Free Preview, Part 13 - B2B Startup Marketing - What type of content should you focus on?
The Human Summary:
Create content for where your customers are
High quality makes you look bigger than you are
Content that can be repackaged in as many ways as possible has 10x value
Scripted and researched video is a good place to start
The AI Summary:
To create an effective and efficient content strategy for B2B startups, it's crucial to focus on high-impact content that resonates with your target audience while optimizing resources. Begin by understanding and segmenting your audience, particularly decision-makers like CEOs and CTOs, to tailor content that meets their specific needs. Prioritize content types such as thought leadership articles, videos, case studies, and interactive tools that establish authority and drive ROI. Leverage AI tools for content creation, SEO optimization, and distribution to enhance efficiency. Regularly analyze performance data to refine your strategy, ensuring your efforts are targeted and impactful. Collaboration, outsourcing, and integrating content with broader marketing tactics further enhance your strategy's effectiveness. Ultimately, focus on what works best for your audience and business goals.
Scoping Your Content Strategy for Maximum Effectiveness and Efficiency in B2B Startups
As a founder of a B2B startup, you’re likely aware that content marketing is a vital tool for building brand authority, generating leads, and driving growth. However limited resources means you’re trying to find the sweet spot of “effective and efficient” on a tight budget. The key is to prioritize the types of content that will resonate most with your target audience and ensure that every dollar and hour spent is optimized for maximum impact. Here’s how you can scope your content strategy to achieve these goals, incorporating proven tactics and AI-driven enhancements.
Understanding Your Target Audience and Segmentation
Before diving into content creation, you need to thoroughly understand your target audience. In the B2B space, your audience typically includes decision-makers like CEOs, CTOs, and Domain expertise managers (Compliance, HR - whichever department you’re selling to) who are looking for content that offers deep insights and practical solutions to their challenges. To address their specific needs, consider segmenting your audience based on factors such as industry, company size, or stage in the buyer’s journey. Avoided the dreaded average at all costs - content created for everyone appeals to no one (ahem, Disney and Start Wars of recent years…).
Prioritizing Content Types: Authority, ROI, and SEO
Different content has different perceived levels of authority and return on investment. It’s crucial to prioritize content types that will not only establish your brand as an industry leader but also drive tangible business results. Additionally, considering search engine optimization (SEO) and Share of Model (SOM - how likely your content will appear in ChatGPT, Gemini or other public LLMs) in your content creation process can significantly enhance your content’s discoverability.
With that in mind, below are the four priority content pillars for B2B SaaS companies.
1. Thought Leadership Articles and Whitepapers
Thought leadership content is essential for establishing your startup as a credible authority in your industry. In-depth articles and whitepapers can position your company as a go-to resource for industry insights, and typically form the core talking points of any podcast appearances.
The Numbers:
90% of decision-makers are moderately or very likely to be more receptive to sales or marketing outreach from companies that consistently produce high-quality thought leadership (Source)
73% of B2B decision-makers say thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing an organization's capabilities than marketing materials (Source)
75% of decision-makers and C-suite executives said a piece of thought leadership has led them to research a product or service they were not previously considering (Source)
65% of buyers say thought leadership significantly changed their perception of a company for the better. (Source)
Result:
Thought Leadership 100% works for B2B SaaS.
Efficiency Tip: Focus on creating comprehensive, well-researched pieces that can be repurposed into multiple formats, such as blog posts, infographics, and social media updates. Additionally, optimize these pieces for high-intent keywords relevant to your industry to improve their search engine ranking.
AI Tip: Leverage AI tools like GPT-4 to assist in drafting long-form content by generating outlines, providing data points, or even writing initial drafts. AI can also help with keyword research and SEO optimization, suggesting keywords that align with your target audience's search behavior.
2. Video Content
Video is a powerful medium in B2B marketing, especially for complex topics that benefit from visual explanation, such as product demos or industry trends. And it works, with 87% of B2B marketers using it to connect with their audience and showcase offerings. Why aren’t you doing video if everyone else is?
The Numbers:
Video delivers the highest ROI among content types, with 52% of marketers affirming its effectiveness. (Source)
With a 1200% higher engagement rate than text and images combined it’s no wonder 74% of marketers report it outperforms other content in generating leads. (Source)
59% of senior executives prefer video over text, and 47% of marketers find it the most effective for advancing prospects through the sales funnel. (Source)
Result:
Video 100% works for B2B SaaS.
Efficiency Tip: Start with recorded webinars or expert interviews, which can be edited into shorter clips for different platforms. These videos can also be optimized for SEO by including relevant keywords in the video titles, descriptions, and tags.
AI Tip: Use AI-powered video editing tools like Descript or Adobe Premiere Pro's AI features to quickly transcribe, edit, and enhance video content. AI can also assist in creating video scripts or even generating voiceovers, making the production process faster and more cost-effective.
