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Top 3 Tactics used by Best-in-Class Digital Content Marketers

Posted by Brittany Green on Nov 17, 2015 11:00:00 AM

Did you know that in a single day there are more than 2 million blog posts published? (Source: Content Marketing Institute, 2015). Add to that the countless number of social media updates, e-newsletters, and materials such as white papers.

The Internet is bursting at the seams with content, and that content is just multiplying daily.  Is your content breaking through the clutter? Content marketing is an area that looks a lot easier than it actually is. As a matter of fact, “only 33% of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, down from 38% last year” (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015).

This week, we discuss how best in class performers are succeeding at content marketing through their strategy, budgeting, and ability to produce.

Marketer creating content

In case you missed it, earlier or want to learn more about what content market is, we discussed in our post, “The Current State of Content Marketing”.

1. They are Strategic

The most successful marketers understand that in order to be good at content marketing, you must have a sound strategy in place. Before you jump the gun and adapt new marketing methods and technologies, it’s important to sit down and understand the significance of strategy in online marketing and the sales process (Source: Digital Doughnut, 2014). Content marketing methods and technologies are not magic, and won’t automatically result in success. Digital content management combined with a strong strategy will help you achieve the results you want to see in your marketing campaigns.

Not surprisingly, only 32% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015).

Setting out goals helps you to:

  • better streamline marketing materials;
  • ensure that customer-facing materials are being produced in a timely manner; and
  • benchmark your progress.

So what exactly does a content marketing strategy entail? It can best be described as a documented plan allows you to strategize the creation of sales support materials (Source: Content Bacon, 2015). Every strategy should begin by defining the customers or audience that you are choosing to target. Establishing who needs to purchase your product or service will help you to direct and tailor messages to that class of individuals (Source: The Frank Agency, 2015). 

Best-in-class performers understand that an important aspect of creating a strategic plan also involves organizing and scheduling future meetings. According to reports, “54% say team meetings are valuable in helping your organization be more effective at content marketing” (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015).

Meetings allow you to revisit your strategy, gauge where you currently stand, and give you the opportunity to re-evaluate and change any aspects of the strategy that might not be effective. 44% of B2B marketers meet daily or weekly- either in person or virtually- to discuss the progress of their content marketing program.  It's worth noting that organizations who meet more often also see greater effectiveness in their content strategies, as 61% of the most effective marketers meet daily or weekly” (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015).

[RELATED CONTENT] Content marketing is one of many new trends impacting sales and marketing in 2015. Download the free whitepaper below to see the stats and figures behind the trends, and learn about the essential best practices in any industry.

Chapter 1 Sales and Marketing Trends for 2016

Studies show that “44% of B2B marketers say that their organization is clear on what content marketing success or effectiveness looks like, while 55% are unclear” (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015). Since content marketing involves the distribution of marketing materials across a range of channels, success is largely contingent upon cohesive planning (Source: The Frank Agency, 2015). If you don’t have a clear communications plan across all channels, your efforts will appear unorganized, unaligned, and will ultimately risk being unsuccessful.

Having problems distributing your content across multiple channels? May I suggest reading our post, “5 Ways Sales Enablement Can Create a Seamless Omni-Channel Strategy”.

2. They Have Bigger Content Marketing Budgets

Best-in-class performers understand that investing money in content marketing will pay off in the long run. Findings show that “B2B marketers allocate 28% of their total marketing budget, on average, to content marketing- the same percentage as last year. The most effective allocate 42%, and the most sophisticated/ mature allocate 46%” (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015). Today, more and more companies are choosing to increase marketing budgets as they are proving to be an effective method of building traffic, leads, and business (Source: Vertical Measures, 2015).

digital content management depends on effective distribution across channels(Image Source: Business 2 Community, 2013)

It's important to note however, that throwing money into content marketing isn’t just an easy fix. Marketers have to understand that the quality of customer-facing materials also plays a large role. Moreover, content marketing entails the creation of a culture around content in your company (Source: Content Bacon, 2015). If the marketing materials that you’re producing add no value to the buyer’s decision journey, chances are very slim that buyers will go to you as a source of information.

Not convinced that you need to expand your content marketing budget? May I suggest reading our post, “Digital Engagements are Changing the Sales Process and Buyer Behaviour”.

3. They Constantly Produce Content

Studies report that “the top challenges marketers are facing are producing engaging content (58%) and publishing content consistently (53%)” (Source: Content Bacon, 2015). Best-in-class performers understand that quality and consistency are the biggest keys to success in content marketing. The challenge with digital content on the internet is that it often expires faster than the time it took to actually create it. Consistently pushing out content can seem pointless - especially when you know that the content you’re producing has a short shelf life;  however, keeping up with consistent content production keeps you relevant online and definitely pays off in the long run.

Did you know the channels you use influence your digital content? Find out how in our post, “The Influence of Channels on Digital Content Management & Communications”.

Be mindful that while you may be quick to produce content, the quality of that content can greatly impact your efforts. According to studies, B2B marketers are “heavily focused on creating engaging content (72%), citing it as the top priority for their internal content creators over the next year “(Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015). With a vast array of digital content floating around on the Internet, creating content that is engaging is extremely important as it keeps your audience interested in what you have to say. For example, if you’re using blogging as a form of digital content based communications, the material you present should have a keen focus on quality and valuable insight (Source: Trew Marketing, 2015).

Are you having problems creating content that is engaging? Using content management software can help you create customer engagement by giving you the tools to better predict the needs of your customers. The ability to understand your customer means you  spend less time re-evaluating your strategy. Through sales enablement, marketing can effectively deliver tailored campaigns that address each stage in your customer’s decision journey.

The buyer’s decision journey has a bigger influence on your digital content than you may realize. Find out how it affects it in our post, “The New Decision Journey and Appropriate Digital Content Strategies”.

The most popular B2B content marketing channels are social media (93%), case studies (82%), and blogs (81%) (Source: Content Marketing Institute/ Marketing Profs, 2015). Obviously, the more channels you push your content through, the broader the audience that you will have.  Whether your strategy includes using a number of different channels, or just one, the easiest way to maintain digital content management is through a content calendar. Creating a content calendar is always a good idea, as it will allow you to organize and schedule your content to ensure that you are always publishing on time (Source: Content Bacon, 2015). Check back on Thursday for more discussion on content calendars...

Consistently creating content can benefit your organization in a number of different ways. For example, many do not realize that having a regularly updated blog can significantly improve your SEO ranking (Source: Trew Marketing, 2015). When you think about it, each post you create acts as a new page on your website. If you were to write two new blogs per week, you would effectively add two completely new pages to your website (Source: Trew Marketing, 2015). Creating links and using key terms is an easy way to organically enhance your SEO.

Content marketing is an effective approach when properly strategized. With the endless amounts of clutter being produced on the web daily, it is hard to create an effective content marketing campaign. Learning from best-in-class performers can help you incorporate an effective strategy, budget better, and create more consistent messages.

[RELATED CONTENT] Interested in learning more about effective use of content metrics? May I suggest you take a look at our white paper below, “Using Data to Impact Marketing Campaigns”.

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Topics: digital content, content management, inbound marketing

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