Last updated on July 12th, 2016 at 01:27 pm
Welcome to another round of B2B Conversations, our weekly roundup of the most shared and buzzworthy content on social media about a specific area of the B2B world.
This week, we’re focusing on content marketing—a proven way for B2B businesses to increase leads, engagement, brand awareness, and customer retention. You’ll learn about the power of B2B case studies, how to personalize and humanize content, and how to increase efficiency and save time and by repurposing content.
B2B case studies
70% of #B2B buyers read case studies before purchasing. 3 ways to make yours stand out: https://t.co/C3TFB9O7DCpic.twitter.com/LoPrJvSzDE
— LinkedIn Marketing (@LinkedInMktg) July 5, 2016
Cannes Lions B2B winners
5 great #B2B campaigns that won Cannes Lions last week through the power of their – https://t.co/H714JDHmZz
— Shelly Kramer (@ShellyKramer) July 5, 2016
Cannes Lions, arguably the most important international advertising festival, recently crowned its winners for 2016, including these five B2B campaigns outlined in this post from Andrew Monu on LinkedIn. “They prove that B2B brands can’t just do storytelling – they are leading the way in finding ways to tell those stories across digital platforms.” You’ll hear about campaigns from GE, Volvo Trucks, digital security experts Norton, France’s national railway company SNCF, and aerospace company Lockheed Martin.
B2B content personalization
What Happens When Content Personalization Meets the B2B Funnel https://t.co/Nr10mIRrqN@itayepic.twitter.com/VEzIa0DV54
— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) July 1, 2016
If content is king, then “personalization is the new stronger, taller, king-er king,” says Jay Baer in this post on Convince and Convert. Baer says that while companies are working hard to personalize every aspect of the buying journey, the least personal content is often the content that appears on their websites. Since so many decision makers often need to weigh in on a purchasing decision in the B2B world, Baer argues that the best way to address the concerns of all these various stakeholders is by funnelling them to different pieces of content on your website. This post goes into more detail about automated vs. manual personalization, how this can affect conversion, and the major role testing and analytics plays in the success of content personalization.
Humanizing B2B content
Is Your B2B Content Too Technical? https://t.co/xTRY5e5qFI#b2bmarketing#contentmarketing
— Aaron Agius (@IAmAaronAgius) July 3, 2016
Since B2B companies often work within highly technical areas and industries, the content they produce often falls victim to expertise and ends up not only too technical but also—quite frankly—boring. Claire Trévien from Passle explains in this post how B2B marketers can add more context and humanize their content to increase engagement.
Tips for repurposing B2B content
B2B Marketing Magic: Tips for Repurposing Your Content https://t.co/euIsndf6HXpic.twitter.com/0Dw91TjRyP
— Marketing Cloud (@marketingcloud) July 5, 2016
As a writer and content marketer, I’m all too familiar with the pressure of creating new content. Which is why I was happy to find this post from Lautel Okhio on the Salesforce blog about one of my favorite tricks: repurposing content. As Okhio states, “repurposing content is a great way to extend its shelf life, dig a little deeper into a topic, and drive traffic to content that resonates strongly with your buyers. Plus, it takes a lot less resources than creating something brand new.” In this post, you’ll learn three tips about repurposing content that can not only help increase your efficiency but help you produce more quality content in the process.
Are you interested in B2B event planning? Check out last week’s edition of B2B Trending Conversations from Brett Wilkins here. As always, if you have any B2B content or ideas you think we should focus on next week, let us know via @b2bnewsnetwork. We love hearing from you!
