B2B industry content marketing, how to produce high-quality B2B content?

This article is the content production part of the content marketing series. In the next few weeks, we will also launch content dissemination, how to generate sales opportunities from content, and content measurement and optimization.

76% of B2B marketers believe that the quality of content is more important than the quantity. However, good content is like a rose with thorns. Everyone knows it is good, but those who want to pick it are always in pain from the thorns.

As a content marketing practitioner, I often feel the same way. According to North American survey data, the reasons for the stagnation of B2B content marketing in 2016 are: 52% believe that there is not enough time for content production, 49% believe that it is the challenge of content production, and 49% believe that it is a content strategy issue. I think the first and second reasons are essentially the same problem, which is how to produce high-quality content in a routine way. This is also the question that this article hopes to try to answer.

(Source: B2B Content Marketing: 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America)

We believe that content production should be approached from three dimensions: product (building branded content), user (exploring audience needs), and writing (content production) simultaneously. Complete the following three questions:

1. How to turn products into solutions for users?
2. What are the users’ needs and how to find the right solution?
3. How do writers produce high-quality content?

1. Building branded content

B2B is marketing to businesses, and in essence, it is marketing to key decision makers, and its core is to influence the consumers that the business serves. What kind of content can enable B2B companies to reach end consumers while influencing corporate decision makers?

INTEL INSIDE: The success story of the essential brand

In 1991, Carter, INTEL's marketing director at the time, launched the "INTEL INSIDE " cooperative marketing program to communicate with consumers through computer manufacturers.

Intel takes a certain percentage of processor sales as an advertising fund and returns it to computer manufacturers to help them share their advertising costs (the additional costs of adding the Intel logo).

Adding the Intel logo, on the one hand, maximizes the advertising dollars spent by computer manufacturers, and on the other hand, tells consumers that this computer uses the most cutting-edge technology.

The plan was implemented in July 1991 and lasted until 2006. It became the most successful marketing campaign in Intel's history, making Intel, in the B2B field, one of the world's top 10 most famous brands, on par with Coca-Cola , Disney and McDonald's .

This is known as “ingredient branding”: if a company can demonstrate the superior performance of an ingredient or ingredient in a final product, consumers are likely to demand it when they buy the product.

For many large factor-based B2B enterprises, the implementation of factor-branded marketing can change the dilemma of unknown products and easy substitution, and help them move from behind the scenes to the front stage. So how should B2B companies cooperate from the perspective of content marketing?

1. Push content vs. pull content

Content marketing for B2B companies should start from two aspects: push content, which promotes purchases in the next stage of the production chain; and pull content, which requires the final product to contain elements and is aimed at end consumers.

(1) Push content: promoting next-stage purchases

Factor producers focus their marketing efforts on promoting their products so that the next link in the supply chain will buy them.

Content type: Explain product performance clearly from a professional perspective. Such as product description, patent description, etc.

(2) Pull content: The final product contains elements and is oriented to the end consumer.

Factor brand manufacturers market their products directly to end consumers, bypassing the final product manufacturers. At the retail level, create consumer demand for the factor, generate demand pressure, and force the middlemen to try out the factor.

Content type: From a practical perspective of solving problems, it provides potential consumers with practical solutions. This method may include training, products, and services. Of course, the solution may also include competitors' products, not just your own products.

2. Determination of content for element branding

The brand content marketing potential of an element depends largely on the specific performance benefits it brings to the final product, which can only be judged by the end user.

Specifically, the following judgments can be made:

• The first step is to define the problem or opportunity: What motivates the customer?
• The second step is to find the product category or subcategory: What is the customer's impression of the product category or subcategory?
• Step 3: Select the brand: What are the associated brands in this category?
• Step 4: Choose a brand: Which ones can meet their minimum needs?
• Step 5. Select the element brand: What are the special attributes and functions of this element brand?

2. User Demand Mining

Above, the content is analyzed from a product perspective. Next, from the user's perspective, consider what benefits you can bring to the user and present them directly and concisely.

1. Audience relationship funnel, determine the gameplay

Audience relationships can be divided into three levels:

(1) First level: pan-relationship

Pan-relationships are those people who have no contact with or knowledge of the brand. We need to open their information barriers and allow them to find and accept our information. It can be summed up in two words: "hook up".

