7 Ways to Amplify Your Content - and Get Leads and Site Traffic
Creating valuable and relevant content is no longer enough to attract customers. Fierce industry competition and the amount of content published daily have tightened the chances of content marketing success. Only companies with a robust content marketing strategy that includes all steps of the content lifecycle enjoy the benefits of content marketing.
Getting your content across to your target audience is critical to marketing success. No content will attain its full potential if it’s not adequately distributed and promoted with the right strategy. That is where content amplification comes in.
What Is Content Amplification?
Content amplification is the concept of using various channels to promote and distribute content to gain a wider reach. Content amplification aims to boost online presence, stay memorable, increase engagement, and ultimately drive more traffic, leads, and conversions.
It’s a vital concept for B2B marketing.
Why Is Content Amplification Important for B2B Marketing?
Content amplification is crucial to B2B marketing because it allows companies to get their content across to the right audience (decision-makers) at the right time and in the proper context.
B2B purchase decisions are often made by multiple stakeholders who ask numerous questions and conduct intense research on various platforms. Effective content amplification increases a company’s likelihood of staying top-of-mind when these decision-makers decide.
According to a Converge report, 90% of B2B companies said content amplification enhanced their content marketing strategy results. No matter how great a piece of content is and the high engagement it attracts, it’ll yield more results with content amplification.
To reach the right audience and attract qualified leads, it’s more than important for companies to use the right content amplification strategies and techniques.
7 Ways to Make Content Amplification Work for You (Platforms, Strategies, and Techniques)
Here are seven ways to amplify content:
1. Leverage Social Media
Social media is an inexhaustible gold mine for B2B brand visibility. There are over 4.7 billion people on social media, which gives marketers an ocean of prospects to tap into.
Result-focused B2B companies can use social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to amplify content and reach a specific audience. Don’t just share content once; routinely share your content according to a content amplification strategy that aligns with your digital content strategy goals.
2. Collaborate with Influencers
A strong content amplification strategy involves partnering with industry influencers and thought leaders. Influencer marketing enables companies to share relevant content and promote their products and solutions.
According to Smart Insight's essential influencer marketing facts for 2020, 51% of marketers agreed that influencer marketing helped them acquire better customers. This is because a partnership with the right niche influencer gives you access to an audience filled with potential clients.
While some influencers might offer this service for free, others would want a mutually beneficial relationship.
3. Adopt Paid Promotion
Another critical way to amplify content is to pay for promotions on search engines, social media, and other online platforms. B2B companies in the start-up phase can use paid promotions to gain adequate visibility and reach.
Paid promotion is a highly effective content amplification strategy that allows you to target audiences with specific demographics and interests.
4. Repurpose Your Content
People have preferences when it comes to content format. While some love reading texts, others prefer content in an image or video format. Infographics are also highly effective with some groups of people.
B2B companies should understand these natural differences and make the most of them by repurposing their content to suit different audience preferences. Repurposing content into e-books, podcasts, infographics, and videos enables your company to reach a broader audience.
Furthermore, repurposing content enables your audience to easily share them with their network, increasing your reach, conversions, and profitability.
A Referral Rock survey showed that 94% of marketers surveyed repurposed their content, while the remaining 6% planned to do so in the future. In the same study, 46% of the marketers indicated that repurposing content brought in the best results in terms of leads, conversions, etc., compared to other efforts.
5. Engage with Your Community
Communities provide opportunities for B2B marketers to amplify their content with ease. By answering questions and contributing to important discussions on online forums, commenting on other blogs, and actively connecting with others on social media, B2B marketers can efficiently promote their content to a broader audience.
6. Optimize for Search Engines
Optimizing content for search engines is crucial for companies to amplify their content. Growth-driven companies can optimize content with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, tags, and other on-page optimization strategies. Also, add several content assets, like whitepapers, e-books, templates, quizzes, infographics, and videos, to give your content a natural amplification.
GaggleAMP analyzed 50 of HubSpot’s most shared blog posts and found that 84% of the posts had content assets such as calculators, quizzes, templates, etc. Well-optimized content will rank well and go shoulder-to-shoulder with websites with strong domain authority.
7. Use Email Marketing
Email marketing is another crucial way to amplify content effectively. Email subscribers are often loyalists, and if you execute effective email marketing, they’ll always expect your emails and forward your valuable content to their networks.
