There is no question that content marketing plays a vital role in this era of marketing. In B2C, content is about engaging people and building brand engagement. In B2B, it is about demonstrating relevance to each person in the buying process.
Here are some key strategic components which will help you put the strategy into practice –
Content must have relevance to a specific target or person
The best content is put together with a clear purpose for a specific target. Much like the form letter is the least effective communication for a sales person, generic content requires the reader to fill the gap on their own. How often are you willing to do that and for what kind of information?
This is why sales people spend the entire time personalizing the customer communication. While fully customized content is not possible, focusing efforts is critical. The best digital marketing agency asks you to keep the two key aspects in mind –
Each piece of content must have a specific audience. This is because how and what you say to an executive is different from what you would say to a practitioner. The use of same products may be different to different people.
The customers respond favourably to content with market and segment knowledge. Studies show that majority of respondents said that they would materials relevant to the business even if they had not done any business with them. Exhibiting that you understand a particular market is a necessary step.
There are multiple roles in the content supply chain
People have realized that there are different types of content and different team members create content across the organization. But the challenge is that not all content is created equally. To make sense to this, it is believed that there are various roles teams need to embrace:
1. Core
These create the most foundational material. While these may be product-centric, they are also tasked with building the materials needed for other two groups. Where needed, core creation might include market and segment specifics, especially if these were part of original research.
2. Adaptation
These are responsible for taking core content and applying it across all sales and marketing channels. In B2C environments, these include agencies which build multichannel campaigns based on creative brief driven by core content. In B2B environment, this is could be a social media specialist driving technology conversations based on topics and positions laid out within the core deliverables.
3. Editor
They have a complex and broad role within the supply chain. They ensure that the core content meets the needs of those who plan to adapt their content. According to the best digital marketing agency, they act as both a quality check and content broker. They are a critical audience for analytics and content tracking helping them provide the objective feedback to others.
However, these roles can end by being played by a large number of people in diverse roles. The best digital marketing agencies say that teams set appropriate expectations across a given product line, business segment to maximize the creation and spread of the best content while minimizing both rework and friction.