3. Case Studies
Case studies provide concrete proof of your product or service’s effectiveness, making them highly influential in the B2B decision-making process. While many frameworks like “Problem, Solution, Outcome (PSO)”, “Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA)” and “Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR)” exist, the real value is simply picking one and placing an overwhelming focus on making the customer benefit clear and easy to understand. Case studies are not meant to show off your best work, they exist entirely to convince prospects that you can do the same (or better) for them.
The Numbers:
88% of marketers consider case studies to be the most effective type of B2B content marketing. (Source)
80% of B2B buyers reported using case studies as part of their research process. (Source)
71% of B2B content marketers use case studies in their marketing efforts. (Source)
Result:
Case Studies 100% work for B2B SaaS.
Efficiency Tip: Develop a template for case studies to streamline their creation. Focus on highlighting specific challenges, solutions, and quantifiable results. To enhance discoverability, optimize case studies for relevant long-tail keywords.
AI Tip: AI tools like Jasper or Copy.ai can assist in drafting case studies by summarizing key points, generating content based on provided data, or even suggesting powerful headlines and subheadings to improve engagement.
4. Interactive Content
Interactive content, such as calculators, quizzes, or assessments, can engage your audience by providing personalized insights or value. While these might not fit on the highest steps of the benefit ladder, not everything has to be emotionally meaningful to have an impact. “I pay you X and generate some multiple of X in return for my business? Sounds like we have a deal.”
The Numbers:
87% of B2B marketers agree that interactive content captures readers' attention more effectively than static content. (Source)
Interactive content sees 52.6% higher engagement than static content, with buyers spending an average of 13 minutes on interactive content compared to 8.5 minutes on static content. (Source)
Interactive content generates twice as many conversions as passive content.
93% of marketers find interactive content more effective at educating buyers compared to only 70% for static content. (Source)
Result:
Interactive Content 100% work for B2B SaaS.
Efficiency Tip: Create one or two key interactive tools that align closely with your product’s value proposition. Promote these tools across various channels and optimize them for SEO to maximize reach.
AI Tip: AI-driven platforms like Outgrow or Typeform can help you create sophisticated interactive content quickly. These tools often come with built-in analytics and optimization features, allowing you to refine your content based on user interaction data.
Effective Content Distribution Strategies
Creating great content is only half the battle; you also need a robust distribution strategy to ensure your content reaches the right audience. Relying solely on organic reach is risky, especially in the competitive B2B landscape.
Distribution Tips: Leverage multiple channels, including LinkedIn, industry-specific forums, email newsletters, and partnerships with industry publications, to distribute your content. What channel is right for you? Simple - whatever channel your potential customers are on. Consider using paid promotion strategies, such as LinkedIn Ads, to amplify your content’s visibility, this can be a shortcut to getting eyeballs on what you’re doing even when you’re very small, though I would (and do) argue that it’s should be a part of an effective multi-channel approach anyway.
AI Tip: Use AI-driven tools like HubSpot or Mailchimp to automate and personalize content distribution. These platforms can analyze user behavior to optimize email campaigns, social media posts, and other distribution channels, ensuring your content reaches the most relevant audience segments at the right time.
Leveraging Data for Continuous Improvement
“An efficient content strategy is data-driven. Regularly analyzing performance metrics allows you to refine your approach and focus resources on the content that delivers the best results.” - This is likely what you’ll read if you ask ChatGPT to write a blog like this, and while it’s true to a point, it misses some of the nuance. You need content to plug in all of your channels, and while topical content may become viral and generate short-term interest, getting stuck in the news cycle isn’t a long-term winning strategy (see how modern journalism has to tend towards sensationalism to maintain eyeballs). “Low and slow” content can often generate more interest in the long term.
Key Metrics to Track: Conversion rates, lead generation, time on page, bounce rates, and engagement rates across different content types and platforms. Set benchmarks and use tools like Google Analytics or HubSpot to monitor these KPIs.
AI Tip: AI analytics platforms like Tableau or Google Analytics' AI features can help identify trends and insights more quickly and accurately. These tools can predict which content topics or formats are likely to perform best, allowing you to optimize your strategy proactively.
Collaboration and Outsourcing
Efficiency doesn’t mean doing everything in-house. Collaborating with industry influencers or outsourcing content creation to specialized agencies can bring fresh perspectives and save time. But it doesn’t stop there, sneaky marketers will consider leveraging the “reciprocity principle” / “norm of reciprocity”, which is a fancy way of saying when someone does something nice for us, we naturally feel compelled to return the favor. Using this on your prospects that aren’t yet ready to buy, but who have authority in the market, can deliver value in the future when they are in market. Bonus: third party credibility has a strong potential upside, though vet who you tie your voice or brand to.
