There's quite a bit of back and forth (maybe too much?) about the differences between marketing directly to consumers (B2C) and marketing to a business (B2B), and while there are plenty of surface-level differences, they're only skin deep. At the core, content marketing is about making a real connection with a real person, and whether that person is an individual consumer or a decision-maker for a business only adjusts their motivations incrementally.
If you're looking to launch content marketing campaigns, especially at the global level, you'll need to keep a few things in mind to keep those people engaged and active enough to get them all the way through the buy cycle. Here are the top five.
#1 - Find the balance
Whether you're creating marketing aimed at several geographies, more than one phase of the funnel, or several roles within your audience, you want to find the balance between generalities and the specifics. In other words, you need to make sure your marketing touches on the high-level reasons why YOU are the organization to work with while still covering the specifics of why your audience cares and should engage.
#2 - Keep your brand consistent
Familiarity goes a long way in marketing. Keep your brand standards consistent to create that sense of connection your audience is looking for. By designing your brand with your entire audience in mind, you'll be able to allow the flexibility for local or vertical-specific needs without losing sight of what makes your brand authentic and memorable.
#3 - Meet your audience where they are
You -- and your marketing team -- might be chronically online, always on the road, or a regimented worker with set hours in front of a desktop. But you have to remember that how you work, think, and interact with marketing isn't always a great judge of how your audience behaves. Remember to rely on data, not feelings, when it comes to the right channels for engaging.
#4 - Don't lose the narrative
All of your marketing should be part of a cohesive story that keeps the needs and preferences of your audience in mind. Every time someone interacts with your website, social media, paid media, event presence, or any other aspect of your marketing, they should be stepping into a clear story that helps them understand what's come before and what should come next. Make sure you're creating thoughtful marketing that keeps your brand narrative in mind.
#5 - Quality over quantity
Marketing organizations are increasingly being pressured to produce more, faster ... and if you've ever received a poorly personalized, boring marketing outreach, we don't need to explain why that's a problem. Give your marketing teams the space to create really quality content, and then focus on strategies for extension and reuse to keep the marketing engines going without wearing out your team.
Don't want to manage it alone? We're here to help. Comment below and we'll get in touch to chat through smarter ways to manage your brand and content marketing strategies to keep your B2B campaigns delivering.
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