If you are like 29 percent of B2B marketers, your biggest challenge is producing enough content. This may not seem like news, but this is the first time in the Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Budgets, Benchmarks and Trends where this has been identified as the biggest challenge. (In the past, marketers cited producing engaging content as their greatest challenge.)
Why are we seeing this shift and, more importantly, what can marketers do to address this?
Continuing with the B2B research roundtable from Content Marketing World, our CMI consultants Carla Johnson, Michael Weiss, Ardath Albee, and Jay Baer not only hypothesize on why more marketers are struggling with producing enough B2B content, but they also provide suggestions on what marketers can do. Thanks to Steve Rotter, VP of Digital Marketing at Brightcove, for moderating the conversation.
As our consultants discuss, there are a number of things you can do if you are challenged with producing enough B2B content.
1) Reuse content at the beginning and the end of the sales funnel
While most personas need different types of content in the middle of the sales funnel, you may be able to reuse content that you have created for prospects who are early-stage and late-stage in the sales cycle. Here are some ideas on how to map your content so you can figure out what content you need to create.
- Step-by-Step Templates for Mapping your B2B Content
- How to Use Mapping to Develop and Measure Content
2) Curate content
- Should You Curate Content? The Essentials Every Content Marketer Needs to Consider
- 14 Sources for Content Curation Inspiration
- The 3 Rs: A Balanced Formula for Content Curation
3) Produce evergreen content
More isn’t always the answer. Instead of continually pumping out original content, publish content that can be used for months, if not years. This is especially important when you are creating content for lead nurturing programs that can last for 18 months or longer. To learn more, read Put Cost Effectiveness in Content Marketing, in which Ardath Albee not only shows how you can use evergreen content, but she also explains why it makes content marketing a less expensive alternative to other forms of marketing.
Do these ideas help you with the challenge of producing enough content? What other suggestions do you have?
Want to learn more from our CMI consultants? See the rest of the B2B research roundtable series or meet many of them at Content Marketing World.