Content Amplification Tools
Here are some tools to make your content amplification easier:
OutBrain: An online platform that provides content discovery and recommendation services. It allows marketers to promote their content on major media outlets and websites.
BuzzSumo: A social media analytics tool that enables companies to track trends and identify industry influencers to help promote their content.
Buffer: A social media management tool that enables users to schedule and publish content on various platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
CoSchedule: A tool that helps businesses create and distribute content, manage their editorial calendar, and track the performance of their marketing campaigns.
GaggleAMP: A social media amplification tool that enables businesses to amplify their social media presence using the power of employee advocacy.
Common Amplification Goals and KPIs
Here are some content amplification goals and common KPIs.
- Increase Website Traffic: The KPIs for measuring this goal are monthly traffic, bounce rate, page views, time on site, etc.
- Generate Leads: The KPIs to measure lead generation are conversion rate, click-through rate (CTR), cost per lead (CPL), lead quality, etc.
- Boost Brand Awareness: Marketers use impressions, social media shares, mentions, and reach to measure this content amplification goal.
- Improve Engagement: The most common KPIs for this content amplification goal are likes, comments, and shares on social media, email open rates, click-through rates, and time spent on a page.
- Increase Sales: Sales increase is one of the essential content amplification goals, and it is measured with conversion rate, revenue generated, cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on investment (ROI).
Amplify Your Content to Improve Your Content Marketing ROI
Content amplification is critical to every content marketing strategy as it enhances the content reach and significantly improves brand awareness, lead generation, and return on investment. Smart B2B marketers don’t fail to make plans for content promotion while planning out their content marketing approach.
At Seven Oaks Consulting, we understand the importance of content amplification to B2B technology companies, which is why it’s a critical part of every content marketing strategy we develop.
We’re an expert content marketing agency offering content marketing solutions to B2B companies. We can serve as your content marketing team to keep your content wheel running while you focus on your business, or we can be your go-to company for outsourced content. Either way, we align our goals with yours to achieve marketing success. Reach out to learn how we can help.
3 Quick Tips to Write an Effective Case Study
A case study is an essential part of the B2B content marketing strategy. When a potential client reads your case studies, they have perused your website and have a very good idea of what your company can offer. This is the stage where the buyer is considering and deciding. Case studies allow them to get to know your company more and will help.
Make Sure Your Case Study Relates to Your Ideal Client
A case study is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how your company adds value by solving problems for your clients. You’ll want to ensure your case study is relatable to your clients.
Take some time to think about your ideal client, their industry, and their problems. You’ll want your case studies to reflect these concepts and include answers your client finds relevant. If the client does, they are more likely to trust you.
Be Specific
Don’t exclude details when creating your case study. You may be required to maintain client confidentiality or leave specific information out of the case study at a client’s request. But you should always be as specific as possible with the information you do include, such as:
- Your client’s name
If you have permission to use your client’s name, do so by all means. If not, then keep this information confidential. You can describe the client by their industry, business size, etc.
Before publishing your case study, check the description with your client to ensure they feel comfortable. Some clients are more sensitive than others about maintaining their privacy. You don’t want to reveal so much information that someone reading the case study can determine your client’s identity.
- The client’s problem
Don’t hesitate to provide details about your client’s problem. This is where you draw potential clients in. If they can see their problems when reading your case study, they can relate to it more readily.
- The solution
It’s not enough to let the reader know that you were able to solve the problem. Back up your statement with numbers. Tell the reader how the solution your company suggested or implemented was able to benefit your client in real terms. “Once Client [X] started doing [y], their company was able to save [z] percent annually.” This is something the potential client can relate to and helps them move toward deciding whether to work with you.
Tell the Whole Story
When you write your case study, make sure you tell the story from start to finish. Slow down to ensure that you don’t miss any details along the way. Ensure that the case study includes your initial contact with the client and the client discussing the problem initially. This kind of detail gives the reader context before they move into the specifics of the problem and how your company was able to solve it.
The Value of Content Marketing for Technology Companies
11 Ways Content Marketing Drives Value for Technology Companies
Content marketing for technology companies continually achieves success, especially for B2B companies in highly competitive industries. The more tech companies launch and offer diverse products and services, the more the market gets noisier. Only companies that effectively communicate their value proposition will eventually meet their marketing goals, boost market share, increase revenue, and gain a competitive edge.
Although companies employ various strategies to communicate their value proposition and increase market share, content marketing has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies.