(2) Second layer: weak ties

The weak relationship level is when people have awareness, contact, and a certain understanding of the brand, but have not yet formed a strong stickiness. In this case, it is necessary to create topics and use the same topics and the same interests to open up the context of the brand. It can be summed up in two words: “play”.

The content is not limited to pictures and texts. Community content maintains weak relationships and can be used as a type of content.

(3) Third level: strong relationships

It is to make consumers feel that they own your brand and give them a legitimate identity.

2. The user purchase journey determines the type of content provided

Generally speaking, the user life cycle of B2B enterprises can be divided into three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Preference.

(1) Stage 1: Cognitive stage

The strategy of content marketing should be to create demand, build brand and solution awareness among users, and establish a continuous interactive relationship with users, maximize the collection of user needs and interests, and push corresponding solutions in a personalized manner.

Content Type:

• E-book
• Blog Posts
• Research data
• Interesting videos
• Event Information
• Infographics

(2) Second stage: consideration stage

The content marketing strategy should be to output products or industry solutions to the other party and convey a sense of trust. It is necessary to continuously provide educational content and convey the characteristics of your solution.

Content Type:

• Buying Guide
• RFP Template
• ROI Calculator
• Analytical Report
• Third-party reporting
• Branded Content

(3) The third stage: preference stage

You can try to share the success stories of typical customers in the same industry with the other party to promote further purchasing decisions. At the same time, the incentives are pointed out very specifically in order to support the buyer during the purchasing process.

Content Type:

• Pricing
• Demo
• Third-party reviews
• Customer Case Studies
• try out

3. Content Production

1. What kind of content should be produced?

Before producing content, you need to hold yourself to a higher standard of quality. Redefining “high-quality content” can be done by asking three questions:

1. Will the effectiveness of the content improve over time?
2. Will anyone pay for it?
3. Does anyone care if you update?

2. Content production strategy?

(1) Barbell strategy

The basic idea is to extract as much value as possible from a piece of content by breaking it down into smaller parts or different styles.

The barbell strategy can be achieved through the 3R principle:

• Reorganize: Reorganize the content and provide it in a converted form, such as compiling excellent content into e-books, refining white papers into tables, and turning e-books into cheat sheets.
• Rewrite: Reprocess the content to match product updates. Change the dates, add new supporting figures and new trends, add new ideas.
• Retire: Content update, timely update and replace content that users no longer care about, is outdated, or no longer accurate.

(2) Storytelling formula: SIR

• S (situation): What problem did the customer encounter?
• I (impact): What impact will the business have if the problem is not solved?
• R (resolution): How to solve the problem

① Start with questions and win the crucial 7 seconds

For example, if you start with the product, recommend product A, B, and C, and introduce product features, since the audience's patience is only 7 seconds, the user may leave after 7 seconds.

On the contrary, if we start with the problem, what kind of problems will we encounter? Let’s talk about what kind of impact this problem might have in extreme cases? What challenges will the business face? Can this challenge be quantified? If we quantify it, buyers will have a more intuitive understanding. Finally, let the user know that if they want to solve such a problem, we have a solution that meets your requirements.

The principle is simple, yet difficult to replicate. The reason is that we don’t understand our customers, don’t understand what problems they are facing today, don’t understand what impact such problems will have, and cannot summarize them using very good copywriting .

② Pay attention to user pain points and whether they can be quantified

At the same time, we need to pay attention to whether the pain points can get to the heart of the customer's pain and whether they can be quantified. This directly determines whether the customer will continue to listen or leave, whether they will listen to your product solution and be excited and want to understand, or walk away indifferently. This depends on whether the pain points are addressed well.

On social media and mobile, more content should be focused on the first two paragraphs to divert traffic to your next platform. Don’t tell the entire story at once.

The entire purchasing process of the customer takes 6 months to a year, and you need to have some patience to cultivate him so that he will gradually develop a dependence on information and content. Friends who often check out Zhiqu Baichuan’s content may have already reviewed it. This is actually the essence of SCRM marketing automation. Marketing is not only about catching fish, but also about raising fish.

