B2B content marketing is how you attract potential leads to your site through smart and engaging content. Useful content helps build your brand as a valuable resource in the eyes of other businesses – and teaches them something new along the way.

But making good content isn’t that simple. Slice is all about making engaging content for our clients, so we thought we’d share these 5 tips on how to engage your audience and keep their attention.

Tip #1: Create a blueprint for success.

Before you start writing, pick up a camera, or send your designers off to make infographics, you need to create a solid content strategy. You should figure out:

  • Your audience. Are you targeting individual small business owners or managers in specific departments? Are you talking to the tech-savvy or the people who have trouble opening their email? This can help determine the tone of your content, as well as where you post it online.

  • The reason why you’re different. What’s your angle or value proposition? What makes you special? And why should someone pick you over the other guy?

  • Your KPIs. Your key performance indicators can be anything from page views to full conversions. Make sure you define several KPIs so you’re not hung up on one single metric.

  • Where your content will live. We’ll talk more about this in a bit, but you need to start thinking about your content channels. Are we talking YouTube, Instagram, your own site, or multiple channels?

  • What your competitors are doing. It’s never a bad idea to scope out the competition. Also, consider if you can do exactly what your competitors are doing – but better.

Bonus Tip #1

Your strategy is allowed to change over time. Maybe you find some niche to focus on or you find that different success metrics are more useful than others. Make a plan and try to stick to it, but don’t box yourself in.

Tip #2: Show why you’re useful – immediately.

The golden truth of all marketing is that people don’t want to engage with content that doesn’t benefit them in some way.

Your Instagram carousel of the recent office party is fun and helps to humanize your brand. But no one is going out their way to look at it – and no one is going to buy your product or service because of it.

Now, no one is necessarily going to buy your product because you wrote the best ever blog post either. But they’re more likely to find your brand in the first place and go on to engage with your site than they would from the office party photos.

So, remember: your potential clients are busy people. They’re probably not here to read your blogs or watch your videos just for fun. Your story and the way you tell it needs to focus on the core value of what you’re offering.

Bonus Tip #2

Your ending call-to-action is more important than ever when it comes to B2B. If someone wants to get in touch after engaging with your content, they shouldn’t need to hunt for your contact information. Make it easy for people.

Tip #3: Appeal to humans, not just corporations.

Remember all that work you did figuring out your audience? You probably profiled people, not faceless companies.

B2B content marketing is generally more technical and detail-driven than B2C marketing. But while your goal is to convince other businesses of your value proposition, you have to remember that there are still people on the other end engaging with your content.

So, how should you adjust your strategy to appeal to people? Here are a few ways:

  • Start with good technique. If you make a video with thought-provoking and valuable information but film it in a dimly lit room with muffled audio, nobody is going to sit through it. Remember: presentation matters.

  • Respect their time. It’s okay to do long-form content pieces when it’s appropriate. But you should always try to say what you need to say in as few words as possible.

  • Keep it simple. One idea per content piece. Don’t ramble, don’t go off-topic, and don’t try to cram too much information into one place. Focused content is more engaging.

Bonus Tip #3

Tell a story. It’s in our nature as humans to love storytelling – and it’s scientifically proven that the messages in stories are 22 times more memorable than just straight facts. We’ve talked a lot about storytelling marketing before, so don’t neglect it.

Tip #4: Embrace multimedia.

If content is king, then media channels are his royal palaces. Where your content lives and breathes is just as important as what it’s saying. A key of B2B content marketing is to reach across platforms and media types.

Here are a few ideas of what it looks like to embrace multimedia:

  • Send email newsletters with the latest trends in your industry

  • Write long-form tutorials on your blog about a niche process in your field

  • Film interviews with industry experts about their creative approaches and post them on YouTube

  • Make infographic case studies showing the measurable impact of your product or service in beautifully designed graphs and charts

  • Post short thinkpieces on LinkedIn

Exploring new avenues allows you to produce content uniquely suited to each format and reach new people. You don’t need to do everything – but change things up when you can.

Bonus Tip #4

Try to strike a balance between selling your brand and providing information. It’s okay to be a little more salesy in B2B settings, but understand there are different times and places to promote your services versus teach something new.

Tip #5: Get help from the pros.

A strong content marketing campaign is a full-time endeavor. It takes a lot to research, plan, film, write, design, edit, and upload good content.

An effective B2B content marketing strategy can’t come to life if you only have 15 minutes here and there to work on it – especially if you want to film videos, which take skill and time. That’s why you need a professional company to make it happen for you.

You can make content on your own. But a professional production company is how you make good content – the kind that keeps people engaged.

Bonus Tip #5

We at Slice are in the business of helping businesses. We’ll help you with video production, web design, and photography for your campaigns. We know our stuff – and we think this blog proves it.

If you’re interested in getting started or just want to learn more, contact us. What would this blog post be if not a useful and value-laden bit of B2B content marketing itself?