Effective B2B content starts before the creative work. There are a number of key questions to answer, which should set you on the right path to delivering effective content.
What is the purpose?
Or another way of putting it is: What does success look like?’ It doesn’t matter if it’s a panel event, video, podcast or piece of writing, you need to be clear about the aim.
Success is unlikely to be just one thing. Getting attendees along to an event or downloads or clicks might be a short-term goal.
Longer-term success might be building trust and authority so that it leads to more business or earned media as an industry expert or speaker invites.
It will take time and consistency in delivering good quality content.
Who is it for?
Who is this for, and why would they care?
Purpose means diddly flip if you don’t know who your audience is. I’ve written before about being specific, so I won’t repeat that.
Why would they care?
Once you’ve identified them, you need to determine why they would care – what’s in it for them? Why should they invest the time?
There is a lot happening that influences B2B content marketing. Legacy social media channels aren’t what they once were, and the media, particularly trade media, is struggling in certain quarters. (Property industry bible Estates Gazette has recently been rescued from closure, for example.)
But there are new areas and channels to explore, and you don’t have to run yourself ragged to get your content in front of and viewed by the right people.
In our first LinkedIn livestream of the year, Ayo Abbas and I looked at three areas to focus on with your content marketing for 2025.
Stacey: There is so much more content being published now, and AI is making it easier to produce content, but that doesn’t mean it is all good. In fact, there is an increasing amount of AI slop. (If you are using AI, use it wisely.)
Rather than churn out new content, create fewer bits of quality ‘hero’ content and do more with it.
Hero content could be a report, white paper or a carefully researched and written thought leader series. It could be a content-led event such as a panel or round table, a live stream, podcast or video series.
With the right planning, you can repurpose it into many pieces of content and redistribute across different channels.
For example, create blog posts and articles from videos, podcasts, or events, create short clips from a longer video, and film events (or do a live stream) to create video content.
Making the most of what you are creating means you don’t have to constantly come up with new content ideas and create from scratch.
Ayo: There is a lot of really bad content being created using AI, but that means good content stands out. Make sure what you put out is the best you can make it.
I saw a post on LinkedIn about a cold DM asking for a chat but which failed to give vital information. The messenger didn’t say who they were, what they did or why they wanted to set up a meeting.
We’ve all had something similar, but lack of clarity in communication is a problem that is replicated in lots of different areas of business writing.
It might be an obscure LinkedIn profile headline or business website that leaves you none the wiser about what the company actually does.
Bad communication wastes time and leaves a lot of value on the table. For some, it might just be poor communication skills, but for others, it may be the result of a desire to stand out or sound impressive compared to the competition.
If you are a property developer, for example, and say you are a property developer, you sound like everyone other property developer. If you say you provide ‘delivery solutions for client’s built spaces’, it sounds different and perhaps more dynamic.
Too cool for school copy
But it’s what I like to refer to as ‘too cool for school’ copy. It might generate fleeting respect for the fancy language but ultimately will only harm you.
Now, there is nothing wrong with individuality and being clever with words – it’s something I actively encourage. But if it’s not simultaneously communicating clearly what you do or want to say, then the words you’ve chosen are pointless.
If you are an office fit-out company, say you are an office fit-out company, don’t use a fancy phrase like ‘end-to-end workplace solutions’, which is meaningless – and yes, I’ve seen that used on a website.
Fancy language like this also does little for SEO because people aren’t searching for ‘end-to-end workspace solutions’.
So the takeaway is, by all means, be clever, but make sure what you write is still clear. Whether it is a LinkedIn profile, a DM, a website or a piece of content, don’t be too cool for school with what you are communicating.
RELATED: This quick Monday tip, I wrote on LinkedIn focuses on ‘clever’ article headlines that don’t serve and you can read that here.
Four months into the new UK government and more detail on its agenda is emerging, but how can you use B2B content to engage with that agenda?
Speaking ahead of the budget, I went live on LinkedIn with co-host Ayo Abbas of Abbas Marketing and special guest Shirin Iqbal of Shirin Iqbal Consulting to talk about how to get involved, align your content strategy, boost visibility and position yourself as a sector expert.
We all work with built environment clients, so our examples come from that sector, but the overarching strategies apply to any industry.
Here are the edited highlights of our conversation and you can watch the replay which includes our budget predicitons here.
What channels are available for built environment firms who want to share their knowledge and expertise?
Ayo: You have to understand which areas you care about and where you can add to the conversation – which parts of the story you want to focus on.
Then, look at who is talking about these issues and championing causes. For example, in the past few years, Architects Journal has talked about retrofitting rather than knocking down buildings.
Then there are associations and campaigning groups like the London Society and non-government groups like Business First.
The government also puts together expert panels such as the New Homes Accelerator. Who’s on those panels, and how can you join that conversation? Plus, there are consultations where they ask what the industry thinks.
It’s all an opportunity for you to join the conversation.
Shirin: There are also thought leadership articles, trade press, panels, conferences and podcasts.
Add your voice, not just to add to the noise, but to add value to the conversation and really showcase your expertise.
For the September episode of the B2B Comms Breakdown, built environment marketing expert Ayo Abbas and I went live online to discuss how you can use paid, earned, shared and owned media channels effectively.
Here are the edited highlights of that discussion and you can watch the full chat here on Ayo’s YouTube channel.
The graphic below gives much more detail, but a very short and simple explanation is paid = advertising etc, earned = media coverage etc, shared = content distribution via things like social media, and owned = blogs and newsletters etc.
Our conversation focused on three main questions starting with:
Have magazines had their day (earned media)?
STACEY: Ad revenue has fallen through the floor and most publications have got slimmer or even disappeared. Obviously, there’s still an online presence, but are they worth trying to get into?
I would say yes; I think there is still great value in having that third-party endorsement from these publications.
It can help in building trust if you are quoted or your comment piece is published.
A lot of publications are under-resourced at the moment; they need good content, so there’s an opportunity if you are producing good quotes and pitching in really good, pithy, punchy comments.
Quality is the key, it’s got to be good, and you do need to put your head above the parapet a little bit, particularly with opinion pieces.
AYO: When I started out in PR in 2000, industry publications were a lot chunkier; they were full of ads. And now, when you look at the print editions, they are flimsy.
But there is newer media, like Substack, where you can pay £150 for a year and get the content you want from particular writers. There are some amazing writers, and you’re happy to pay for that.
So, there is still a market for quality writing, but the format of how we get content is different.
Have magazines had their day? Yes and no.
STACEY: There are also other earned media avenues to explore. A lot of publications also have podcasts and host panel events and conferences.
Those are opportunities to pitch for and an opportunity for third party endorsement.
What other avenues are open for getting more traction for your content (paid and shared)?
AYO With social media, you can be your own publisher. If you look at LinkedIn, you could go to town if you use it to full effect.
There’s a reliance on just posting once and thinking it’s done. But instead think: ‘How can I get more bang for my buck from wherever I’m pushing this piece of content?’
