The global B2B ecommerce market is valued at $12 trillion, and that number is expected to grow 17% in 2021. And today, more than 90% of B2B marketers use content marketing to attract, educate and convert leads.
That’s why content marketing continues to be one of the most popular and cost-effective marketing strategies for companies developing in the B2B e-commerce segment. Not only does content increase brand awareness, but it also educates and persuades potential customers to take action. The good news is that it’s not too late to get started. Here’s a short list of steps you can take.
1. Invest in video content marketing
About 87% of marketers use video as a marketing tool. People prefer to watch videos rather than read text. Video is a growing trend, and content marketers shouldn’t ignore it.
Video content marketing involves creating and distributing videos to drive profitable action. Each video should have a story to tell. So start by identifying the needs of your target audience and choosing your story characters. Make sure your video resonates with your brand values.
Your video story should be created with one of three goals in mind – awareness, consideration and decision-making. In addition to characters, include key elements such as conflict, resolution, search, pain points and triumph in your video.
Videos can help your content marketing in a variety of ways, such as:
- Product reviews.
- Event videos.
- Promotional videos.
- Explanatory videos.
- Testimonials.
- Tutorials.
2. Optimizing for question keywords
Question keywords are a great way to optimize content because they educate potential users and present you as a trusted brand in the eyes of customers. Because answers are displayed as answer boxes, people appreciate companies that Google returns as snippets.
You can find relevant keyword questions using tools like SEMrush, Ubersuggest and Answer The Public. Here are some ways that B2B companies can optimize their sites for question keywords:
- Create FAQ pages that answer the most frequently asked questions from customers.
- Follow a question-and-answer scheme when creating content.
- Use a scheme of relevant questions to prepare content.
- Improve the readability of your content. Aim for a Flesh-Kincaid score above 70.
- Offer unique, informative and comprehensive content.
- Add relevant product markup to display relevant product information directly in search results.
3. Leverage the power of link assets.
PR and content marketing are two sides of the same coin. When your PR and content marketing work in sync, they help improve your site’s overall organic visibility, resulting in increased traffic and conversions.
For example, a content marketing team can build link assets and reach out to journalists and bloggers with a specific resource. The key is to do something timely and relevant in the moment to what’s happening in the media. Here are some examples of link assets:
- Case studies.
- Infographics and long-form content.
- Fresh research and statistics.
4. Focus on remarketing.
Remarketing is a content strategy aimed at attracting potential customers who have previously visited your site. Retargeting helps:
- Generate more repeat visitors.
- Improve your branding.
- Convert leads at every step of the buyer’s journey.
- Increase the flow of potential customers.
Users who have viewed your content previously have a higher chance of conversion. Consequently, this is the best tactic for maximizing the reach of your content.
Depending on the user’s behavior, a fresh piece of content is sent to influence the purchase decision. It can be in the form of an email, a PPC ad or a sponsored social media post. Both text and video content can be used for remarketing.
5. Collaborate with influencers.
A recommendation from an influencer is a kind of word-of-mouth marketing that increases users’ trust in your business. The key here is to identify niche influencers who have a strong influence on your target audience.
There are several types of content techniques you can use for influencer marketing, such as preparing guest posts to be published on an influencer’s blog. You can also work with an influencer to create content and publish it on your business blog.
You can partner with both micro and macro influencers by finding them on platforms like Traackr or Upfluence.
About 94% of successful content marketers always measure the effectiveness of their content. Anything that isn’t measured can’t be optimized. So be sure to measure the ROI of your content promotion efforts.
Here are some of the key metrics for tracking your content marketing investment:
- Traffic.
- Engagement.
- Conversions.
- Bounce rate.
- Time on page.
- Social engagement metrics.
- Time spent on the site.
Effective content marketing builds user trust in your business. People look forward to doing business with a trustworthy company. B2B content marketing requires a more planned approach than B2C content marketing because the B2B audience has a longer buying cycle.
Finally, be sure to list your goals, identify audience needs, create quality content, and measure the effectiveness of your content at each level of the customer journey. Use the strategies above to take B2B e-commerce content marketing to the next level.
