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According to Marketing Charts that ran a survey on December 2013, more and more companies are integrating their online presence to their business strategy. We are noticing significant increases in the level of competition. These increases in the competitive rivalry are forcing businesses to rethink their web strategy to outperform the competition. With the arrival of inbound marketing and various other content marketing tactics, businesses are often puzzled on what content they should focus their efforts on.
Lets help everyone and take a closer look at what content B2B buyers are really consuming and therefore, on what content we should focus our efforts. The list covers #15 to #7.
Infographics
You probably already stumble upon those visually attractive charts that explain a given topic. Using numbers and statistics, those charts enables the reader to quickly grasp the main key aspect of a topic while still being entertaining. The way the information flows through those infographics is perfect for cross reading. According to MarketingChart, 21% of their respondent had consumed infographics making them our number of our review! They do are time consuming to produce, but if your business is present on social media, they tend to perform greatly. The level of share for those pieces is very high.
Web Slideshows
You are attending a great seminar but you forgot your laptop and don’t have anything to write with (yes people still write!). You try to remember everything but you realise that you forgot that great statistic about B2B online activities. You get home a little sad when suddenly you get an e-mail notification from the event management telling you that all the presentations are available online on Slide Share! But why are slideshows that popular. People making PowerPoint presentation more often than not are speakers, and normally speaker are people who knows lots about a particular topic and present them in conferences and public event. 22% of the respondent had consumed web slideshows in the 6 month previous to the study.
Podcast and audio files.
Podcast are digital audio files generally presented in the form of a series dedicated on a particular theme. For very similar reasons to web slideshows, podcast are very popular in B2B context. In order to be able to present something you have to somewhat master it. Therefore by listening to Podcast people expect a certain level of quality. By providing podcasts you position your business as an expert in your field. Which obviously is something you want. However, make sure that you master what you are presenting. You don’t want to present erroneous information and hurt your brand image. 24% of the respondent said they had consulted Podcast.
eBooks
Even if the percentages of respondents who said they had consumed eBook is equal to Podcast (24%), they have two majors advantages.
-They are fairly cheap to produce and;
-They easily allow lead capturing.
By fairly cheap I mean that you can create a nice eBook using a couple of articles that are on the same theme. Also the formatting is pretty simple and allows you to brand you document easily.
EBook can easily be used to capture leads. Being an offer with a greater value, people are willing to give you certain information’s in exchange of your document. The more value your e-book brings, the more information you will be able to extra in return.
Social content
B2B are using various social media in their search for information. In fact, 27% of the respondent said they used information from social media ranging from Facebook all the way to LinkedIn. Social media are a great place to share your content however make sure to adapt your content to the media you are using. A LinkedIn group does not have the same interest has a Google+ group for example. Context is key.
Newsletter
Once you collected e-mail address through your newsletter and other lead capturing method, you can nurture those prospect lead by sending them relevant information. A sum up of your latest blog post is a great way to keep prospect active and to generate traffic to your content. According to their study, MarketingCharts.com stated that 29% or their studied sample had used newsletters.
Blog article
If you are not yet blogging, you have work to catch up. By posting blog article not only are you generating more traffic to your site but also by publishing quality content to your site you are setting yourself apart. You are answering your personas problem; you are the one providing the answers and we trust the one that solves our problem. Also, by having blog posts about various topics, you are increasing your odds of being discovered by potential lead that are making searches on search engines. Finally, your blog posts gives you content that is easily shareable in your community and newsletter. Again, 29% of the studied sample had used blog post online.
Webinars
Webinars are a great way to promote your expertise at low cost. Organising a conference normally requires lots of efforts. You have to find a good location, rent a conference room, get the material ready etc.… Webinars gives you the same level of interaction with your audience without the hassle of organizing the physical event. You can even reach a larger audience by being available to anyone with an Internet connection. Make sure to make your presentation material available on Slide Share for example so that they can follow along!
Competitive vendor worksheet
Any material or template that can make other people life easier is appreciated. On top of that, they are easy to place online and also gives you an opportunity to capture lead in exchange to your material just like eBooks. Again, according to the study by Marketingcharts.com 30% of the respondents are consuming them. Do not miss that opportunity.
Conclusion
We can easily notice that many of the type of content proposed are not mutually exclusive and can be used in synergy. In the part 2 of this series of articles we will cover the 6 most popular type of content for B2B tech buyers. Stay tuned.
Source : Marketing Charts ( http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/online/b2b-tech-buyers-and-content-marketing-which-assets-are-most-influential-and-when-38634/attachment/eccolomedia-b2b-tech-buyers-most-commonly-consumed-content-types-dec2013/ )
