You likely already have a good idea what your next content topic should be – you just don’t know it yet.
For B2B firms, their products and services are often highly specialized and in many cases somewhat complex. The great thing about the B2B content marketing space is that there are so many topics to choose from, they just have to be identified.
Still with me? No?
What we are saying is that there is so much wonderful information you can share with your clients and prospects to educate them about what you do, how you do it, and why it should matter to them.
We recently shared 10 Ideas for Your Next Blog, which you can check out for inspiration on B2B blogging ideas in general. However, while a list of topics is great, what should you pick for your next B2B content topic?
Let’s get started with how to pick your next topic.
What Is Severely Lacking?
This is the first question you should ask when determining what blog post or content piece to create next. Do you need a general brochure for your company? Do you need to create a piece that clearly explains the what, why, how of your products and services?
This triage-style of content marketing creates a clear priority list for content topics. It’s not worthwhile to create entertaining blogs if potential clients have no idea what your software actually does.
What Is Sales Asking For?
Stop ignoring sales. If you are a marketing manager, it’s likely your job to drive leads (in addition to strengthening brand awareness, building your firm’s credibility, and helping bring new products/services to market). Have individual sales people requested similar things? Do they want a side-by-side product/service comparison? Do they need a new demo presentation?
Once you have created the critical B2B content marketing pieces for your organization, it’s time to see what the sales team needs. Whether you are trying to determine a content topic for a blog post, premium content piece, or social media campaign, your sales team can provide excellent insight into what potential clients are asking about. Make your job easier by listening to what they are saying and translating that into a new B2B content piece.
What Will Make Closing a Sale Better?
Now, this information may come from sales, but it could also come from product, customer service, accounting, or the management team. This can be a variety of things from a typical project schedule to an estimated budget to a list of deliverables. Whatever content marketing piece you determine to create next, make sure to repurpose it for a variety of different formats to ensure it reaches all potential clients.
After producing critical pieces and providing sales with the tools they need to reach new prospects and create a connection, it’s time to focus on closing deals with content. Get creative here. By asking internal teams what they need to make a deal closer sooner, easier, and quicker – you can create pieces that add value to your internal organization. These pieces also make doing business with your firm much easier.
Retain Clients & Make Projects Smoother
B2B content marketing isn’t done once a client signs on the dotted line. There are a lot of things that you can create to keep that client and make the relationship smoother. A blog can be a great retention tool you can utilize to share educational posts about how to get the most out of your products or services or to answer common questions.
At this point, you have trained your clients and your internal team to expect great content marketing pieces. Don’t let them down. This is a great opportunity to anticipate the needs of your clients and reinforce the partnership with them.
Always Ask “What’s Next?”
Don’t ever get complacent with your B2B content marketing. Always be fishing for new ideas and new content pieces or blog topics that will add real value to your team and your clients.