A Content Marketing Institute report showed that 73% of B2B and 75% of B2C companies use content marketing to show their expertise and authoritativeness, build customer trust, drive business results, and improve profit margins.
Before I explore how content marketing brings immeasurable value to B2B tech companies, the essence of a practical content marketing strategy, and the best way to win with content marketing, let me briefly discuss…
Why Content Marketing Is Key to Success for Tech Companies
Content marketing integrates with and powers all other marketing channels, which is part of why 22% of B2B marketers spend 50% or more of their total marketing budget on content marketing. It enables companies to educate and inform their target audience on diverse, relevant, and helpful topics ranging from the latest industry trends to best practices, client FAQs and pain points, etc. It helps smart companies to establish themselves as thought leaders and trusted advisors, increasing credibility and trust.
Customers are easily drawn to companies that share valuable content. Strategic content addresses clients' pain points and challenges, attracts and converts quality leads, and drives business results.
Furthermore, content marketing is crucial to achieving brand visibility, awareness, and a positive reputation, which is vital to every tech company's success.
It's non-negotiable if you're in business to make a profit. A Semrush survey of marketing pros showed that 91% of the respondents agreed that they achieved success with content marketing in 2021.
How Content Marketing Brings Value to Tech Companies
Content marketing brings overall long-term value.
1. Increase Brand Awareness
Content marketing is invaluable for building brand awareness and increasing visibility on a budget, as supported by eighty percent of marketers. Tech companies leverage content marketing to create compelling brand stories that induce an emotional connection in customers. Compelling brand storytelling communicates a company's mission, vision, and unique selling proposition, ultimately differentiating the company from competitors.
Furthermore, with billions of social media users available, an effective digital content strategy leverages social media platforms' potential for lead generation. Tech companies with effective content marketing strategies preach their products and services on social media, enabling them to acquire only quality leads.
2. Increase Website Traffic
Tech companies use content marketing to drive website traffic by providing valuable information that addresses critical clients' questions and pain points. According to Hubspot data, consistent content marketing yielded 55% more website traffic for the companies.
Excellent content marketing provides SEO-rich valuable content and promotes content through other content amplification channels. These increase content reach and drive more quality traffic.
3. Generate Quality Leads
Effective content marketing helps tech companies attract quality leads actively seeking solutions. HubSpot surveyed 1400 websites, and among other findings, it was revealed that companies that adopted content marketing gathered 68% more leads from blogging alone than customers without blogs.
Their 2023 state of marketing report, which included original data from over 1200 marketers across the globe, also supported that inbound marketing channels like content marketing drives 54% more leads than traditional marketing channels.
When you publish whitepapers, ebooks, blogs, webinars, and other informative materials packaged to deliver value, clients will trust you enough to drop their contacts, allowing you to follow up and move them down the sales funnel.
4. Establish Thought Leadership
Future-proof tech companies establish themselves as thought leaders by creating informative and insightful content and repeatedly addressing industry questions and concerns. This practice builds credibility and increases reputation and trust, as customers see such companies as reliable sources for credible industry information.
A 2020 study by Edelman and LinkedIn featured expanded insights from 3,275 global business leaders. It showed that nearly 90% of C-level decision-makers believed that thought leadership influences their opinion of a company.
Companies that successfully establish thought leadership easily convert their target audience into brand loyalists and advocates, increasing retention and profitability.
5. Build a Community
Customer-oriented companies understand the importance of a community of vibrant, happy, and loyal followers and leverage all available means to build one.
Content marketing effectively builds a valuable loyal community around a company, its products, and its services. B2Bs that create content that encourages discussion and engagement foster a sense of brand affinity that increase brand loyalty. A community of loyal customers increases brand visibility and reduces advertising and other customer acquisition, support, and retention costs, increasing profitability in the long run.
6. Enhance Customer Engagement
Content marketing improves customer engagement and service delivery.
Creating and effectively distributing valuable, shareable content is an excellent way to engage prospects across customer touchpoints. Smart tech companies use this approach to increase content reach, increase visibility for their products and services and generate more quality leads, conversions, and referrals.
7. Support Sales Efforts
Content marketing supports and enables sales to achieve more. A robust sales enablement strategy streamlines the collaboration between marketing and sales so that marketing qualifies leads before passing them on to sales. This relationship involves using content to attract, engage, and delight prospects before moving them down the sales funnel for conversion. Doing this reduces the load on the sales team, reduces customer acquisition costs, and boosts revenue generation.
