B2B Business Marketing: The Continued Importance of Content ...

During the past couple of years, content development has surfaced as a major topic in B2B business marketing circles.? Solid content geared to the interests of prospects can jump-start any marketing program and improve conversion rates.? Today, many companies are setting their sights on developing the best content marketing program possible.? But, how do they accomplish that feat?

One way to determine how to create successful content for B2B business marketing is to look at past performance of previous programs.? In 2011, the Content Marketing Institute conducted a study to evaluate performance and identify trends to expect this year.? This article will focus on the study?s conclusion relative to content development programs.

Content Development Still King in B2B Business Marketing

First, we need to define content marketing or content development as it?s interpreted by B2B marketing professionals.? A common definition refers to it as a marketing function in which professionals create and distribute content of interest to a company?s target audiences.? Content marketers use a variety of formats to attract and retain customers.

B2B marketers rank content development and alignment as a must-do strategy, and it?s here to stay. Some interesting findings supporting this continued and increased dedication to content development include the following:

• Nine out of 10 B2B marketing professionals use content development to increase leads and close new business.

• During 2012, 60 percent of respondents said they plan to increase their spending on content marketing.? And, these marketers expect to spend over 25 percent of their marketing budget on content development projects.

• The average B2B marketing program will use eight different content marketing tactics.? The most popular tactics include article posting, social media, blogs, eNewsletters, case studies and in-person events.

• Successful B2B marketers are creating content based on the stage the prospect is in the sales cycle.? Tailoring content is a key strategy for a results-oriented program.

• An increased number of B2B companies are outsourcing content development projects.? This particular study found over 60 percent of companies hire outside consultants to develop content.

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How Do B2B Marketers Know Content Development is Working?

As with any marketing program, marketers need to measure results objectively.? So how do they do that with content development projects?

According to the Content Marketing Institute study, more respondents than the previous year?s findings believe content marketing is effective.? But what about objective data to support performance?

Web traffic was the success metric most respondents used to gauge content marketing success.? Increases in site visits and specific downloads of content can provide a more objective look at the level of interest in any particular form of content.

Another metric being used more is sales lead quality.? As prospects access content developed by B2B marketing professionals, they can be measured to determine how closely matched they are to the company?s lead scoring.? The higher the score of any prospect, the better quality lead the content has generated.

In B2B marketing, this measurement criterion seems to provide greater insight into the success of a content development program.? After all, companies need to attract qualified leads that can be worked through the sales pipeline, not just a high volume of downloads.

The feedback from the Content Marketing Institute?s annual report along with the findings in other studies conclude that content development is here to stay as a must-have component for effective marketing, lead generation and lead nurturing.? It?s an established, accepted practice that generates stronger results.? And, more and more companies will jump on the bandwagon and expand their content marketing into a core strategy for B2B business marketing.

For more information on B2B business marketing services and content development, contact Televerde today or continue to browse our website.

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