Tell a story, that is, what kind of predicament you are in, what kind of pain points you encounter, and how you finally solve the problem. The story can be made very suspenseful, so that users are interested in coming to you and ask, "Can you tell me what to do?"

(3) PAS (Problem-Analysis-Solution) Copywriting Formula

The specific steps of this formula are as follows:

• P: Raise questions, make readers aware of the problem and eager to find a solution.
• A: Point out the root of the problem and analyze it
• S: Give solutions and list them one by one or three.

For example, an advertisement made by FedEx: How long will it take for the package to arrive? (Problem) - Company employees are in trouble (Analysis and incitement) - I should have called FedEx earlier! Why is everyone so confused? (solve)

(4) Content creation closed loop

Content creation closed loop: discover user problems - hand over problems to researchers - find authoritative white papers - implement content - write and process - solve user pain points.

Discover problems, and through these problems, match the latest research or content from global research institutions behind the problems, use theory to explain the problems, and then convert the content into a method that can be implemented in practice, and then write, process and publish the method.

Such content can meet the needs of users, and then the articles can attract new users, making content production a closed loop. The content itself originates from user needs and ultimately returns to user needs and solves those needs.

(5) Content production principle: personalization

One Spot's report "Content Marketing Personalization is Imperative" pointed out that if a brand does not provide personalized content, 42% of consumers will not be interested in the brand's products and services; 88% of consumers said that personalized content improved their impression of the brand.

So, how to achieve personalization?

To achieve personalization, you need to create content like a product manager , figure out what features have the highest influence, and build those features. Use data to understand the impact of this feature, and then plan and manage, prioritize, clarify content focus, focus on high-impact content, gradually strengthen it, and personalization of the content will follow.

3. Content production process

In terms of content generation, the following process is required:

• Topic selection: Content creators provide a topic.
• Assignment: The editor reviews whether the topic is approved and who is responsible for completing it.
• Draft: The writer provides the draft.
• Editing: Editors provide feedback and make preliminary edits.
• Review passed: Match user type and user journey to determine whether the article is passed.
• Design and layout: Designers optimize and optimize the layout.
• Final review before publication: Listen to the advice of front-line staff or experts to determine the value of the article. And do SEO optimization.
• Publishing: The article is finally presented to users.

The following focuses on the analysis of topic selection and creation.

(1) Topic selection

Your choice of topic is directly related to the quality of your article. Content marketers believe that the better articles they write are not those that have made new breakthroughs in rhetoric or grammar. The key lies in the topic of the article. If it meets the expectations of users and hits the mark, it is bound to be popular.

The topic should correspond to the product (building branded content) and users (exploring audience needs) mentioned above.

① The topic selection should start from the entire marketing plan

Content marketing is not a service for the sake of service. Ultimately, content marketing is a marketing plan for the entire enterprise or a market segment in a certain field.

Content selection is often closely related to the marketing themes, marketing projects, marketing actions, titles , key information points, time, content marketing methods, and external marketing methods of each business unit (BU).

What is the marketing theme in each business area? What marketing projects will be launched and what key marketing actions are expected? If you were to do this, what would your title be?

In order to achieve the marketing theme, what marketing values ​​and benefits do you want to convey to customers, what time period do you want to do this in, what content and external marketing methods may be used, and by comprehensively considering the above issues, you will be able to launch suitable topics.

② Content selection latitude

• Fixed hotspots: Chinese Valentine’s Day, Apple mobile phone release, Teacher’s Day and other fixed hotspots can be prepared in advance and scheduled.
• Sudden hot spots: For sudden hot spots, you must carefully consider whether to follow or not. If you follow something that is closely related to your brand image, you must also stick to the bottom line and stay away from pornography, gambling and drugs!
• Column-based topic selection: Column-based topic selection can be planned for the long term, such as quarterly or half-yearly, and is continuous, giving everyone a sense of regularity. Given that nothing is remembered on social media , if you want to emphasize the uniqueness of your column, you need to work hard on the form, such as audio, video, and infographic columns.
• Activity topic selection: Match with major corporate activities, make good use of time and resource advantages, and concentrate firepower to produce a series of highly relevant content.
• Product promotion : find existing information within the company, make a schedule, contact the author, and make modifications to complete the manuscript.

