Content marketing
In the context of marketing, i.e., the consistent alignment of the entire company with market needs, content marketing is very easy to explain. The task of content marketing is to offer content in such a way that it meets market needs and satisfies the respective target audiences — even and especially in B2B markets.
CONTENT MARKETING.
Good content is satisfying.
The brand as a brand personality with its values, stories, products, and solutions is the source of content marketing. There is a lot of potential in this area, especially in B2B marketing. This is because, as in the consumer sector, research takes place on the Internet. However, the requirements and search behavior of users are heterogeneous, depending on the function or business area in the company or the phase in the decision-making or purchasing process.
In order to act in a targeted manner, the long-term objectives must be clear: Build the brand, create trust, retain customers, improve reputation, create community, increase findability, have regularly returning visitors, increase completion rates…. In content marketing, these are all tasks with long timeframes, not tasks that are completed in a few weeks or months. Short-term sub-goals lie in reach, information density, or reaching new target audiences through a topic. The customer lifecycle plays an important role and influences the provision of content.
The right content, at the right time, in the right place
The content marketing strategy and the media and channel mix are derived from the long-term and short-term content marketing goals. Design and planning are an increasingly complex task here, in which the media breaks between the online and offline worlds must also be taken into account. The key points need to be defined in networked editorial plans. At the B2B digital agency, we focus on the effective combination of tools from social media, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), PR, and sales. In order for your company to stand out from the competition, your B2B content marketing ideally serves your customers according to their information and interaction needs at the various customer touchpoints along the customer lifecycle. Content marketing in the area of employer branding naturally focuses on applicants, employees, and former employees and alumni.
Good content can inspire.
Content marketing has become an indispensable component of the digital marketing strategy for B2B companies. The source and design can have many facets. But in many people’s minds, the word “content” is equated with the word “text”. We see it differently. Good content is versatile and is geared towards the target audience and their needs:
Text content: text content is always the basis. Text-based content is easy to create, edit, and share. It is ideal for detailed information, instructions, and blog posts. Text content is also essential for search engine optimization (SEO).
Image content: A picture is worth a thousand words. Images shape the image of a B2B company, especially in social media. In the form of diagrams and charts, they can present complex information in a simple form.
Video content: Videos are extremely popular and can illustrate complex content. Videos generate more attention both on the web page and on social media, encourage engagement, and are shared more frequently.
Audio content: Audio content is convenient for consumption on the go. B2B companies use audio branding to emotionally charge their brands and strengthen brand identity at branding touchpoints. Internal podcasts can be used to efficiently share information for sales, for example.
3D and virtual reality (VR) content: 3D and VR content offer immersive experiences and are ideal for presenting complex products or realistic simulations. Whether in sales or aftersales, in marketing or recruiting: interactive 3D applications enrich the presentation of products and services. They are cost-efficient, differentiating, and versatile.
Interactive and user-generated content: Interactive content encourages active user participation and offers personalized experiences. User-generated content (UGC) leverages the creativity and authenticity of customers and followers. It builds trust and promotes customer loyalty.
Live content: Live streaming enables real-time interaction with the audience and promotes topicality and authenticity. The combination of live content with 3D/VR offers exciting opportunities for immersive and interactive experiences.
Good content can inform, inspire, entertain, arouse, touch…. This is exactly where the work of the B2B digital and branding agency begins, as always following the basic principle of analysis, design concept, implementation, and control. Content marketing is iterative and ongoing, has a master plan, and is accompanied by campaigns.
Select. Combine. Merge.
If content is to be used for brand and marketing communication, it must be structured, collected, and prepared in such a way that it optimally conveys the brand and its brand messages in words and images when published and provides the target audiences with the right information at the right time along the customer journey — offline and online.
The aspect of releasing content as well as usage and release rights is playing an increasingly important role. Content is constantly being created across departments. The question is whether everything meets the requirements of corporate brand, corporate design, corporate image, and corporate wording. Once content is available in the content management system, it is used and it is difficult to withdraw it. So before it is delivered, colleagues in the digital team are needed to check, approve, and make the content available.
As a branding agency with a focus on digital communication, we recommend keeping the approval processes as short and as small as possible. Digital communication is fast, so you can’t wait until a co-decision-maker from a technology department is back from vacation or a holiday in a week or has finished an important presentation today. The cross-departmental digital teams must be given adequate freedom through appropriate training and the associated knowledge building.
Content management in the content hub.
When we think of content management, we first think of the many content management systems that are available today and that make publishing on the World Wide Web easier. As a digital branding agency, however, we view content management in a broader context: For us, content management is not just about managing existing content for content marketing. Rather, it is about creating an emotional level, a brand experience, in the sense of brand management through stories, experiences, visual information, and infotainment.
The constantly increasing amount of content — from product information and marketing information to technical data — needs to be managed for the various media channels. The organization, structure, and restructuring of internal processes as well as the change in attitudes and behavior are important factors on the way to digital content. This requires functional systems.
This is the rational side, because digital communication must make its contribution to brand awareness and perception, to the brand, and to awareness of the brand and product — and lead to a purchase. The emotional side is the view of the brand, brand messages, and brand experience in combination with the available content. This is where content management helps, but it is more important to make those who work with the content and deliver the brand’s messages in the digital world aware of this and communicate it.
Only when the available content — in addition to the factual level in technical documents and the descriptions in web stores or web catalogs — becomes an emotional level through stories, experiences, visual information, and infotainment, is content management working for the purpose of brand management.
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