As a director of content marketing for a digital agency, I’ve
noticed a pattern as we bring on new clients: Their brands aren’t
as strong or as differentiated as they should be. In addition, most
of them do traditional product-centric versus customer-centric
communication. Their customers have changed, but they haven’t.
As I noticed this pattern, I wondered: What would leading
content marketing professionals recommend to help B2B firms
strengthen the value of their brands? I asked 14 content marketers
representing companies large and small, plus several agencies.
Here’s what they had to say:
Deliver value — as defined by your customers
Practitioners must have a deep understanding of what matters
most to the target audience — their problems, challenges, and
aspirations. Admittedly, this sounds a lot like content marketing
101 — creating customer personas, understanding the buyer’s journey
and how their
information needs to evolve along it, and proactively answering
their most important questions. Yet, according to CMI’s latest
research, many B2B marketers still aren’t doing these
basics.
As Jillian Hillard, director of brand marketing, small
appliances, at Electrolux says: “For brands, it’s no longer a
question of how you can use content to enhance the consumer’s
perception of the brand, it’s a necessity. Content is the gateway
into a brand’s soul, and when done right, it provides insights into
the customer’s wants. It’s a brand’s job to understand the
emotional needs of their customers and provide solutions that
enhance their lives — not just sell them
products.”
Matt Heinz, president of Heinz Marketing, explains: “Your brand
needs to stand for something beyond your product or service. So
what is that for your brand? How can you reinforce it with
expertise, opinions and more through various forms of content?”
Type A Communications’ Carla Johnson says the best way to
enhance your customers’ perception is to deliver value with your
content marketing. “Think of what your customer wants to
accomplish. What jobs do they want to get done? And then use
content marketing to help them do so.”
Arnie Kuenn, CEO of Vertical Measures, recommends creating a
mental picture of how you want others to perceive the brand. He
says, “How will you
set your brand apart in the industry? How will your content be
more useful and tell a better story than anyone else in your
space?”
Give value to get value
Before you can expect to get value from your customers, you
first must
give value. In other words, to have a roaring fireplace, you
add wood and kindling first. It’s up to you to supply the “spark”
that starts the fire, figuratively speaking:
“First and foremost, you have to BE valuable. Create content
that gets your prospects to think, ‘I can’t believe that was free.’
Secondly, you need the credibility that comes from people outside
of your marketing department, most specifically, your customers,
says Feldman Creative’s Barry Feldman. “Your brand will be
perceived as valuable when customers share their experiences. Word
of mouth marketing has and always will be the big dinger.”
CMI’s Chief Content Adviser Robert Rose says, “If we’re truly
focused on delivering value through content — value that is
separate and distinct from our product or service — then the
experience becomes ‘enhanced.’ This enhancement is what will be
additive to the customer’s perception of what that brand
provides.”
Velocity Partners’ Doug Kessler says it’s a simple formula.
“Before you can expect to get value from your prospects (in terms
of time, attention, consideration, etc.), you must first
give…
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