Once considered a radical and disruptive idea, content marketing has moved into the mainstream in a relatively short time. Content marketing trends have continued to change in response to customer expectations, new technologies and an overall shift in focus from delivering advertising messages to nurturing relationships. Videos are receiving more priority, including live stream videos. From webinars to product demonstrations, B2B marketers are making videos accessible through company YouTube channels, on their websites, in their social media posts or through links contained in email campaigns. You could use account-based marketing to deliver the ad only to employees of that office, ensuring that the message is received only by the right people at the right time. B2B marketers will become more adept at measuring ROI to identify what content is contributing to the most valuable 20 percent so that they can amplify success by budgeting the proper amounts. Your customers are acutely aware that they can find a wealth of information online that can help them decide on suppliers as well as individual products. Each touchpoint is both a buying stream and a branding opportunity. Websites should be optimized for mobile to ensure consistency. According to the Content Marketing Institute, B2B companies are devoting an average of 29 percent of their marketing budgets to content marketing.
It is no secret that B2B marketing has changed dramatically since the world moved online, and the changes are still happening at an extremely brisk pace. One area that has been evolving quickly is the field of content marketing. Once considered a radical and disruptive idea, content marketing has moved into the mainstream in a relatively short time. However, what is considered a viable strategy for content marketing is not the same as it was just a few years ago. Content marketing trends have continued to change in response to customer expectations, new technologies and an overall shift in focus from delivering advertising messages to nurturing relationships. Here are the top five trends that have had the greatest influence on B2B content marketing budgets for 2017.
- Videos are receiving more priority, including live stream videos. 96% of B2B organizations use video in some capacity in their marketing campaigns of which 73% report positive results to their ROI. Companies need to have an online presence that offers 24/7 accessibility, and most people prefer watching a video to reading a wall of text. 2017 will definitely see a surge in the video marketing and this is right time to tap it. From webinars to product demonstrations, B2B marketers are making videos accessible through company YouTube channels, on their websites, in their social media posts or through links contained in email campaigns.
- Content marketing will increasingly be combined with account-based marketing. Account-based content marketing can be used to acquire new customers or nurture existing customers.
- Account-based marketing allows you to target the “collective mind” that makes decisions within the organization. For example, you may know the name and email of a company’s purchasing agent, so you can deliver content to this individual. However, there are likely other people who have the final decision over suppliers and vendors. Since every business has at least one dedicated IP address, you can use this information to identify the collective and deliver your content to the right people.
- Account-based marketing involves new technology. It has some similarities to the types of marketing automation that rely on cookies, but account-based marketing relies on IP addresses.
- It allows you to purchase a single…
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