③ Topic reference

1. Observe what competing brands are doing. What they are doing at the same time point can be used as a reference for content adjustment.
2. Pay attention to the previous content analysis. What were the content indexes last week, last month, and last quarter? Use this as a reference to adjust the topic selection style for the next stage.
3. Focus on user needs. User needs will change, and while ensuring the consistency of content style, there must also be some changes, and you can focus on the fun of the content.
4. You must have your own bottom line that cannot be touched. When choosing a topic, you should also consider maintaining your brand image, avoiding negative energy, and not lowering your own style.

(2) Content creation

To create, you need to work hard on the title and content. "The title is responsible for opening, and the content is responsible for sharing. This is the golden rule." That is to say, the title determines its opening rate, and then the quality of the article really determines whether it will be shared.

① A good headline is necessary, but it must be relevant to the content!

80% of the reading volume of articles pushed by WeChat comes from forwarding in Moments . In the face of information explosion, we have to use clickbait titles, or make the titles more explosive to attract more people to click on them. Because only when he clicks on it, he will know that your content is good, and after knowing that your content is good, he will forward it. This is a closed loop. However, the clickbait title must be relevant to the content of the article. If it is not relevant, it will only destroy your own image!

② Content should be prepared for sharing

Some good sentences in the content can be highlighted. When readers forward it, they can just paste it in, add their own comments, and forward it.

Content that can trigger readers to share is mostly emotional. It is either new and novel enough to make them want to share, or it is classy enough that when shared, it can become their own social currency and build their own personal image.

③ Provide evidence for each argument.

A high-quality content must be credible. After putting forward the point of view, it can be supported by corresponding brand cases and data.

4. Creation: How to achieve 10,000 hours of practice through deliberate practice?

The difficulty of content production lies in the ability to produce continuously. It’s not about producing 100,000+ a day, but about doing it every day. This puts higher demands on content production. So, for a content producer, how can one achieve 10,000 hours of practice through deliberate practice?

(1) Cultivation of long-term working memory

• Give meaning and encode in detail: When reading normally, use metacognitive processing strategies to store words and terms in your own field when storing information. For content producers, ensuring extensive reading of one book every day is standard.
• Extracting structure: Design patterns.
• Speed ​​up and increase connections: Through a large number of repeated deliberate practice, increase the various pathways between long-term memory and working memory. For a large number of contacts, you can refer to the minimum volume of 1,500 words per day.

(2) Four writing principles

• Principle 1: A strong idea presented simply is far more effective than a weak idea presented strongly.
• Principle 2: After you finish the 15th draft, you can finally take a break. Say to yourself, "Okay, that's pretty good!" Then, tear it up and write it again. You will only get better and better.
• Principle 3: The number of words a writer has written and the ability to write an article of that number of words fluently are still the only criteria for measuring a writer's creative ability.
• Principle 4: Keep creating, and time will help you eliminate 99% of your opponents.

The self-media celebrity He Caitou once pointed out that if you keep creating, time will help you eliminate 99% of your opponents.

He said:

“Out of 10,000 people who want to write, no more than 3,000 will actually start writing. Among the 3,000 who start writing, no more than 1,500 will be able to write a second article, and no more than 750 will be able to write a third article. Therefore, no matter how bad your writing is, if you write long enough, you will eventually become one of a very small group of writers. The power of time will wash away most people, leaving only a very limited number of survivors.”

He Caitou himself is a perfect example: he started surfing the Internet in 1997, and has successively switched to BBSs such as Battle.net, China Youth Online, Jin Yong Inn, Paowangjianghu, Tianya Forum, and Kedi Community. He has also written on blogcn, Sina Blog , Paowang Blog, and independent blogs, and later on platforms such as Twitter, Weibo, and WeChat public accounts .

Good poets steal, bad poets borrow. When it comes to content creation, we must work simultaneously on three dimensions: product (building branded content), user (exploring audience needs), and writing (content production). We must rely on the ability to control words, and the role of marketing automation is also gradually emerging.