According to HubSpot, 54% of B2B marketers believe that producing engaging B2B content is their biggest challenge. Quite obviously, due to the extreme wealth of knowledge that the internet offers, the competition is fierce: inbound marketers need to step-up their creative game when it comes to their marketing endeavors.
“B2B Content marketing means creating and sharing valuable 'free' content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.”
“The goal is for your content marketing strategy to provide as much value to as much of your target audience as possible.”
Today, consumers look for ‘engaging’ content - essentially, content that’s personalised, encouraging interaction across various digital channels. Through social media marketing and SEO alone, content will naturally generate inbound links.
In fact, majority of SEO efforts should be focused on content marketing to drive profitable customer action.
Have a look at the content marketing trends going forward:
Automation: Web development and technology makes it possible to automate marketing strategies through powerful online services and mobile applications. Automation tools make it possible to distribute content across multiple platforms - however, duplicating content can impact your website's ability to generate revenue from ads.
Complex niches: It’s real - users are less likely to click on links when their questions can be answered by Google itself. A 2016 prediction shows that traffic to websites with lukewarm content will diminish, focusing on niche topics that’ll add value.
And on that note, an identified target market will help curate complex topics that are relevant to your audience. Rather than filling your blog with generic content, create a niche site that’ll gain value through informational content.
Multimedia mediums: Visual content has a massive impact on your company's status. Combining interactive elements (surveys, polls or games) with your content will significantly increase user engagement.
Quality over quantity: The internet is saturated with content that’s often duplicated which makes you question: who are the credible content providers? In order to differentiate yourself, simply apply the concept: quality over quantity (minimise quantity of content your website needs to achieve maximum results).
Industry influences: Influence marketing, similar to word-of-mouth marketing, is the act in which companies enlist key individuals as brand ambassadors to increase market awareness. This takes place through their personal network of followers, which impacts consumers’ decision making process.
Algorithms and artificial intelligence: In 2016, you’ll read at least one news article generated by a computer algorithm rather than a person. This strategy is already impacted by artificial intelligence. Today, the most common use of these computer-generated articles are found in data-driven topics.
Luckily, due to web-based marketing services, it’s now possible to reach more customers without splurging. Keep up with content marketing trends to give you the knowledge you need to stay one-step-ahead of your competitors.
