How to Create Winning B2B Content Experiences in 6 Steps

Content experience has become a crucial element of an organization’s B2B marketing strategy. We collated a six-step framework to help you create winning B2B content experiences.

Content marketing holds a prominent place in a B2B marketing strategy, but developing a solid B2B content marketing strategy is not enough. To really wow your audience, you also need to consider the experience your content enables.

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In this article, we have carefully put together a six-step framework to build and deliver winning B2B content experiences. Let’s jump in!

Step 1: Research Your Audience and Competition

If you haven’t already created a content marketing strategy, it’s the right time to get started. The first step in creating a B2B content marketing strategy is to research your audience and competition.

Develop multiple buyer personas that represent different levels of your target audience. Research their demographics — geographic characteristics, job titles, education, interests, company size, aspirations, type of content they consume and any other traits that would strengthen the buyer persona. Understanding your buyers and their purchase journey will help you deliver better content experiences.

Simultaneously, research your competition as well. Identify the keywords and topics they target, and the content formats and distribution channels they use. Knowing these three elements will help you plan the remaining part of your content marketing strategy.

Also Read: How to Format Content Marketing For the B2B Conversion Funnel

Step 2: Develop a Content Repertoire

Many B2B organizations get caught up in the trap of producing only blog posts or text-based content. Knowing your buyers’ consumption preferences will help you determine what types of content you should create. A key factor to deliver a positive content experience is to build a repertoire of content that consists of different content formats. Here are a few examples of content you can develop:

1. Blog posts
2.  Reports
3. Case studies
4. eBooks
5. Videos
6. Infographics
7.  Interviews
8. Podcasts
9.  Slideshows
10. Webinars
11. Checklists
12. Whitepapers
     

Also, do not forget to tap into the power of interactive content.

Step 3: Map Content to the Buyer’s Journey

Different content formats serve different purposes. A content format is a means to an end, not the end itself. What we mean by that is, do not create content in isolation. Whatever piece of content you want to produce, make sure it can be mapped to a stage of the marketing funnel.

For example, if you publish information that helps your prospective users solve their most daunting problems, it can be categorized as a top-of-the-funnel content, because the user is not actively looking for a solution. Similarly, you can share information related to the mid- and bottom-of-the-funnel content.

Also Read: 4 Ways Understanding Your Content & Your Audience Can Help You Achieve Conversions

Step 4: Do Not Ignore the Power of the Halo Effect

The Halo effect is a cognitive bias that forms an immediate overall impression of a person or an entity based on just one trait. That’s why first impressions matter. The environment you create around your brand is significant to deliver a seamless content experience.

When visitors land on your website, they create a perception of your brand. There are three aspects of design that form an overall impression of your site:

1. Interface Design: How the user interacts with the website
2. Aesthetic Design: How the website looks, i.e., the design and interface of the website
3. Information Design: How information is organized on the site
    

Enabling your website to ace in all these three areas will leave a favorable impression in the minds of your visitors. If your website lacks in any of these areas, it might lead them to stray from your website.

Step 5: Make Content Management a Priority

One of the challenges faced by marketers is to make their content easily discoverable. With content produced at an unprecedented rate, it is going to be difficult to be discovered if appropriate measures are not implemented now. One way to make it easy is to segregate the content by topics rather than by date or content format.

The problem with the latter is that a prospect can’t find the content depending on the problem they’re facing or the stage of the journey they’re in. When you organize content by topics or categories, you break down these silos and make it easy for your users to find relevant content.

Also Read: Content Meets Technology: Marketing Predictions for 2019

Step 6: Optimize Your Website for Engagement

Marketers are relying heavily on personalization to engage their customers. Customization and other engagement strategies enhance the content experience of your brand. Here are three simple techniques to engage your audience when they’re on your website:

1. Encourage your visitors to leave comments
2. Guide them along the buyer’s journey by recommending other relevant content and adding call-to-action buttons
3. Add social sharing and ‘Recommend to a friend’ icons on your website so that they can share it with their network

Conclusion

Every piece of content that you create enables an experience whether good or bad. Knowing what to do with that content and how to make it discoverable by your target audience is critical. Follow these six steps to ensure all your content experiences are successful.

What techniques are you going to implement to create fantastic content experiences? Tell us on Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook; we’re always listening!