How to optimise your B2B content strategy

Achieving success in the competitive B2B arena requires sharp communication skills and a robust content strategy that highlights the best of your services or products while keeping your brand at the top of potential users’ minds at all times.

Read on and learn all you need to know about B2B content marketing strategies (including B2B copywriting tips).

What is B2B? Are there different types?

B2B – or “business to business” – involves businesses selling products or services directly to other businesses. This sector spans a wide range of industries, each with unique strategies, needs and purchase journeys.

It could be as simple as selling digital content marketing strategies to ecommerce businesses or it can cover more complex RFP and tender processes where customers aren’t “buying” directly from you but you’re pitching to be the preferred supplier.

There are several B2B types with different styles of writing needed for each:

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS delivers software to companies online, often through a subscription basis, removing the need for companies to install and maintain software. Examples include Slack, HubSpot and ClickUp.

Writing tips: Maintain a professional and tech-savvy tone, emphasizing the product’s benefits. Highlight how the software solves specific business problems. You should usually include a free demo or links to clear pricing options.

Professional Services

Specialised expertise for specific services, such as legal, accounting, consulting, or marketing services to other businesses.

Writing tips: Focus on quality, efficiency, and reliability. Include detailed product specifications where needed or, if your product is people, then highlight their expertise and experience. Emphasize the benefits of your collaboration processes within your copy.

Manufacturing

Production of goods or materials that other companies use to construct their products, often involving bulk orders, long-term supply chain contracts and in-depth tender processes.

Writing tips: Emphasize quality, efficiency, and reliability through pages on warranties, guarantees and after-sales care. The tone should be technical when needed and focus on product specifications and manufacturing processes. Case studies are a great way to showcase your work in action.

Other examples

Wholesaling, distribution, technology solutions, marketing, and financial services are also forms of B2B service types.

As you can see, B2B indicates a broad and versatile range of market types, so don’t start labelling companies as one thing or another – they’re often more than that. IBM is a B2B company that provides technology solutions, professional and financial services, while running SaaS products like IBM Security and IBM Cloud.

B2B purchasing options

There are several purchasing options in the B2B sector.

1) Buy online for delivery

For direct online purchases, ensure your platform is user-friendly, convenient, and quick. Simplify the checkout process and make product information easily accessible. Quick checkout processes, product availability and general user interface should be considered for streamlining product pages and service pages. Make sure you include reassurance content such as returns, guarantees, delivery times, manuals, and other technical information.

2) Buy online for download or service

If you’re selling a service or a piece of software to download, then make sure you are clear as to what the process is to gain access. Whether this is creating a simple login, paying online, or booking a demo. A strong Features page can help convince users, while a choice of packages makes it easier for them to convert. Security is key as people won’t want to download software they’re not sure about. It’s also worth considering videos showing how to use the product.

3) Tenders

This happens when a company is given an invitation to submit a bid for goods or services. If you’re the company tendering for bids, ensure this web page is well-structured and presents the relevant information clearly and addresses the user in a professional manner.

If you’re bidding for a tender, it’s key that you’re a recognised voice in the industry. You can do this through content marketing and PR tactics. It’s also key you have web pages that could answer any questions that arise during the tender process. Go through the tender documents and see what areas they are judging you on and make sure these are covered on your website.

4) Request for Proposal (RFP)

This is when a company puts forth their own proposal of “solutions” for a particular need. For instance, a construction company that needs steel beams will put an RFP forth for this purpose specifying dimensions, quantity, and user requirements. If your company accepts RFPs, ensure that the journey to the web page is seamless by leveraging precise copy and CTAs and internal linking. As with tenders, make sure you have content on site that covers all aspect of the RFP – a clear FAQs page on your process is a great starting point.

5) Other purchasing options

There are many other purchasing options including:

• Request for quotation (RFQ)
• Request for information (RFI)
• Direct negotiation
• Auctions
• Consortium buying
• Catalogue purchases
• Framework agreements

Developing a B2B Content Strategy

When you’re creating content for the B2B market, a certain tone in the copy is expected that is based on industry-wide customer expectations. While your own brand tone of voice plays a part in how you write B2B content, there’s also a larger focus on the audience and sector you’re targeting.

It’s important to get the tone right to give your company authority, while accurately presenting your ideas, products and USPs.

A successful B2B content strategy starts with thorough market research and effective SEO practices. Use these tools to corner your market and discover what users are searching for, and then transform this research into great content.

