Selling as a Reason to Invest in Valuable B2B Marketing Content

Author:

J-P De Clerck

Source:

Content marketing is about conversations, conversion, value, social media, lead nurturing, acquisition, inbound and outbound. But in the end it's about Sales 2.0, regardless of the medium.
 
Content plays such a crucial role in this digital era that a new discipline has evolved around it: ‘content marketing’. Content is important in both B2C and B2B marketing but as a B2B marketer I would like to look with you briefly at how content is used in lead management, customer interactions and how B2B content marketing ultimately is…sales.
 
Even though the name ‘content marketing’ is relatively new, the use of content in B2B marketing isn’t.
 
We all have been using white papers to generate leads for decades and we have always known that content is crucial in engaging email recipients, having our websites found and providing our customers with valuable information.
 
However, content marketing is more than that and the fact that a new 'school' as it were, has arisen around it, is no coincidence.
 
What is the reason for this increased attention for content in B2B marketing?
 
First, there is the ascertainment that large parts of the client’s purchase cycle (from gathering information about products, services and companies until lots of times the purchase itself) happen online.
 
Prospects and customers are better informed than ever and call upon relevant content that they find themselves or receive from people they trust (word-of-mouth)....