Prospective customers were once the responsibility of sales representatives. Now, the majority of engagement work is done by your company’s content.
Take-outs
B2B companies can target the right audience with ideal customer profiles and buyer personas.
B2B content marketing strategies are more efficient when sales and marketing align.
Companies should have multiple content types that can be delivered on various channels to achieve the best results.
A detailed execution plan should be included in every B2B content marketing strategy.
B2B content marketing best practices include value-first content and shareability. Strong CTAs are also recommended.
Create your ideal customer profile
B2B companies face the unique challenge of selling to individuals and companies. They need different frameworks to define each target audience. The first is the ideal Customer Profile (ICP), which describes your ideal customer and the company that would most benefit from your solutions.
The ideal customer profile considers company size, industry, budget, and location factors. These profiles help B2B companies better understand their customers’ needs and pain points and create targeted strategies to address these.
ICPs can also assist companies in moving away from the “everyone’s a prospect” mindset. This means they can pursue every lead and cast the broadest net possible. They can instead focus on finding qualified leads that match their profile. This leads to increased efficiency, better conversion rates, and higher sales and revenue.
Define your buyer personas
After completing your ICP, it’s time to move on and create buyer personas. While every marketer knows “persona,” few marketers approach it correctly. Personas should not be about arbitrary individual traits but what the people are trying to accomplish in their roles.
Buyer personas are essential for B2B companies as they target decision-makers within organizations that fall under your ICP.
This is a visual that illustrates the relationship between ICP and buyer personas.
You’ll have multiple buyer personas under each ICP. Each persona needs tailored messaging to match the motivations of those in that role. B2B purchases are significant for the people making them. They require a substantial financial investment and significantly impact an entire organization.
You can make your buyer feel at ease by crafting content relevant to their unique needs and motivations. This will increase the likelihood of them making a purchase.
Know your buyer journey
Next are the sales process and buyer journey, two components of your B2B content strategy. The buyer journey is your buyer’s journey to becoming a customer. The sales process describes how they are guided through this journey.
Your sales process should be dictated by the buyer’s journey, not vice versa. Your prospective customers’ actions and behavior cannot be controlled. Instead, you must understand your prospects and tailor your sales process to match them.