8. Showcase Products and Features
As highlighted, content marketing helps companies showcase products, service features, and benefits. While providing information and addressing clients' pain points, tech companies can present their products and services as solutions to the challenges.
Effective content marketing involving practical content like case studies and visual content like webinars is so powerful that companies can make potential clients experience their products and services with detailed descriptions. This information eliminates conversion barriers and facilitates purchasing decisions.
9. Provide Customer Support
As clients seek more and more self-service support, content marketing makes it easy for companies to meet clients' concerns and questions even before the ticket reaches the CX department. Companies that provide detailed information on industry topics and answers to frequently asked questions about their products reduce the workload on customer support teams and improve customer satisfaction.
Savvy tech companies set up knowledge bases and provide product documentation to help customers solve problems and learn more about their products or service without contacting the support team. Even more, these companies use social media and email marketing to provide additional support and keep customers informed of new features or changes to their products or services, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
10. Provide Analytics and Insights
Customer insights are critical to the success of B2B tech companies. Content marketing analytics data provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, helping companies improve their products and provide better customer experience.
Forward-thinking companies make data-driven decisions powered by metrics such as website traffic, engagement, bounce rates, lead generation rates, most visited pages, customer journey maps, most searched keywords, etc., that help them discover customers' preferences and refine their content marketing strategy to meet those preferences.
11. Support Recruitment Efforts
Content marketing is also instrumental in recruiting top talents. It helps a company showcase its culture and values and highlight career opportunities. Tech companies that create content around their company culture and work ethics and how it supports the comfort and growth of their employees attract the best talents.
A Content Marketing Approach That Yields Optimal Results
Content marketing is essential. So is having a robust content marketing strategy that yields optimal results at a minimal cost. A good content marketing strategy and execution is the key to staying competitive in a highly competitive tech industry.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 5% of B2B marketers don't plan to develop a content marketing strategy. Being a part of this minority automatically puts any tech company at a disadvantage, as 95% of others implementing content marketing strategies will indeed have a competitive edge.
Because adopting content marketing is a must for profit-minded companies, B2Bs are often faced with two options - hiring in-house content marketers and putting them on a monthly salary or outsourcing their content marketing needs to experts experienced in developing, executing, and managing content marketing strategies.
What a company will opt for depends on many factors, including budget, personnel available, experience level, company size, etc. Whatever you choose, your content marketing strategy must track the right value metrics that bring business to the company. That way, you're not chasing shadows with your content marketing.
Work with Experts that Maximize Content Marketing Value for Tech Companies
The value of content marketing for tech companies can't be overemphasized. A well-implemented content marketing strategy can move a tech company from zero recognition to becoming a trusted, reliable go-to brand for quality industry information. It increases lead generation and conversion, boosts revenue, enhances CX delivery, and yields long-term business value.
Seven Oaks Consulting provides content marketing for technology companies that achieve tremendous results with content marketing. We're a content marketing outsourcing company that can assist you so you can focus on other business processes and be assured of winning with content.
We have 15+ years of experience providing content marketing for technology companies. We invite you to reach out to discuss how we can help your company benefit from these values of content marketing for tech companies.
How to Build an Audience Through Free Content
You are undoubtedly familiar with the sales cycle, and it's normal for some customers to take time before deciding to buy. What do you do in the meantime? You do the following:
- Continue to be helpful to your customers by offering exemplary customer service.
- Establish yourself as an expert in your niche.
- Build an audience by providing prospective customers with free content they can use.
Why Would You Provide Free Content?
Why would you want to give anything away? Usually, that strategy flies in the face of what you have been taught to run a successful business.
In this case, we're talking about giving away content that your current and prospective customers can use. They will find it helpful and remember the company that provides valuable, free content when they are ready to make a buying decision.
How to Build an Audience Through Sharing Content Strategically
Your team can provide free content to your audience in many forms. Consider these options to develop a following, win loyalty, and gain a long-term customer base.
1. Offer a free report.
Offer a free report to those who sign up for your mailing list. It should be on a timely topic that prospective customers will find interesting. The three to five page report is something that readers can easily digest.
2. Write blog posts.
Ideally, a blog post should be more conversational than an article. Picture chatting in comfortable chairs with a few friends beside a roaring fire. They've asked you a question about a problem they are having. What tone would you use when responding to them?