Develop an audience

Your first port of call should always be your audience. This is so key in B2B content strategies. Find out who they are, where to find them, what they need help with, and the types of content they are reading.  Then start talking to them. Whether this is through forums, social channels, email marketing or in-depth informational content.

Once you have an audience – or a number of different audiences for each product or service – it becomes a lot easier to create content as you’ll know what they want.

B2B SEO

SEO work is vital when developing content for the digital landscape. Keyword research can provide guidance on what users are looking for, specific terms they use when searching, and how competitors have approached those topics previously

SEO for B2B can be used to discover niche pain points, key product comparisons and technical information. With a more complex user journey in the B2B sector, it’s key you have easily accessible content that helps reassure stakeholders.

And remember, you’re often targeting small audiences here – but the value of each conversion will be much higher than with B2C. This means it’s worth considering long tail keywords that ask complex or focused questions about your product. For example, someone is much more likely to convert if you can answer ‘Personalised and automated email marketing software’ than ‘Email software’ as the first term has a clearer idea of what they want to purchase.

Tip: Use forums to learn customer pain points directly, as well as B2B articles and AI research.

Analyse competitors

By understanding what competitors are doing in the sector, you can spot the gaps in their content and fill them with your own insights. Ask what you can offer in addition to the key points to make your content unique, without going off the wall (users don’t like this and consequently neither does Google).

It can also be helpful to provide an honest and clear comparison table between you and your competitors – if you feel you have the competitive edge.

Decide on the medium

Now you’ve done the background research, you can decide how best to disseminate your research and ideas. Using your audience personas, competitor research and keywords, you can decide whether blogs, social media posts, email or video is the best approach.

For example, if your main keyword target for a core audience type always brings up videos showing the product in use, then you should be providing this content as well. Or it could be that you’re in a highly technical sector and each tender requires access to technical specification docs. If this is the case, make sure your website has an area for these and that they’re easy to find. Strategize with your team and the client to develop a fully rounded plan that provides the best content at the right time and place for your audience.

Create amazing content

Strive to engage your audience with valuable and relevant information on identified topics, while incorporating targeted keywords and in-depth insights.

The B2B industry is constantly evolving, so it’s important to review and restructure content to stay relevant, accurate and authoritative. Ensure new, relevant topics are on the horizon.

Overwhelmed? You can hire a digital marketing agency to do all of this for you.

Additional Tips for B2B Copywriting

These top tips from our in-house content team could help transform your B2B copy.

1) Refine your USPs

Think about your unique selling points (USPs) and refine them to their most rudimentary elements. This will inform you in terms of what content to write and how to write it.

2) Know your target

Refining USPs will get you closer to the needs of your target market, which informs the user journey and the best ways to reach your audience.

3) Write with intent

Writing with intent is our content writing ethos, and it works. Specific guidance (rather than general) and strong verbs all contribute towards a strong intent. This has to be the case in your headlines, body copy, and CTAs.

4) Be human-centric

Human centricity is the key to B2B and should be incorporated in all mediums. When addressing customers in your content, make it about them (rather than “us”, “our company” etc). Tailor your services to the human experience by relating to the customer.

Current B2B content expectations

Studies show that over 80% of B2B customers seek similar experience to what B2C offers, pushing companies to integrate B2C elements into their strategies. This is difficult to achieve, given how different they are, and how B2B customer experiences often fall short of the standards set by B2C.

But to ignore this is to turn away from customer expectations, which is never a good idea. A better strategy is to analyse these expectations and discover the best ways to implement them in your sales and content marketing funnel.

• Simplify your buyer experience: Customers want a seamless, user-friendly process without complexity or difficulty. This means building an intuitive website with easy navigation and streamlined order forms.
• Improve your interface: A modern, aesthetically pleasing user-friendly website can be integrated using real-time data and analytics, multi-platform optimisation, and an overall responsive design.
• Provide personalised services: Customers want tailored experiences catering to individual needs and preferences. You can use CRM systems and analytics to personalise customer interactions, product recommendations and content.
• Give smart recommendations: You can use recommendation engines to offer upsells, cross-sells, and relevant content based on prior interactions.
• Create an advanced sales funnel: A buyer experience should not end at the point of purchase. Customers want to be able to give feedback and interact with the seller after the fact to address issues, upgrades, or product adjustments.

Conclusion

Enhancing your company’s presence through improved B2B writing and a well-thought-out content marketing strategy not only boosts brand credibility but also attracts valuable new leads.

Get in touch to discuss your B2B content marketing strategy with us, today!