share your answer in the comments!

8 Facts You Need to Know About B2B Content Marketing Infographic

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Louis Foong
Louis Foong is the founder and CEO of The ALEA Group Inc., one of North America's most innovative B2B demand generation specialists. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Louis is a thought leader on trends, best practices and issues concerning marketing and lead generation. Louis' astute sense of marketing and sales along with a clear vision of the evolving lead generation landscape has proved beneficial to numerous organizations, both small and large.

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