Company blog posts should be warm but professional. You want to avoid using jargon or any language that is inflammatory or offensive. The goal is to bring readers in, not drive them away.
Consider that if online users like your posts, they will share them with others. If enough internet users "Like" your posts, there is a chance your free content will go viral.
Always include "Like" and "Share" buttons on your blog posts and invite your readers to use them.
3. Reply to comments on your blog posts.
Don't ignore comments on your blog post. Always respond to them; this is an excellent way to start an online discussion.
Not everyone will agree with your blog content, and even the naysayers can comment on what you post. Always start by thanking them for their thoughtful comment; then respond respectfully.
4. Speak at local business group meetings.
Local business groups are always looking for speakers to appear at their meetings. Contact the small business association in your city (and nearby cities) and the local chamber of commerce to volunteer your services.
Before reaching out, think carefully about the topics you (or one of your executives) could discuss and why they would interest local business owners. Ask how long the business group would like the presentation to be for its members. Bring plenty of business cards to hand out to the business group members. Ask whether you can bring brochures for group members if they wish to have more information about your company.
5. Offer to do radio and television spots on local stations.
Local radio and television stations may seek content that their listeners and viewers will find interesting. Contact producers at local stations and offer to provide some on-air content. You will likely score some points if you have a specific topic ready.
If the listeners or viewers like what they hear or see, you can turn a casual experience into a regular gig. The key is to be approachable. Focus on people's problems and how your company has the solutions to help solve them.
Content Strategy Tips - Owned vs Rented Land
On our brand new YouTube Channel, Jeanne shares her thoughts on Joe Pulizzi's famous quote, "Don't build your content house on rented land" - as well as why you should actually have a strategy for sharing content on 'rented land'.
What Is "Owned" and "Rented" Land in Content Marketing?
In content marketing, we talk about owned vs. rented digital land. This is an analogy to building a house. When you build a house, you must own the land you build it on - or else the owner of the land can kick you out of the house at any time.
If you build your digital version of a house, that central place where you direct your customers, clients, and readers to, on a website you neither own nor control, you are at risk of the site owner cutting off access at any time - the digital version of a landowner kicking you out of the rented land!
I've seen this a lot with small business owners who build their 'house' or digital business presence on a Facebook page. They even go so far as to put the page URL on their signage or business cards. That's not bad, per se, but using only Facebook as your online presence is very dangerous. Facebook can at any time cut off your access to the page, shut your page down, or decide to charge high fees. If you build your online or digital presence on a website that you own or control, you're assured it will be there as long as you want it to be there.
Why White Paper Content Marketing Boosts Market Share for B2B Technology Companies
Technology companies leverage white paper content marketing to increase branding and authority, boost market share, and increase profitability. A well-written white paper can be a lead magnet, boost brand and product visibility, and establish thought leadership.
B2B technology companies need more than blog posts, articles, web content, and other traditional content formats to attract quality leads because B2B prospects are unlikely to become leads if they don't feel your industry authority status. Adopting white paper content marketing establishes industry authority, wins prospects' trust, and generates quality leads.
A Content Marketing Institute survey reported that whitepapers (50%) are amongst the top three most effective types of content B2B marketers use for content marketing purposes, and 62% of the respondents found it most successful.
What is white paper content marketing? How is it structured? Why do you need it for an effective B2B content marketing campaign? How can you get the best white paper writers for your company?
Table of contents
What Is a White Paper?
Originally an official government report providing detailed information on a specific policy, a white paper has transcended into business.
It's an authoritative report that educates or informs the target audience on a specific, complex topic or concept. It's used to analyze a pain point and possible solutions in detail, with data backing up the information.
Primarily used by B2B companies, a white paper is heavy-duty content marketing material. It can place a company on top of the SERPs, win the audience's trust, and boost industry authority status.
With 71% of B2B buyers making their purchasing decisions with the help of a white paper, it's evident that a well-executed white paper marketing strategy benefits tech companies.
Quick Fact: Some business owners often mistake white papers for blog posts or ebooks. They're not the same; white papers differ in length and usage.
How Long Are White Papers, and What Do They Include?
White papers are typically 2,500 to 5,000 words long. Sometimes, they can stretch to over 10,000 words, depending on the need and targeted audience. Detailed white papers contain text, infographics, statistics, and other visual elements that add to the report's credibility and are available in digital formats like PDFs, HTML5, and JavaScript.
