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#ContentWritingChat Recap: B2B Marketing Techniques for the Content Marketer with Anh Nguyen

by | Oct 6, 2017 | ContentWritingChat

#ContentWritingChat Recap: B2B Marketing Techniques for the Content Marketer with Anh Nguyen

In this week’s #ContentWritingChat, we talked all about B2B marketing techniques. If you’re running a B2B business or working for one, you’ll certainly find value in the tips that were shared during Tuesday’s chat. In this post, we’re recapping some of the great advice for you to sink your teeth into!

#ContentWritingChat Recap: B2B Marketing Techniques for the Content Marketer with Anh Nguyen

Our guest host this week was Anh Nguyen. She’s a B2B marketer and a social media influencer. She also runs a Twitter chat of her own (#MobileChat), so it was great having her in the guest hosting seat. She had some amazing tips to share with all of us, so let’s check it out!

Q1: What’s the difference between B2B and B2C marketing?

To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share the difference between B2B marketing and B2C marketing. If you aren’t sure what either of these mean, you’ll want to pay close attention to the answers that were shared. Here’s what you need to know:

As Anh said, B2B is business to business. In this case, a business would market and sell their products and services to other businesses. A B2C is business to consumer, which directs their offerings towards consumers/individuals.

Sarah put it simply for everyone to understand! B2B = business to business. B2C = business to consumer.

As Julia pointed out, B2B and B2C brands are talking to different markets. Their personas, copy, and CTAs will all look different.

When you are a B2B brand, your audience is other businesses.

As Jade pointed out, you’re going to need a different plan whether you’re in the B2B space or the B2C space.

Q2: What are some starting points for a B2B marketing plan?

If you’re getting started with B2B marketing, where should you begin when it comes to creating a plan? If you’re not sure, check out these tips to lead you down the right path:

To get started, Anh says you’ll need to determine the goals for your B2B marketing plan. You’ll want to set goals that are able to be tracked and measured so you can see how you’re progressing. From there, you’ll also need to determine who you want to reach and which channels you’ll be utilizing.

Anh says that there isn’t one-size-fits-all plan. Each business is different and their audience will be unique. In order to effectively reach that audience, you need to know and understand them. This will help yo provide the content that resonates.

Lexie’s advice is to determine what potential businesses need to get started with creating your plan.

Ken knows that it’s important to know your audience, whether you’re in the B2B or B2C space. You need to determine their needs and figure out what they’re looking for.

Sarah suggests knowing the ideal audience, the buying cycle, and how they’re searching for services.

Jason’s top tip is to know your audience. Determine what pain points and problems of theirs you can solve.

Erika said in-depth buyer personas are a must. She recommends figuring out who you’re selling to and what their challenges are.

Sabjan said etc start by defining your goals. Know what you want to achieve and move forward from there.

Make sure you get to know the business, their goals, and their challenges.

Q3: How is B2B content strategy different from a B2C content strategy?

Now that you know a little more about B2B marketing, how does the content strategy you’d use for a B2B business differ from one you’d use for a B2C? This is what you need to know:

Anh said that B2B marketing should be information or educational. She recommends focusing on features and benefits you can provide. The process often takes a longer time than B2C as well, which is important to keep in mind. This is because a group is typically involved in the decision making in this case.

For B2C, buying is based on the needs and benefits of a product, but the decision is made by individuals for their own use. As Anh said, emotion often plays a larger part in a B2C buying decision.

Julia said the personas, content delivery, and content creation will all differ between B2B and B2C.

As Erika pointed out, a B2B content strategy typically needs to reflect a longer buying cycle because there are fewer impulse buys.

Jason said B2B requires selling to executives or a C-level team. For B2C, you’re selling to an individual where their choice won’t be swayed by others on a team.

Ken feels you’ll need to put more attention on ROI when working in the B2B space. Know how your product will save time and money and communicate those benefits to potential buyers.

As Colin said, you need to know the needs of your customer’s customers.

