Now that all communications are digital, how can you raise your profile above the noise?
We are advocates of B2B content marketing at Eleven, in case you’re new here. We believe providing current and prospective customers with useful information adds value to your brand beyond what can be achieved through product marketing alone.
However, a perfected piece can still fall flat if it doesn’t get the reach it deserves. Think social media is reserved for B2C? Think again.
Start with considered content
Scroll through any of your social media feeds and it won’t be long before a sponsored post pops up. These platforms rely on profiling users, so they’ll probably know more about you than your colleagues, possibly even more than your immediate family (hopefully not).
The point is, you’ll see adverts targeted at your lifestyle perhaps reminding you of a recent website visit or something you should stereotypically show interest in based on the law of averages.
Product adverts litter our feeds. They are reminders of where we’ve been and the kind of things we’ve already seen. They work best when they reach viewers already brand-aware and showing interest, moving them toward making a decision and taking them to where they can make an action.
Content adverts are different, they sit at the very top of the sales funnel to build brand awareness. Generally, the B2C ads you see on your social media feed will be looking to persuade a quick-fire purchase. Whereas, comparably B2B marketing goals are often to secure a much larger investment. As such, your advert should respect that, to build trust with your audience, rather than expect an immediate sale.
To build trust, you need to understand your audience. Because social media advertising allows you to be very targeted with your reach, you have the opportunity to make an impression through considered content that speaks to the individual.
It all comes back to solving a problem or meeting a need. This can be as simple as sharing a few collated facts or key tips that serve your audience. For example, an accountancy firm sharing key financial dates for the diary in an engaging Instagram post. As the Instagram algorithm currently rewards ‘saves’ (over ‘likes’ and comments) this is a quick and easy tactic to gain exposure and generate engagement.
You can add more value with original content though. If the accountancy firm researched saving and investment opportunities, then insights drawn from this research are likely to be of much higher interest to the target audience. Sharing insights rather than explicitly promoting products can prove to be an effective brand awareness strategy to drive traffic to your website, especially when preceding other communications as part of a wider marketing strategy.
To find out more about how content marketing builds trust and expresses thought leadership, read the full blog on our site.