White papers go in-depth and take the form of typical academic research reports. They include report components like the title page, abstract, problem statement, proposed problem solution, conclusion, and references. The level of research that goes into white papers is why most B2B companies include white papers in their content marketing strategy. These companies use white papers to inform and educate their audience about concepts and topics around the problem that their products and services solve.
Despite informing potential clients about a company's products or services, white papers are not salesy. This non-salesy nature of white papers is part of the reason clients consider them credible and critical content marketing material for B2B companies.
Why Are White Papers Useful for B2B Technology Content Marketing?
The B2B technology industry is complex and requires high-level authority marketing. Being your target audience's go-to authority profoundly benefits your market share, visibility, and bottom line, while not living up to your potential clients' expectations can be colossal.
White paper content strategy and marketing is an excellent way to educate your audience about important industry concepts and trends while establishing brand authority. It is also a great way to consistently bring your brand, product, and services to your customers' attention.
Here are a few reasons white papers are essential content marketing materials for B2B technology companies:
1. Quality Lead Generation
White papers contain detailed research about a topic or problem and its solutions, so they make excellent lead-generation materials. Business executives and key company decision-makers won't mind parting with their details and even certain brand information in exchange for a white paper that contains specific information they need.
Gated white papers work effectively for lead generation. However, some companies don't gate their white papers; instead, they use highly persuasive CTAs to turn readers into warm leads.
Your technology company can build a database of quality and ready-to-buy leads by consistently publishing insightful white papers.
2. Build Trust and Establish Brand Authority
B2B customers trust authority companies more and prefer to do business with a company that understands their needs. With informative white papers addressing critical customer issues, a company can present itself as the key authority and gain the trust of its target audience.
Building trust and brand authority takes resources, especially when you're playing in a highly competitive market. Consistently churning out well-researched white papers shows that you know your stuff.
3. Educate Your Audience
The technology and automation industry is highly technical. As an industry player, there's a need to explain certain concepts and procedures and debunk wrong practices already accepted as industry norms. Most importantly, it's crucial to acquaint your audience with your products and demonstrate how your product solves their problems.
Most technology companies use a good white paper content strategy to educate C-level executives, influencers, bloggers, analysts, and other relevant bodies, on their products. When executed successfully, the message goes out that you're the B2B buyers' go-to person for credible industry information and products.
4. Create Brand or Product Awareness
Another key use of white paper content marketing for technology companies is brand or product awareness. Because white papers are in-depth research reports on specific complex topics and concepts, they're read by highly qualified leads with particular content needs. These readers consume all relevant information on the white paper, allowing you to market your brand or product.
Similarly, if you're to launch a new product, white papers can help educate your readers about your new product. You can give your B2B customers a heads-up about how your products will solve their problems more than your competitors, halting their purchasing decisions given your 'superior solution.'
Consistently publishing well-researched white papers will gain the followership of company executives who follow your updates, read your white papers, and recommend other executives and employees to do so too. This grows your brand reach while amassing highly qualified leads for you.
5. Create Evergreen and Repurposable Content
White papers are excellent resource materials for producing other B2B content like blog posts, social media content, infographics, and explainer videos because they're well-researched and cover details about a particular topic.
Businesses that produce many white papers never run out of content ideas, as information can always be repurposed. This, in turn, gets more people to read the white paper because customers get access to it through the small bits of content created from it.
6. Incite Engagements
Although B2B tech businesses use white papers for serious, official communications, they can be used on a lighter note to incite engagements and gain visibility. Thought-provoking opinions or content that challenges norms gets readers to further research topics and brands. If the white paper gets people to argue and talk about your company's views, you're hitting the right nerves. If your opinion about the topic is valid, you have earned warm, quality leads.
It's essential, however, to use an inoffensive tone and language in such white papers so you don't make enemies of your competitors.
7. White Papers Are a Great Way to Acquire Quality Backlinks for Your Website SEO Naturally
White papers are data-packed resources often cited by online publishers and website owners to support their arguments in blog posts, articles, etc.
Companies that publish white papers get backlinks anytime data from their white paper is used and cited in any online publication. Quality backlinks, especially from authoritative websites, are one of the critical determinants of how useful your website looks in the eyes of search engines.
The more backlinks your white papers attract for your website, the more credibility and authority your website gets. This has immense SEO and content marketing benefits and increases your chances of generating leads organically via search engines.
