7 B2B content marketing trends for 2019!

With its unparalleled efficiency and considerable return on investment, content marketing has become a commonly used marketing strategy for B2B companies. The annual B2B content marketing report recently released by a relevant agency shows that in 2018, 70% of B2B marketers’ content marketing business was more successful than in 2017.

Undoubtedly, content marketing has become one of the important watersheds that determine the success or failure of online retail in the digital age. Like any other weapon in the B2B marketing environment, content marketing strategies need to keep up with market trends and be constantly adjusted to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Here are seven B2B content marketing trends to watch for in 2019:

1. Keep a record of your content marketing strategy

Surveys show that only 39% of marketers document their content marketing strategies. There is no doubt that most people overlook that strategic documentation is an important part of content marketing success. It is reported that behind successful content marketing, 65% of staff will make long-term strategic records, which is much higher than 62% in 2017.

The benefits of a documented content marketing strategy include:

-Align the team around common goals.

- Quickly determine content type.

- Better optimization of resources.

- Gain a clearer understanding of your target audience.

- Helps to establish a sound accountability system.

-Quickly confirm data indicators.

- Make budgeting more accurate.

2. Video will become the top content format

64% of marketers say they will use video in their content marketing efforts. Next on the list were text formats, such as articles and blog posts (61%), and graphics, photos, and GIFs (56%).

Professionals point out that the type of content is particularly important to the marketing process. But most brands and sellers are still unaware of this.

3. Increase customer conversion through email marketing

It is understood that 77% of successful content marketing cases have used content marketing to cultivate subscribers and potential audiences.

Among the many content marketing methods, 87% of B2B content marketers use email to nurture their audience. Educational content was next at 77%, followed by clear calls to action at 62%.

Meanwhile, only about a quarter (23%) of marketers use community building and audience engagement to nurture customers. Considering that 27.3% of customers use professional online communities for products or services when researching products, it is recommended that brands and merchants utilize relevant channels when conducting content marketing.

4. Conduct audience research through sales and analytics feedback

Popular content requires a deep understanding of the audience. Sales team feedback (74%) and website analytics (73%) are the main methods B2B marketers use when researching their target audience.

At the same time, 42% of marketers choose to talk directly with customers to collect more information. In fact, this first-hand information from customers can help brands and merchants accurately position and analyze the audience.

5. Paid distribution channels are gradually emerging

66% of B2B marketers used paid channels in the past 12 months, with 80% using them to acquire new customers and 65% using them to drive traffic.

As organic traffic reach shrinks on most platforms, more and more B2B marketing relies on paid promotion, especially on social media. In fact, 70% of marketers report using paid content on social media, followed by search engine marketing (64%) and banner ads (53%).

6. Prioritize your audience’s information needs

It is worth noting that 56% of marketers spend more than 12 months on content building, which indirectly reflects the human cost of producing high-quality content.

In 90% of successful B2B content marketing cases, marketers prioritize the audience’s information needs in their sales and promotional messages. Furthermore, only 56% and 33% of the failure cases performed and/or took this step into account.

7. Always pay attention to changes in search algorithms

For most content marketing cases, the first priority is to keep an eye on algorithm changes on each platform. According to the survey, marketers’ concerns about SEO/search algorithm changes in 2018 topped the list (61%), followed by social media algorithm changes (45%).

Meanwhile, many marketing executives said artificial intelligence (14%) and voice search (13%) were also issues of concern.

Source: Hugo.com