“Content is king”. Ok, maybe is the cheesiest and most obvious way to start this blog post, but the reality is that today content is really one of the main marketing strategies that B2B companies use.
Even though nowadays audiences face a massive quantity of different types of content and they become even customers thanks to this kind of strategy, the life of a content marketer is not easy. Finding new strategies in order to delight your Buyer Personas, being in a constant disagreement with senior figures who still choose outbound marketing strategies is pretty tough at the end of the day. But let’s start with some stats that confirm that content marketing is still a winning strategy today.
- Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads. (Demandmetric)
- 48% of smaller organizations have a documented content strategy, compared to only 41% of larger organizations. (CMI)
- 58% of marketers said, “original written content” is the most important type of content, outdoing visuals and videos. (Social Media Examiner)
- 69% of marketers say content is superior to direct mail and PR. (Custom Content Council)
This article is meant to highlight the main type of content your Buyer Personas might want to see, the benefits of a good content strategy and some tips and tricks on how to build one. Ready? Let’s jump in!
3 Types of content your Buyer Personas are looking for
If you’ve missed it, we’ve already discussed what a Buyer Persona is, but here is a little recap: a Buyer Persona is a fictional character that endorses all the psycho-demographic features of your ideal customer. He/She has a name, a background, hobbies, needs, and doubts you have to solve through the development of content he/she might be looking for.
Obviously, the most suitable type of content for you as a marketing manager depends on your Buyer Persona, your KPIs and the industry you’re trying to conquer. But let’s have a look at some types of content.
- Blog Posts. Blogging is a crucial part of a content strategy, mainly because it helps the ranking of your website and a consequential ranking of your brand. But be careful, it doesn’t mean that you have to blog on a daily basis without anything relevant to say. Blog around topic clusters in order to avoid being redundant and aim to become a relevant source of useful content.
- E-books and whitepapers. These ones are most likely to be “premium” content. The ones that you make download to your audience, in order to collect qualified leads. This kind of content might be a case study of your company or even a checklist with some useful tips for your readers.
- Visual content. Here it opens a huge spectrum of possibilities. Nowadays, the attention span of each one of us is extremely low because of the huge amount of information we are exposed to on a daily basis. Keep in mind that on YouTube most users skip a video after 10 seconds. Infographics and videos are the new rise of content marketing and investing in some good animations and graphics skills might make the difference for your marketing success.
- Conversational content. Social media networks more than ever have become customer support platforms. Having a community manager that monitors and listens to your online audience, providing relevant information and solving doubts is fundamental to the success of your brand. Millennials and Gen Z are most likely to choose a product or a service that has a proven track of social media presence.
Content marketing FOR your Buyer Personas: here are some benefits
We won’t talk about pros such as SEO optimization and a better customer experience as we’ve already discussed these topics in other blog posts (check them out by the way). We’ll focus on other aspects such as building relationships and supporting other departments of your company thanks to content marketing. Let’s have a look.
Attract qualified leads
After building your Buyer Persona and knowing what exactly your potential customers are looking for, developing a relevant content strategy around these elements will be easier than ever. People online want to see and consume what they want to and you have the incredible opportunity to develop engaging content now more than ever. After all, conversion rates are nearly 6x higher for content marketing adopters than non-adopters (2.9% vs 0.5%) (Aberdeen).
Still not quite sure how to develop your Buyer Persona? Download our free template and start today!
Longer customer retention
Exactly. Even after closing a deal