How to Find the Best White Paper Writers for B2B Tech Companies
The best tech white paper writers aren't just skilled in writing; they understand marketing, human psychology, and the extensive research process involved in writing white papers. It takes expertise and experience to develop highly detailed content that's engaging and easy to read, written in the best tone and language that appeals to the audience.
All white paper writers are good content writers, but not all good content writers are white paper writers.
The critical and specific nature of B2B tech company white papers makes it crucial to hire a writer who understands that each audience and message needs a unique tone and use of language, a writer with industry experience, and who understands the business side of the industry. Of course, subject matter enthusiasm, long-form writing experience, and solid communication skills are among the first characteristics to look for in a white paper writer.
Seven Oaks Consulting Offers the Best White Paper Writing Services
At Seven Oaks Consulting, we have white paper writing experts focused on writing for technology companies. We help companies educate their audience, build authority, and acquire high-converting leads through white paper strategy and marketing. We've been in business for over 15 years, working with future-minded tech organizations that understand the importance of quality content marketing in today's B2B business environment.
With Seven Oaks, you have the peace of mind of working with a stable, mature, professional, and reliable team of marketing experts, white paper writers, and editors.
Reach out to us now to discuss how we can help you build authority and generate leads with white paper content marketing.
Three Quick Tips to Write Effective Case Studies
A case study is an essential part of the B2B content marketing strategy. When a potential client reads your case studies, they have perused your website and have a very good idea of what your company can offer. This is the stage where the buyer is considering and deciding. Case studies allow them to get to know your company more and will help.
Make Sure Your Case Study Relates to Your Ideal Client
A case study is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how your company adds value by solving problems for your clients. You’ll want to ensure your case study is relatable to your clients.
Take some time to think about your ideal client, their industry, and their problems. You’ll want your case studies to reflect these concepts and include answers your client finds relevant. If the client does, they are more likely to trust you.
Be Specific
Don’t exclude details when creating your case study. You may be required to maintain client confidentiality or leave specific information out of the case study at a client’s request. But you should always be as specific as possible with the information you do include, such as:
- Your client’s name
If you have permission to use your client’s name, do so by all means. If not, then keep this information confidential. You can describe the client by their industry, business size, etc.
Before publishing your case study, check the description with your client to ensure they feel comfortable. Some clients are more sensitive than others about maintaining their privacy. You don’t want to reveal so much information that someone reading the case study can determine your client’s identity.
- The client’s problem
Don’t hesitate to provide details about your client’s problem. This is where you draw potential clients in. If they can see their problems when reading your case study, they can relate to it more readily.
- The solution
It’s not enough to let the reader know that you were able to solve the problem. Back up your statement with numbers. Tell the reader how the solution your company suggested or implemented was able to benefit your client in real terms. “Once Client [X] started doing [y], their company was able to save [z] percent annually.” This is something the potential client can relate to and helps them move toward deciding whether to work with you.
Tell the Whole Story
When you write your case study, make sure you tell the story from start to finish. Slow down to ensure that you don’t miss any details along the way. Ensure that the case study includes your initial contact with the client and the client discussing the problem initially. This kind of detail gives the reader context before they move into the specifics of the problem and how your company was able to solve it.
Once you're done, be sure to publish your case study and share it using content amplification techniques.
How to Build an Audience Through Free Content
You are undoubtedly familiar with the sales cycle, and it's normal for some customers to take time before deciding to buy. What do you do in the meantime? You do the following:
- Continue to be helpful to your customers by offering exemplary customer service.
- Establish yourself as an expert in your niche.
- Build an audience by providing prospective customers with free content they can use.
Why Would You Provide Free Content?
Why would you want to give anything away? Usually, that strategy flies in the face of what you have been taught to run a successful business.
In this case, we're talking about giving away content that your current and prospective customers can use. They will find it helpful and remember the company that provides valuable, free content when they are ready to make a buying decision.
How to Build an Audience Through Sharing Content Strategically
Your team can provide free content to your audience in many forms. Consider these options to develop a following, win loyalty, and gain a long-term customer base.
1. Offer a free report.
Offer a free report to those who sign up for your mailing list. It should be on a timely topic that prospective customers will find interesting. The three to five page report is something that readers can easily digest.
