Content marketing – if your business is not doing it, you are losing out on customers. This is a powerful method of giving your business a big boost across multiple platforms. Content marketing for B2B business requires a different playthrough. Probably the best way to learn and understand how to execute B2B content marketing is to learn from others.
Here are 3 examples of the best content marketing and what your brand can pick from them.
1. Adobe’s 99U
In 2011, Adobe acquired Behance, a portfolio platform for designers. From there, Adobe went on to create 99U. On the surface, 99U looks like a blog that offers helpful tips for designers. However, 99U is not just that. Since 2011, 99U has expanded to include interviews, conferences, magazine issues, article, talks and books!
That’s a whole lot of content. The volume, scope and medium variation has turned 99U into a go-to place for many creative professionals.
Even though 99U and Behance are two different platforms, Adobe’s 99U content strategy has a huge impact on growing the Behance community.
What can you learn?
Can you set-up a content platform for your business? If so, then you run a content strategy similar to 99U. Your main website focuses on generating sales, but you have a content platform with all kinds of helpful information.
2. MYOB
Not only does MYOB have a stunning design, its design adds a ton of value to its content. MYOB is a bookkeeping and accounting solution in Australia and New Zealand. MYOB caters to two audience sets: small businesses and established businesses. Even so, MYOB’s content applies to both audiences. How so?
Firstly, MYOB’s site is segregated into two tabs: Small Business and Bigger Business. This segregation easily allows MYOB to put their services and products in context for the two audiences.
Secondly, the resource centre or support section on the site also segregates the content for the two audiences.
What can you learn?
If your business caters to different client groups, you may want to segregate your website as such. This way, you will be able to create better content which helps convert them.
3. General Electric on Social Media
Large corporations must be on social media to not only make a public statement, but to also create the right perception among their business clients and partners.
What can a professional and large conglomerate do on social media? Most large corporate social media profiles have generic content focused upon themselves, which includes updates and latest happenings. Such content is boring for the social media audience which includes B2B clients.
Boring, Boring, Boring!
The only one who cares about the above post is Reliance, Mukesh Ambani and Narendra Modi. For a Twitter page of 77,000 following, the post has a poor response.
What GE did was turn the viewing glass away from themselves and point it to a topic that interests their social media audience. For GE, picking the topic was easy. Across their social media platforms, they have built a story of powering up and pushing the world ahead through mechanical solutions. This was an easy choice since this was GE’s mission.
What can you Learn?
Social media is not about yourself, your products or sales. It is about reaching out to your audience and building a perception with them. When you meet your B2B clients, they already have the right perception formed about you.
The story GE picked to communicate was a part of the brand’s mission. Your brand too needs to find that connection. The story, which interests your audience, needs have a connection with your brand.
Each of these three examples holds insights into how you can leverage content marketing to give your business a boost. It’s only when you try something new with your content marketing that your business can grow.