Creating content for sleek companies that have six-figure marketing budgets and life-changing stories is like scoring a front-row seat at a sold-out Taylor Swift concert. I’m all in!
But if your business makes elevator parts or manages payroll processing, it might feel like trying to sell sand in the desert. Making content exciting and engaging is hard for many B2B businesses. However, with the right approach, you can capture attention and your audience.
Follow this eight-point checklist to create crave-worthy content:
1. Give current and prospective customers what they want.
Companies often create content based on what they think their audiences should know rather than what customers and prospects want. This approach results in content that doesn’t engage and gets ignored. Instead, focus on content that answers their questions, helps them solve their business problems and provides real value. In short, become their go-to resource for solutions.
For example, HubSpot started as a marketing automation platform. The company later transformed itself into a full content marketing hub. HubSpot focuses on creating high-quality, educational content instead of pushing sales. If you’re a marketer, you’ve likely come across the company’s detailed blog posts, free resources and tools. This approach has earned HubSpot a strong reputation as a trusted source for marketing insights and strategies.
Find out what topics and types of content appeals to your target audience. First, review the analytics for your existing content to see which topics and formats are performing well. Look for patterns in what your audience engages with most. Next, ask your sales, support and customer success teams what questions and problems they hear most often. Finally, talk with your customers and prospects to understand their needs and interests. This feedback will help you create content that they value and engage with.
2. When creating content, focus on people.
People stories transform the mundane aspects of a B2B business into compelling content. Highlight the employees who make the business thrive. These stories resonate because they humanize brands. Moreover, customers and prospects connect with these stories on an emotional level. Here are some ideas for creating content that celebrates employees:
- Highlight why and how they joined your industry
- Illustrate their career growth and development
- Showcase their problem-solving skills and ground-breaking work
- Share their tips for what it takes to be successful at your company
- Capture behind-the-scenes moments of their daily work
- Celebrate their accomplishments
- Recognize their personal sacrifices
- Focus on the causes they’re passionate about
- Feature anecdotes about their community involvement
- Share their interests outside work
Salesforce excels at telling engaging stories. Instead of typical B2B videos where employees simply praise their companies, Salesforce highlights its employees’ unique talents, personal journeys and passions. This approach makes the company’s content memorable and compelling, offering a great example of how to stand out. Check out this employee video. It uses storytelling to connect on an emotional level.
3. Vary your content.
Diverse content caters to different audience preferences. By offering a mix of videos, short and long articles, blog posts, case studies, white papers, reports and other content, you’ll reach the broadest possible audience.
Certainly, if you’re not creating and sharing original videos, you’re missing out on a powerful marketing tool. Videos have high engagement rates, often beating other content types for views and shares.
Bosch Global’s YouTube channel shows how B2B brands can use multimedia to tell stories effectively. The channel includes:
- Product demos
- Behind-the-scenes looks
- Customer success stories
- Employee stories
- Thought leader interviews
Bosch Global showcases its brands, innovations and people with personality and humor. By mixing informative content with entertainment, the company captures curiosity and keeps viewers engaged.
4. Make your customers the heroes.
Customer case studies offer powerful storytelling opportunities. When you create content that highlights how your products or services help customers, you position yourself as a problem-solver. Make your customers the heroes of these stories to inspire and inform future clients.
To clarify, share your customers’ challenges and how they overcame them. Highlight the obstacles they faced and the solutions they used. Then, explain the meaningful results your customers achieved with your products or services.
Mailchimp’s case studies highlight customers’ accomplishments, thanks to the platform. The stories are personal and feature real people in action. As a result, they create an emotional connection while showing the platform’s benefits.
However, B2B case studies often read like promotional product brochures. Businesses focus on themselves and how “we solved X, Y and Z” with our “world-class solutions.” In short, they’re salesy. Don’t lose prospective customers by churning out self-serving content like that.
5. Interview industry experts.
Interview industry experts to give fresh perspectives on trends and topics your audience cares about. Experts can simplify complex ideas, offer actionable strategies and boost your credibility. Educational content drives engagement by encouraging sharing and discussions, which helps you expand your reach and strengthen your brand.
Deloitte Insights is chock-full of valuable content that includes articles, case studies, podcasts and videos that feature industry experts and thought leaders. The content helps organizations navigate complex business challenges. Deloitte aims to inform and inspire by covering emerging trends, best practices and data-driven advice. It’s one of the top resources for understanding market trends.
6. Use high-quality visuals to elevate content and boost shareability.
Show-stopping images, infographics, charts and videos can transform content from ordinary to extraordinary by:
- Highlighting key points
- Telling stories
- Breaking up text
- Simplifying complex ideas and data
Furthermore, high-quality visuals are perfect for sharing on social media, helping you expand your reach and audience. Engaging with customers and prospects through social media marketing allows you to build a network of engaged followers and brand advocates.
So which B2B business is a standout? Cisco is one example. The company uses top-notch videos, images and graphics across its website and social channels to spark interest and fuel engagement. Cisco’s content is designed to educate, inspire and drive meaningful interactions.
7. Present content in a conversational tone.
Avoid overly formal language and provide content as if you’re having a conversation with your audience. Steer clear of jargon, business-speak and buzzwords. Using plain English will ensure your message resonates with a diverse audience.
When creating content, IBM and McKinsey & Co. use an informal approach to make technical information relatable. The companies explain topics such as AI, machine learning, economic trends and climate change in lay terms.
8. Use compelling headlines.
Compelling headlines are essential for capturing your audience’s attention. Strong headlines pique interest and communicate the value of the content that follows. By making your headlines intriguing and relevant, you’ll increase the likelihood that customers and prospects will click through to learn more. Thus, you’ll enhance engagement and achieve your content goals.
Smart Blogger, a writing and blogging site, uses headlines that are catchy and relevant for its target audience. Here are some examples:
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Ignite interest in your B2B content
Elevating your B2B content doesn’t have to be hard. By using these strategies, you can create content that informs, engages and leaves your audience wanting more. When your content resonates, your brand will become a trusted resource in your industry.