Collaboration Tips: When outsourcing, ensure your partners understand your brand voice and goals. Provide detailed briefs and maintain regular communication to ensure the final content aligns with your strategy.
AI Tip: Use AI collaboration tools like Asana or Trello with AI-driven features to manage projects efficiently, track progress, and ensure that outsourced content aligns with your strategy. These tools can also automate routine project management tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work.
Connecting Content to the other tactical areas of marketing
Brand
Brand needs to completely reflect who you are in the market, which is why tone of voice guides exist. And while it may be easy to write off brand guidelines as a box that limits creativity, they’re key in ensuring your relative differentiation in the market is retained. The best artists (musicians, photographers, etc.) can often be identified by style alone. Taking this approach often means differentiation is “baked in”.
Product Marketing
Product Marketing may inform your content strategy in the beginning, but don’t forget how interaction with, and response to, content can help shape your product strategy. Thought leadership that is too safe will likely appeal less intensely to your core audience while you pursue the entire market. An example is how Disney and Lucasfilm have generated apathy amongst core Star Wars fans by pursuing audience expansion. Be bold, see how the market reacts, adjust accordingly.
Digital
Understanding how people interact with your content is a core part of continuous improvement. And with the glory years of “track everything all the time” well and truly here, it’s never been easier to incorporate market feedback into your plans. Keep things simple; while a multi-touch attribution model in Hubspot can give key insight, sometimes it’s as easy as looking at the 15 likes on your latest company LinkedIn post, realizing they’re all from employees, your VCs and your Mother, and deciding “Maybe the ‘welcome to the team posts aren’t going to help us scale.’”
Events
Events are my favourite content generators. Talking about a topic is often easier than writing it down, because many of the knowledge gaps or lack of proof points make themselves known.
That’s what makes preparing for public speeches as a thought leader on a specific topic so great; it forces thought leaders to look either knowledgeable or foolish among their peers and prospects. You can’t go back and edit a live speech the way a blogpost can quietly be amended (or disappear altogether).
These high pressure sessions are invaluable in generating truly strong content.
Partner Marketing
Sharing the workload and budget? Getting a diverse range of views in by design? Opening a new channel to market? Partner marketing can often be the triple-threat of quality, efficiency and authority for your content program. Unfortunately it’s also extremely difficult to arrange and takes countless hours of alignment sessions and other meetings that could have been an email. It’s almost as much of a pain as events, but once again the pain is completely justified.
Sales Prospecting
While loving to hate each other is a well-documented sales/marketing phenomenon, teams that work together are significantly better at making both successful. Your sales force are front and center with customers and have the qualitative insights that can steer your content production to valuable waters. The challenge comes in where the venn diagram overlap of what they want and what you want is relatively small, which is why “sales always fails to bubble up important information to marketing.” Rather than (just) complaining loudly, find out what sales framework they use (MEDDPIC, BANT, etc.) and frame your knowledge gathering around that. This way, you can join the VP Sales in complaining about why notes are not in Salesforce/Hubspot and likely get access to more insights.
Database Marketing
If you immediately think of email newsletters, I don’t blame you for living in 2018. Database marketing has evolved beyond the Mailchimp days to include community marketing (such as forums, Substack, whatsapp groups, company events) and beyond. There is no better way to immediately get the pulse of the market and gain further insight for your content roadmap, just be sure you’re not influenced by an echo chamber.
Public Relations
Public Relations, the channel CMOs love to hate. Often a revolving door of top-class agencies offloading you to junior account manager after the break clause, this area needs to be actively managed to deliver value. But that active management pays dividends in terms of market access and “content strategy”. No, this doesn’t mean offloading strategic decisions, but it does mean using experts who are at the forefront of the market to make sure you sail the headwinds of effectiveness when creating your content strategy. (Let’s see ChatGPT write THAT).
Analyst Relations
The shortcut to authority. Having an analyst from a reputable company like Forrester or Gartner can completely change the gravitas your content has. Pity they’re all expensive. And difficult to access. And produce some of the worst slide decks known to man. However, like with partner marketing and events the juice is well-worth the squeeze in the pursuit of high value content.
How B2B Startups can approach Content Scoping
Developing a content strategy that is both effective and efficient requires a deep understanding of your audience, a strategic approach to content creation and distribution, and a commitment to continuous improvement. By prioritizing high-authority content, leveraging SEO, and using AI to enhance your efforts, B2B startups can maximize the impact of their content marketing without overextending their resources. Remember, the goal is not to do more, but to do what works best for your specific audience and business objectives.
Good marketing makes the difference, get the Content Scoping for B2B Startups checklist here to help you on your way. Take this to the next level by discussing your challenges with Gossamer here.
*Lead Image Artwork created by AI