Relevant content assumes critical role in digital age
It is critical to find new ways for attracting and more importantly, engaging and interacting with potential customers
Business-to-business
marketing is undergoing a tectonic shift and companies will need to undergo
major changes in order to succeed in these times when technology, social media
and interactive multimedia change the world we live in. Check out any websites
of companies in the B2B space and you will be astonished to see how they are
being managed more like a B2C where technology, marketing and journalistic
writing take prominence. Even though technical content is still there, and is a
must, there definitely is much more than ever before, video demos, customer
talks and even special effects.
No need to scratch your head to find out why this change has come about. Today’s B2B marketers know that it is critical to find fresh new ways to attract, and more importantly, engage and interact with potential customers. Social media is important but then most B2B folks are slow to wake up to it in India. There have been several heated discussions in numerous forums in India regarding the next wave of social media that some folks term as social media 2 or 3. It is also imperative for B2B marketers to chart out the uncertain waters. The so-called experts of social media talk of a brand new world where marketers are more like publishers and they are focussing on creating more content in the websites and media. We have seen this happening in B2C already. Examples of leading brands in the consumer products industry (Oreo, Dove etc) are often quoted in the Indian media. Even movies have been doing some amount of social media and viral marketing. B2B marketers are now getting clarity on using content for building brands and engaging their customers.
In a world where content will be king, B2B marketers need to ensure that the wrong content does not pull them down. What are the key things B2B marketers should or should not do? Expert opinions vary but there seems to be some agreement on the best practices in today’s scenario for using content as a marketing tool. They talk about cross learning from media companies and mimicking their styles. Time is of critical importance for all of us and more so for our customers. We must, therefore, ensure that we give good value for the time our audience is investing in. What good media companies do is knowing the pulse of the audience, bringing in the right content and getting the reader attention for a longer duration, at least longer than their nearest rivals. When commissioning content for their websites and media, marketers should consider the same factors as media companies. Consider who the audience will be, what will be their needs and pain factors, and what kind of stories they will be engaged in.
Content teams should be provided with people, money and time. It is crucial to support the content team well in order to help them do their job: source and develop good content. In order to manage a winning content marketing programme, they need good people, money and time as resources. According to a new study, barely 10 per cent of marketing budgets are now getting allocated to content marketing programmes. This is much below international levels.
Customers today are not very comfortable with businesses as a whole. Just as they have lost faith in most politicians they also view big businesses as corrupt and without a soul. Blame it on the numerous scams involving business-to-business companies and politicians or on waylaid promises sales people make. Therefore, content is a great way to bring in transparency into your business and build trust. Take good care in sourcing and distributing the appropriate content. Make sure to give credit to the original source of the content rather than writing vaguely some hearsay. If you or someone has done a sponsored research on your products or services, or the industry itself, that too should be clearly mentioned to avoid any conflict of interest or hiding of facts.
A leading columnist and blogger in the B2B space recently conducted a research amongst B2B community and it was found that globally over 70 per cent of B2B marketers today use content marketing than a few years ago. We do not have any relevant data on Indian industry but it will surely be much lower. B2B marketers feel that traditional media strategy will not work in the new media and so they are trying to focus on content to create awareness, drive leads and interact and engage prospects. As a previous study showed, more than 27 per cent of marketing funds are allotted to content marketing in the US markets. In Indian industry, content marketing is absolutely a new thing for most B2B marketers. In an informal study among B2B customers, it was found that they did not have much understanding of content marketing and lacked the resources and talent to drive the same. The other serious challenge for companies here is taking the content to the right target audience. As always, measurement of the efficiency of content marketing will come as the next big challenge for these companies.
Another big challenge for B2B marketers will be in making a strategic plan for their content marketing initiative. The fundamental questions on who they are trying to target and how they should position the content for them will be key. From there it will flow to segmentation of the content by product or service, industry vertical, buying behavior, buying stage or strategic accounts. Market segments and product or service category will be prominent in segmentation.
When content strategy becomes clear, the business can then taken on chartering the direction for uncertain future.
No need to scratch your head to find out why this change has come about. Today’s B2B marketers know that it is critical to find fresh new ways to attract, and more importantly, engage and interact with potential customers. Social media is important but then most B2B folks are slow to wake up to it in India. There have been several heated discussions in numerous forums in India regarding the next wave of social media that some folks term as social media 2 or 3. It is also imperative for B2B marketers to chart out the uncertain waters. The so-called experts of social media talk of a brand new world where marketers are more like publishers and they are focussing on creating more content in the websites and media. We have seen this happening in B2C already. Examples of leading brands in the consumer products industry (Oreo, Dove etc) are often quoted in the Indian media. Even movies have been doing some amount of social media and viral marketing. B2B marketers are now getting clarity on using content for building brands and engaging their customers.
In a world where content will be king, B2B marketers need to ensure that the wrong content does not pull them down. What are the key things B2B marketers should or should not do? Expert opinions vary but there seems to be some agreement on the best practices in today’s scenario for using content as a marketing tool. They talk about cross learning from media companies and mimicking their styles. Time is of critical importance for all of us and more so for our customers. We must, therefore, ensure that we give good value for the time our audience is investing in. What good media companies do is knowing the pulse of the audience, bringing in the right content and getting the reader attention for a longer duration, at least longer than their nearest rivals. When commissioning content for their websites and media, marketers should consider the same factors as media companies. Consider who the audience will be, what will be their needs and pain factors, and what kind of stories they will be engaged in.
Content teams should be provided with people, money and time. It is crucial to support the content team well in order to help them do their job: source and develop good content. In order to manage a winning content marketing programme, they need good people, money and time as resources. According to a new study, barely 10 per cent of marketing budgets are now getting allocated to content marketing programmes. This is much below international levels.
Customers today are not very comfortable with businesses as a whole. Just as they have lost faith in most politicians they also view big businesses as corrupt and without a soul. Blame it on the numerous scams involving business-to-business companies and politicians or on waylaid promises sales people make. Therefore, content is a great way to bring in transparency into your business and build trust. Take good care in sourcing and distributing the appropriate content. Make sure to give credit to the original source of the content rather than writing vaguely some hearsay. If you or someone has done a sponsored research on your products or services, or the industry itself, that too should be clearly mentioned to avoid any conflict of interest or hiding of facts.
A leading columnist and blogger in the B2B space recently conducted a research amongst B2B community and it was found that globally over 70 per cent of B2B marketers today use content marketing than a few years ago. We do not have any relevant data on Indian industry but it will surely be much lower. B2B marketers feel that traditional media strategy will not work in the new media and so they are trying to focus on content to create awareness, drive leads and interact and engage prospects. As a previous study showed, more than 27 per cent of marketing funds are allotted to content marketing in the US markets. In Indian industry, content marketing is absolutely a new thing for most B2B marketers. In an informal study among B2B customers, it was found that they did not have much understanding of content marketing and lacked the resources and talent to drive the same. The other serious challenge for companies here is taking the content to the right target audience. As always, measurement of the efficiency of content marketing will come as the next big challenge for these companies.
Another big challenge for B2B marketers will be in making a strategic plan for their content marketing initiative. The fundamental questions on who they are trying to target and how they should position the content for them will be key. From there it will flow to segmentation of the content by product or service, industry vertical, buying behavior, buying stage or strategic accounts. Market segments and product or service category will be prominent in segmentation.
When content strategy becomes clear, the business can then taken on chartering the direction for uncertain future.
Source | Financial Chronicle | 30 May 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
Best
Paper Award | Received the Best Paper Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on
Future Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23,
2016. The title of the paper is “Removing
Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP Treaty”
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