I learnt recently that only 35% of B2B marketers have a documented content strategy (Marketing Profs, 2016). This rang alarm bells for me. At Digital Willow we have seen such huge success for our clients using content marketing. Today I want to put forward and share with you some simple steps on planning your content marketing for success.
Complexity, clutter and price can create a high barrier to purchase and confuse our potential customers. As a buyer, it is difficult to know who to choose and there is a growing level of resistance to give out personal details like email addresses or phone numbers.
So how do brands build relationships with potential customers? I have seen the evidence, witnessed the numbers. Content is that door opener.
But hold on a minute, I’m not talking about any type of content. Content should be:
- Valuable
- Educational
- Entertaining
- Helpful
- Consistent
Over time, content builds brand reputation, brand equity and creates a forum for engagement. At Digital Willow, we adopt an 80 / 20 rule which I would recommend for you too. 80% of content falls into the value-adding bucket, leaving 20% promotional or ‘hard sell’. Once you are more advanced at your content marketing, you will want to time the types of content to impact potential customers at the relevant moment of their buyers journey. Start by being useful, helpful or educational. Build up some rapport and only then go in for the sale.