How to Leverage Content Marketing in “Boring” B2B Industries

One of the most common problems I’ve heard from clients is their worry that they have such a technical or uninteresting product or service that it’s hard to come up with creative campaigns. They feel like the campaigns Disney or Taco Bell put together are hard because they lack the creativity that comes naturally with companies that have it woven into their culture.

However, I’d argue that content marketing can work for any business; you just have to go through a process to figure out what angle you can use to leverage your most interesting characteristics. Here some areas where content marketing can be used in a very detailed or technical business.

Do You Need Explainer Videos?

One of the easiest ways to build out content is to create a video strategy that helps solves a problem for your audience. If you have a technical product, you can build out explainer videos that explain how to move through a process or create a report. These videos are highly beneficial for both your customers and for employee training.

If you don’t have a process or reporting procedure that would benefit from explainer videos, you could try explaining other difficult-to-understand concepts in video format. For instance, you could walk through common acronyms, industry slang, or best practices that might be tedious to read.

Can You Focus on Culture?

Do you have a boring product, but is your company fun and interesting? A focus on how awesome your company and its culture are could be a great way to let your audience feel more connected to the people they are working with. By getting to know the people behind the brand, your culture will be seen as an asset and can often be a deciding factor over competitors.

Some content you could create surrounding B2B industries includes: videos and photos of company events or office goings-on, blog posts from employees on what it’s like to work for the company, or e-books and long-form content that explains your culture, mission, and values. Even a “day in the life” of each department in a company can become extremely interesting if the culture is unique.

Often, many companies think of themselves as a family, but never translate it to content they can share with their audience. Take advantage of the special bond your employees have and what makes them happy to work at your office. The world needs to know!

What Could Help Your Customers?

Do your customers ask the same questions over and over? Do you take them through the same process at specific points in their buying journey? Use these moments as opportunities to develop content that could answer their questions (such as an FAQ library) or take them through the onboarding process. As long as it doesn’t include any proprietary information, make it public so even potential customers can see what it’s like to work with you.

Next, focus on the benefits of the products you offer, instead of simply describing what they are. In the majority of industries, customers are looking for ways to solve a problem they’re having. Position yourself as the customer and write your product descriptions and content pages focusing on how your company solves that problem.

What Makes Your Company Different?

You’ve covered culture and writing content through the lens of problem solving, but you can take it a step further and ask yourself: What is the key differentiator between you and all your competitors?

Of course, if it’s just culture, it’s OK to focus on that, but consider doing a competitive audit to uncover other content marketing opportunities. Maybe your user experience of your website is better. Maybe your office or ordering process is much more convenient. Maybe you can offer free shipping, faster turnaround times that don’t suffer in quality, or a more secure network for private information.

Turn everything that sets you apart from others in the industry into a customer benefit you can create a piece of content around. Go over how the differences are a benefit to your customer and why you have chosen this other way of doing things. Customers appreciate a set strategy behind processes, especially in technical industries.

These differences can be outlined in your website content, but then can also be broken down into blog posts that weave in statistics, outside research, or insights from employees.

Final Thoughts

The key to creating content for B2B marketing is focusing on what sets you apart, not what makes you the same as every other company in your industry. The key is to develop content that provides education, sets up thought leadership, and explains your culture and values. Covering these areas will make almost any B2B company interesting.

Photos via Pixabay.