2. Write blog posts.
Ideally, a blog post should be more conversational than an article. Picture chatting in comfortable chairs with a few friends beside a roaring fire. They've asked you a question about a problem they are having. What tone would you use when responding to them?
Company blog posts should be warm but professional. You want to avoid using jargon or any language that is inflammatory or offensive. The goal is to bring readers in, not drive them away.
Consider that if online users like your posts, they will share them with others. If enough internet users "Like" your posts, there is a chance your free content will go viral.
Always include "Like" and "Share" buttons on your blog posts and invite your readers to use them.
3. Reply to comments on your blog posts.
Don't ignore comments on your blog post. Always respond to them; this is an excellent way to start an online discussion.
Not everyone will agree with your blog content, and even the naysayers can comment on what you post. Always start by thanking them for their thoughtful comment; then respond respectfully.
4. Speak at local business group meetings.
Local business groups are always looking for speakers to appear at their meetings. Contact the small business association in your city (and nearby cities) and the local chamber of commerce to volunteer your services.
Before reaching out, think carefully about the topics you (or one of your executives) could discuss and why they would interest local business owners. Ask how long the business group would like the presentation to be for its members. Bring plenty of business cards to hand out to the business group members. Ask whether you can bring brochures for group members if they wish to have more information about your company.
5. Offer to do radio and television spots on local stations.
Local radio and television stations may seek content that their listeners and viewers will find interesting. Contact producers at local stations and offer to provide some on-air content. You will likely score some points if you have a specific topic ready.
If the listeners or viewers like what they hear or see, you can turn a casual experience into a regular gig. The key is to be approachable.
B2B Content Marketing Doesn't Have to be Boring!
Ask your browser to provide a definition of business-to-business (B2B) content, and you’ll get an admittedly ... dry ... response: “... a form of transaction between businesses, such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer. Business-to-business refers to business that is conducted between companies, rather than between a company and individual consumer. Business-to-business stands in contrast to business-to-consumer and business-to-government transactions.”
B2B Content Has the Potential to Fascinate
But B2B content has the potential to be downright fascinating.
Businesses do so many interesting things and communicating about each other’s products or services can enliven any effort at marketing.
Think about every business you use or work for. There’s more to it than being a simple provider of a thing — a product. A business is people, first and foremost.
There’s an owner, who might have spent years working for other companies to develop the skills needed to establish or overcome challenges to launch and maintain it. That’s good content.
That owner might have invented the product the business makes/sells/distributes. More good content.
The company might support community projects and charitable causes. That’s great content.
There are employees, some of whom might be in their first-ever jobs or been with the business for many years, have special skills, have gotten a first chance to show they can contribute despite a disability or health issue, or won awards. That’s good content.
The things a business produces, sells or distributes can save lives, make life more fun or interesting, educate people, bring people together, and more. More good content.
Businesses rely on each other; they are symbiotic. Every business needs to know, and show, how it fits with other businesses — how all of these aspects of what makes a business interesting can work together to enhance and support each other and the communities where they operate.
Content can focus on how one company supports or works with another through products, community service, materials, training or education, personnel, or professional services.
Before assuming that B2B marketing is “boring,” look for what makes those businesses interesting or important and use B2B marketing to connect them to each other for a stronger economy and community. Every business needs other businesses to survive and thrive.
Every business has a story, and B2B marketing can be a great way to relay those stories, in the business sector and to the wider world.
Content Strategy Tips - Owned vs Rented Land
On our brand new YouTube Channel, Jeanne shares her thoughts on Joe Pulizzi's famous quote, "Don't build your content house on rented land" - as well as why you should actually have a strategy for sharing content on 'rented land'.
What Is "Owned" and "Rented" Land in Content Marketing?
In content marketing, we talk about owned vs. rented digital land. This is an analogy to building a house. When you build a house, you must own the land you build it on - or else the owner of the land can kick you out of the house at any time.
If you build your digital version of a house, that central place where you direct your customers, clients, and readers to, on a website you neither own nor control, you are at risk of the site owner cutting off access at any time - the digital version of a landowner kicking you out of the rented land!
I've seen this a lot with small business owners who build their 'house' or digital business presence on a Facebook page. They even go so far as to put the page URL on their signage or business cards. That's not bad, per se, but using only Facebook as your online presence is very dangerous. Facebook can at any time cut off your access to the page, shut your page down, or decide to charge high fees. If you build your online or digital presence on a website that you own or control, you're assured it will be there as long as you want it to be there.