The content creation process is challenging. That’s especially true if you don’t have a content strategy and aren’t plotting assets on an editorial calendar. We learn from Content Marketing Institute’s research that 73% of organizations have a documented content marketing strategy.
Content strategies help you identify the content you want to create. Before understanding the concepts you should consider, you need a firm grip on what the content creation process is and its importance.
First, start the content creation process starts with ideation – those ideas that appeal the most to your target audience. Then, move on to creating visual and written content in various formats for your audience to use to solve their problems.
Why Content Creation is Important for B2B Marketing
Your target audience needs materials from you to aid in their decision-making. That’s where content comes into play. Your current customers, prospective customers, and readers use it to learn:
- more about your industry
- how your offerings solve their problems
- why they can trust your business
Here are some examples of why content creation is vital for B2B marketing:
- Personalization: McKinsey & Company’s research states that 71% of customers expect brands to create personalized experiences. 76% express frustration when that doesn’t happen
- Positioning: Creating unique and valuable content that positions your brand as an industry or subject matter expert
- Trust: Build trust with your audience. Do this by consistently creating high-quality and helpful content. That encourages audiences to recommend your brand to colleagues, families, and friends
- Value: Your audience receives value when your content educates, entertains, and inspires them
Consider These Five Content Creation Concepts
You’ve developed a content strategy and used that information to build an editorial calendar. Those are valuable content marketing assets. But as stand-alone solutions, they’re not enough. How do you ensure the content you’re creating is a valuable part of your overall strategy? Do you know what kinds of content will deliver ROI?
Developing high-quality content takes attention to detail, consistency, and creativity. Here are some content creation concepts to consider to ensure your delivery is on-point.
1: Become a Good Storyteller
If you create content that isn’t 100% accurate, full of opinions or lacks relevancy, are you really giving your target audience the authenticity they deserve? The answer might seem obvious to some, but becoming a good storyteller can be challenging. Especially when you have data points and other key metrics you’d like to share.
It isn’t impossible, though. You can deliver high-quality content that isn’t full of industry jargon, cliches, or buzzwords. Similarly, instead of offering “robotic” content, present information in an easy-to-understand manner.
The goal here isn’t to show your audience how intelligent you are. Instead, it’s about engaging them by giving them compelling, imaginative, and relevant content when and where they need it the most.
2: Go Beyond the Written Word
Written content is great, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you create. Instead of creating only text-based information, the content creation process should include other compelling elements. Here are some examples:
- Infographics: Use these images to share data points and reinforce key metrics
- Press releases: Promote materials in press releases months after their original publication date
- Repurposing: For example, turn a case study or webinar into blog posts
- Social media posts: Craft attention-grabbing posts and targeted messaging
- Subscriber lists: Build an email subscriber list to use to share information about new content you have available
- User-generated content: Augment the content you’re already creating using user-generated content
3: Identify Key Personas
During the content creation process, it can be intimidating to think about the size of your audience. For example, you might have a large audience, consider your content a one-on-one conversation that reaches a specific person.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a blog post, designing an infographic, or setting up a webinar. Start by thinking about who (the persona) you want to reach. In other words, by identifying and recognizing the different customers you’re selling to, it’s easier to prevent yourself from narrowing your audience down too much.
Above all, the goal here is to craft content that connects with your target audience during the right time throughout their buying journey. Otherwise, the information you provide might not resonate.
4: Understand Content’s Role in the Sales Funnel
B2B marketers should identify and leverage multimedia opportunities during every stage of the marketing funnel. That includes understanding content’s role in the buyer’s journey. There are some similarities between each funnel – the marketing funnel includes the attract, engage, and delight phase.
Let’s look at the sales funnel and content creation examples at each phase:
- Awareness (Top of Funnel Content): Blogs, infographics, social media posts, videos, and whitepapers
- Consideration (Middle of Funnel Content): Case studies, downloadable resources, ebooks, webinars, and comparison guides or videos
- Decision (Bottom of Funnel Content): Consultations, free trials, live demos, use cases, reports, and promotional codes
5: Embrace the Power of Content Creation Services
Over 80% of the most successful organizations use content creation, calendaring, collaboration, and workflow tools. It’s no wonder content creation software and services are a top priority. Whether you’re running a small business or a large corporation, it’s easy to believe you can handle content creation without help.
First, embrace the power of content creation services, which allows you to put other business matters first. Then, a content team handles the content creation process.
The benefits of using content creation services include:
- High-quality content delivered by vetted freelancers
- Access to a diverse group of writers with different areas of expertise, skills, and talents
- Freeing up hours of valuable time
- Access to content strategists, marketing specialists, project managers, editors, and SEO specialists
- Content creation that generates the right response and helps set your business apart from the competition
This Doesn’t Have to be Overwhelming
The content creation process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Especially when you have the right resources and tools at your fingertips. Contact our sales team today to learn more about our freelance network and how we can help you create the highest quality content.
FAQ
What are the main concepts of content marketing?
The main concepts of content marketing include:
- Identifying key personas
- Segmenting content for personalized and relevant engagement
- Creating a content strategy
- Developing an editorial calendar
- Ensuring the content creation process involves creating interesting, meaningful, and valuable content
- Sharing and promoting the content you create to increase brand awareness
Which type of content is most used in the B2B setting?
There isn’t one single form of content that B2B marketers use the most often. However, these rank high in effectiveness:
- ebooks
- whitepapers
- case studies
- social media posts
How do you write content for B2B marketing?
Writing content for B2B marketing requires a specific skill set. That includes:
- having an inquisitive mind
- the drive to dig deeper
- the ability to adapt
- being detail-oriented
What are the five essential elements of a content marketing strategy?
- Goals: Why are you starting the content creation process?
- Messaging: What are your brand’s primary and secondary messages?
- Personas: Who are you writing this content for, and where are they in the buyer’s journey?
- Production: First, identify what content types are you producing. Second, determine what content creation services you’ll need. Last, identify the schedule and workflows you’ll use.
- Tools: First, identify what content creation software. Then, determine which tools you’ll need during the content creation process.
