Content marketing is an important element in an overarching marketing strategy. And according to statistics by the Content Marketing Institute, you aren’t alone in your efforts if you employ it as a tactic; about 90 percent of small businesses and B2B companies do. However, as the Content Marketing Institute also notes, only six percent of B2B marketers rate their organization’s efforts as being “very effective.” Bridging the gap between effort and results means taking a hard look at your content marketing strategy to make sure you’re doing what you can to make it effective.
DO: Have a Strategy
Just like any other business action, your content marketing efforts need a definitive strategy. Even if you aren’t sure what your strategy should be, you should at least have something. As strange as it might seem, even a bad strategy is better than nothing at all. At least it gives you a benchmark from which to measure success and failure. You can also use a bad strategy to build a better one by tweaking the parts that aren’t performing as expected.Document your plan and keep an editorial calendar listing themes, formats, and cadence. The Content Marketing Institute reports documented strategies link to higher reported effectiveness.
DO: Fund Content Marketing
Even the most iron-clad and proven content marketing strategy isn’t going to work as effectively as you’d hope if it isn’t funded well. Just like other efforts within your business, the more money you earmark for content marketing, the better the results you can expect. As the Content Marketing Institute points out, the most effective B2B content marketers spend more than twice as much on content marketing as those that are least effective – 39 percent and 16 percent respectively. Fortunately, more than 50 percent note that they plan to increase spending on their content marketing budget over the next 12 months.
DO: Set Measurable KPIs and Track Performance
Define clear KPIs, such as qualified leads, conversion rate, engagement time, and cost per lead. Track them with analytics and attribution using Google Analytics 4, UTM parameters, and your CRM. Tie content to pipeline stages so you can adjust topics and budgets.
DON’T: Put Content Up Without Thinking it Through
Yes, content marketing involves producing lots of content, but it shouldn’t be just any old content. Your content should be very engaging and targeted to the audience that you are appealing to. It needs to be informative and well written. It needs to leave the reader with valuable knowledge that is in-depth and encourages them to reach out to you for more information.
DON’T: Neglect Distribution and Repurposing
Plan distribution across owned, earned, and paid channels, including search, social, email, and media. Repurpose strong pieces, turn a guide into short videos, infographics, and ads for SEO and paid search. This extends reach across roles without recreating content from scratch.
DON’T: Forget to Develop Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are an effective way to put a human twist to your content marketing. By developing a generic “person” who represents the behaviors, concerns, needs and choices of your ideal customer, your content marketing strategy will be sharper and more focused.
ER Marketing handles all aspects of a successful marketing strategy by crafting one that meets your unique needs. We’d love to show you how we can help you! Contact us today!
