4 Reasons your B2B Tech Content Marketing isn’t Working

B2B content marketing is a great strategy to employ for technology businesses. Typically, content marketing lends itself well to longer sales cycles, bigger purchases, and a more complex product offering. However, if B2B content marketing isn’t getting the results that you want, it’s easy to go over issues again and again, trying to optimise for success without really understanding the mistakes that you may be making in your strategy. Here are some vital tips to make sure that you’re marketing your B2B tech company in the right way. 

You’re focusing too much on one channel 

It’s tempting to think of content marketing in the most basic terms. The easiest way to start content marketing is to create a B2B blog, but you shouldn’t stop there. Content isn’t just about blog posts - you need to also consider ebooks, whitepapers, email, case studies, videos and even social media content. 

It’s important to evaluate each type of content that works for your business and adjust your strategy accordingly. Budget can often be a factor, which  is why blogging and email content might be your first port of call. You should never underestimate the power of ebooks and whitepapers, as they are a good opportunity to educate your prospects and answer any questions they have about your product before they’ve even spoken to your sales team. Case studies and videos are a little different - a case study could be the content that convinces someone to get in touch, as it shows actual tangible proof that your product works. Video, although not a traditional type of content, helps to humanise your brand, and is due to be big in 2020 - don’t leave it out of your strategy!   

You’re marketing to the wrong people

If you’ve already dipped your toe into B2B tech content marketing, then you’ve likely come across the idea of buyer personas before. These are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer, and are vital, but have a huge flaw. The issue here is the fictional element - if you’re marketing technology, there is a tendency in B2B companies to lean towards the person that you imagine is the decision-maker, rather than use tangible data. It’s important to research your industry thoroughly. Typically, millennials have a significantly higher authority when it comes to enterprise technology purchases, so it may be time to revisit your personas if your tech content marketing isn’t performing the way you’d like it to. 

With millennials holding the majority of the purchasing power, your strategy needs to be tailored to grow and adapt. Whereas previously a buyer might be satisfied with the information you give them, the millennial buyer wants to know that you are trustworthy, and values a personal connection. This should come across in your content and should be factored into your buyer personas at the very beginning. B2B tech companies need to stop targeting Dinosaur Dave, and shift their way of thinking further towards Millennial Mia. 

You’re not providing helpful solutions

This is a big one. Think about your content - are you actively trying to help your readers, or are you just trying to sell your product? It’s tempting, when creating content for your marketing strategy, to shoehorn in mentions of your product, your company, and how you can help. However, when you’re creating content, you need to think less you, more them. 

Content should be helpful, informative, and build trust in your brand. If it’s just a sales pitch, why would any of your prospects want to read it? They want to know how to solve their issues, not why your product is so great - especially if they haven’t heard of it before. Try creating content that solves your prospects’ problems - then you might start seeing some better results. 

You aren’t promoting your content enough

Creating content and not seeing any results? Are you actually promoting it? Too many B2B tech companies think that it’s enough to just create content and wait for it to be found, but without promotion, this will take a long time. You need to take advantage of email marketing, social media sharing, and even outreach such as guest blogging to make sure that your content is being found by the right people. To get the most reach, make sure that others in your organisation are sharing content, and that you’re using features such as LinkedIn groups. If you’re planning on using email marketing, make sure that you’ve segmented your contacts properly in order to boost engagement. 

Want to take your B2B tech content marketing to another level? We’ve created a guide on how to use content marketing to establish yourself as a thought leader within your field, as well as some helpful tips, tricks and best practices to get ahead of the competition. Download it below, and start getting your content marketing right.