Why your current content strategy isn’t working

Like many B2B businesses, you are probably creating and distributing content on a regular basis, but without the right strategy, you’re unlikely to realise the results you are hoping for. In this blog, we look at the key reasons your content isn’t performing well – from failing to understand your prospects, to using formats that won’t keep your prospects engaged.

Understand your audience

The starting point for any successful content plan is buyer personas. Without fully understanding your audience and what makes them tick, how could you possibly expect to write something they care about? With this in mind, start researching the industries, job functions, and specific roles you intend to market your product/service to. Don’t simply rely on top-level demographic information, really get in there when it comes to building your understanding. If you fail to find industry reports, suitable LinkedIn profiles, or anecdotal information to build your persona documents, then carry out or commission a survey of your audience. The ultimate goal is to understand what keeps your prospects awake at night. Find out exactly what their pain points are – and ideally what order they come in.

The right message to the right people

Once you’ve completed your persona research, you’ll know exactly what topics and subject matters are likely to generate engagement and a response from your prospects. Whatever you do, don’t believe that one piece of content will be suitable for all audiences. In order to create content that truly resonates, it needs to offer solutions to the pain points of specific job roles or job functions you are talking to. As part of your content planning process, you want to split down your audience into groups and then create specific content for these groups. If you find your content is not generating engagement, perhaps it’s time to segment your audience even more – and provide pin-point accuracy in your messaging.

Don’t forget formats

Typically, content that appears at the top of the sales funnel would be high impact but low on word count. Middle of the funnel content would delve deeper into the topic and require longer content types. Bottom of the funnel content pieces can be short but need to include lots of technical details. But what these formats don’t take into account is the actual audience and their personality types.

Personality profiles can be split into a minimum of four groups – and guess what? Yup, they all engage with different types of content. For example, ‘dominant’ personality types prefer information that’s short, sharp and punchy – ideally in bullet point formats. So, infographics are best for them. Conscientious personalities like lots of information, preferably with technical focus. So, for these people, consider long-form ebooks and tech spec sheets. The point here is that knowing a prospect’s pain points isn’t enough. You also need to know how they like to digest information – so add this to your persona research, too.

Create content that stops prospects in their tracks

At Really B2B, we can help you unlock the true value of content marketing. We will not only create topical, unique and engaging content that appeals to the unique challenges of your audience, we also use content calendar curation to make sure your whole communications package flows throughout the sales-cycle – from halo awareness right through to conversion. Our insight-driven content pieces make great conversation starters, empowering your sales team with a sales-enablement tool that’s designed to open doors.

To chat about content that will engage your audiences and generate serious revenue, speak to us today on 0845 519 8517 or email info@reallyb2b.com.