Q4: What struggles does a B2B business face? How can you combat them?

There’s no denying that any B2B business will face some difficulties, but what are they up against? And how can they stand up to challenges? Check out these responses from the chat:

Anh feels content creation is often a struggle for B2B brands because their content is often viewed as boring. She suggests combating this by thinking of creative ways to share “boring” content. She even feels that humor can work in B2B when done appropriately.

Lexie said it’s a struggle to create content that other businesses want to read. You have to figure out how to grab their attention.

Julia said not to fall into the rut of average content. She feels it’s important to embrace creative content ideas and execution.

Sarah said having to sell up the chain within another business can be a struggle.

B2B requires a strong nurture program and exceptional content according to Erika because sales have an extended timeline.

Unfortunately, creativity often takes a hit when it comes to B2B content. It’s important to remember that you’re still communicating with people.

Many B2B brands are afraid to experiment, but sometimes it’s helpful to step outside the box. You can test out humor, unexpected visuals, and emotive copy according to Shelly.

Lauren said many B2B brands are afraid to take content marketing risks. She says they can combat that fear by experimenting and measuring the ROI it receives.

Not listening to their audience and employees as well as poor training can be disastrous for any business.

Make sure you find the right platforms to reach your audience. You want to be on the platforms they’re actively using to get your content in front of them.

Q5: How can you determine the success of your B2B marketing tactics?

Once you have a B2B marketing strategy in place, you need to measure the results you’re getting from your efforts. But how do you know if it’s a success? Keep these tips in mind:

It all goes back to the marketing plan goals you set in the beginning. Anh said to ask yourself if you reached or exceed those goals and if you hit the KPIs.

Lexie knows it’s important to set goals first!

When you have goals in place, you can easily measure results to see where you’re succeeding and where you could do some work.

As Jim said, your marketing strategy will include metrics that will have been determined ahead of time.

Sarah knows that measuring conversions is a must!

If your content isn’t generating leads or revenue, it’s time to go back to the drawing board according to Jason.

Lex said your content should lead to goal completions, conversions, and revenue. If it’s not, you’ll need to revisit your strategy.

Q6: What are some opportunities you think B2B businesses should be taking advantage of in terms of marketing?

What should B2B businesses be doing when it comes to marketing? Here’s some advice from the chat:

B2B business should take advantage of video as well as live streaming. They’re both great ways to connect with your audience.

Vivek also agrees that live streaming is a great option, as well as influencer marketing and podcasting.

Jim also feels that video content is a must for B2B brands.

You can focus on content marketing, create blog posts, participate in Twitter chats, and join LinkedIn groups.

Beki encourages more brands to start guest posting. It’s a great way to expand your reach.

Don’t forget that engagement is always key. Take the time to talk to your audience.

Q7: Which tools do you rely on as a content marketer in the B2B space?

There are a plethora of tools out there that can help you out with your content marketing efforts. Check out these to make your job a little easier:

One of Anh’s favorite tools is Feedly. It’s great for keeping up with content from your favorite sites and discovering new information.

Erika’s go-to tool is Track Maven.

For Sarah, she relies a lot on Google AdWords, Google Keyword Planner, Google Analytics, and WordPress.

SocialFlow is a favorite tool of Dianna.

Lauren loves Hootsuite, BuzzSumo, Google Analytics, and Content Marketing Institute.

Q8: Which B2B businesses really stand out in your mind? Tag them!

Who stands out in the B2B space? Check out these great examples:

MailChimp and HubSpot are just two of the brands that stand out to Anh.

Julia loves BuzzSumo, Content Marketing Institute, HubSpot, and CoSchedule.

For Carla, she thinks ConvertKit and Hootsuite (to name a few) do a great job.

Ready to join the #ContentWritingChat party? Join us on Twitter by following @ExpWriters and @writingchat. The chat takes place every Tuesday at 10 AM Central Time!

julias free facebook group cta

Tags: B2B marketing | marketing