B2B online marketing trends come and go, and it seems like every year there’s a new trend that’s “guaranteed” to be effective to B2B lead generation campaigns and usability testing and research. But for the average B2B internet marketing agency, the top priorities of a B2B marketing campaign seem to remain fairly constant.
According to “B2B Technology Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America,” about 93% of all B2B online marketing companies use content-based approaches for campaigns. (Surprisingly, only 34% believe that these approaches are effective — but that’s another story for another time.)
For anyone familiar with the B2B industry already, the notion of B2B marketing and content marketing being so close-knit may be surprising itself; traditionally, content-based approaches are more successful in the B2C marketing sphere.
But the survey also found that the average B2B internet marketing agency, using content marketing strategies, has one of three main priorities for developing content-based B2B approaches in the future. And all three of these concerns are actually very closely linked to traditional B2B marketing strategies, despite being rooted in content:
- Creating high-quality content. This has always been a priority for B2C marketing firms, but B2B marketers haven’t given much attention to this detail in the past. Granted, the definition of “high quality” may vary from a B2B campaign and B2C campaign — it probably puts more emphasis on data rather than engaging storytelling, for example — but it’s still important.
- Understanding the target audience. Anyone in an experienced B2B internet marketing agency will know that this one goes without saying. Rather than searching for new consumers in new demographics, the best B2B marketing approach will target a pre-determined audience and will create content just for them.
- Turn website visits into sales. Lead generation is notoriously tricky for B2B marketing campaigns, and a lot of the problem stems from getting good leads rather than just a high number of leads. To accomplish this, the business must first understand the target audience; afterward, “good” leads will be easier to pick out.
