Data and tech can upgrade your strategy in the new year.
Your B2B content marketing strategy for the upcoming year deserves a good, hard look. Things are changing quickly, not just in the B2B world, but more generally with what’s working in marketing. Content marketing has come to the forefront during the recent pandemic, and getting the most out of it in the coming year will require some introspection and strategy. Here are some concrete steps your team can follow to tune up your marketing engine.
Gather insights
To hit a target, we must first know what that target is. Content marketing is a broad concept, and we need to tailor it to the objectives at hand. How do we decide what those objectives are?
Go to the source. Ask your customers or clients, and analyze your data from previous campaigns in light of your findings. You’re looking for ways to stay on message about how your offerings benefit the customer. It’s also essential to generate new ideas for content types and formats that will engage the human beings in those businesses to interact and consume your content.
Audit existing content
Once you’ve gathered your information and examined your data in light of it, consider how your existing content has performed. Generate ideas for leveraging your best-performing content. A B2B content marketing strategy that serves you well in 2022 will include a careful blend of proven and new creative content. It’s crucial that your approach engages your market in new ways, stays on message, and creates further inroads to communicate that value to your audience.
Get creative with new marketing channels
Thanks to the time the world has spent in various states of lockdown, you can easily find new channels to adapt proven content. For example, the video topic that performed so well last year in that format could be adapted to suit a research report, white paper, case study, or virtual event. Repurposing high-performing content is often a low-risk way to leverage it. The pandemic has augmented the importance of channels like virtual events, often over traditional media such as video and case studies.
Utilize AI and machine learning
Artificial intelligence, or more specifically, machine learning, has come a long way in just a short while. While general intelligence is still a far-off probability, the technology has advanced beyond identifying which pictures contain a stop sign. AI-based marketing tools allow teams to componentize content, create it once, and utilize it across various channels, often with sophisticated predictive analysis and creative capabilities.
Over 40% of marketers say AI and machine learning help improve performance and increase revenue. At the same time, over 77% say they’ve automated less than one-fourth of their marketing tasks, so there’s plenty of room for growth.
Drive engagement
Maintaining the objective is paramount in developing a B2B content marketing strategy. To reach our audience, we must first engage them in ways they both like and trust. Only then can our messaging reach them at the level required to maximize its value.
2022 promises to bring us unprecedented opportunities for growth. Giving your B2B content marketing strategy the attention it deserves now should pay dividends in the new year.
Tempesta Media can help you change with the times. A great place to start is with our e-book “100 Mistakes Companies Make When Starting, Optimizing, and Scaling Content Marketing Programs.” It uses data from a variety of businesses to show you how to succeed where they didn’t. If you would like to learn more about using data and technology to grow your business, contact us.
