The Easiest Trick in the World for Successful B2B Content Marketing

DynamicWeb

What if we told you that there was one proven easy trick to make your B2B content marketing more successful? What if this trick was so simple, so easy, that it could be done with a single pencil?

Well, it’s true! According to research from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 28% more companies reported being successful with their B2B content marketing campaigns when they use this one tip. And according to the same research, 70% of B2B marketers are producing more content this year than last, which makes this one tip even more essential. But what is it?

The easiest trick in the whole world to make your B2B content marketing more successful is to document your content strategy. Write it down. Yes, it seems simple, but it’s astonishing how many companies don’t do it. As a result of not documenting their content strategy, these companies create content haphazardly without goals or coherent tactics.

The research from the CMI shows that the majority of B2B companies (60%) that document their content strategy are successful with their efforts. In comparison, just less than a third (32%) are successful when they only discuss their plans verbally. Writing down your B2B content marketing plan helps you set goals and strategize which pieces of content are worthwhile for achieving each individual objective.

Some content is best to promote via ads and some via social media. Other content helps you generate leads when you gate it behind submission forms. You want to document all of your proposed content and see what goals each piece of content helps to achieve. You may even find that you no longer need to create that whitepaper on bowling shoes because you’ve changed your ultimate business objectives.

When you write down your content strategy, you may find that your objectives are too vague or too diverse. If your goal with a single piece of content is to raise sales, increase the average order value of your online shop, generate new leads, grow your presence on social media, and save the rainforest, then you are reaching too far. Instead, a documented strategy puts real goals to paper (or computer file or Post-It note) and allows you to plan accordingly and reasonably.

And with so much content being produced — 70% of B2B companies report that they are creating more B2B content marketing in 2015 — documenting your strategy also helps you keep track of everything! This doesn’t just refer to the content itself either. Writing down your content strategy empowers you to have an overview of which team members are in charge of what, which lets you assign specific people to specific content efforts.

Documenting your B2B content marketing strategy is the easiest trick in the world, which is why it’s so confounding that more companies don’t do it.