Successful content marketers are spending more time and money in creating and implementing a strategy to produce more content and then use social media platforms to promote it.
A report from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, titled 2014 B2B Content Marketing Research: Strategy is Key to Effectiveness highlights five trends that show what the most effective B2B content marketers are doing.
- Oversee content strategy
According to the report, about 73% of marketers have someone to oversee the organization’s content marketing strategy. However, it was found that 86% of the most effective marketers actually had a dedicated resource to oversee the content strategy or have outsourced their requirements to professional copywriting services companies.
The key takeaway is that your company should have atleast one person who ‘owns’ the content marketing initiative. Even if you don’t have the resources to hire a dedicated resource, you can have any of your senior marketing executives or managers to take the ownership of content production. Also, if you don’t have the resources to produce content inhouse, you can hire the services of professional content writing services providers.
- Document content strategy
About 66% of the most effective marketers surveyed said that they had a documented strategy. Spend some time to figure out and list what you wish to achieve from your content marketing strategy. Once you have the goals in place, plan how you will go about achieving them. Also, make sure to take on board all members of the team who would directly or indirectly be involved in the successful implementation of your content marketing initiative.
- Use diverse tactics
The report shows that the most effective marketers used an average of 15 tactics as compared to 10 used by the least effective marketers. In the age of information explosion, content marketers need to create content that captures attention and engages the audience.
You can cast a wide net and invest in different tactics like images, apps, audio, text etc.; however, if budget is a constraint, you can incorporate more cost-effective tactics such as e-newsletters, blogs, social media, articles and then move up the ladder as and when your budget allows.
- Promote content through social media
The report shows that the most effective content marketers use an average of 6 social media platforms to promote and distribute their content. LinkedIn is the top site used by B2B marketers, followed by Facebook. Social sites such as SlideShare, Google+ and Instagram are not far behind in capturing audience attention. It is important to incorporate social media in a content marketing strategy because social drives awareness to your content and generates leads for your business.
- Produce more content
The study shows that B2B marketers are increasing their investment in producing content and about 73% are now producing more content as compared to the previous year. The goal of your content marketing initiative is to attract new customers and retain existing ones. With this goal in mind, your content should be able to answer all product-related questions to drive purchasing decisions.
However, producing quality content on regular basis is easier said than done. If you don’t have inhouse copywriters, you can hire the services of copywriting companies in India to produce content for your content marketing requirements.