The Content B2B Buyers Want

In this episode, Jeff Coyle, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, MarketMuse and David Kirkdorfer, Fractional Interim Advisory On-Demand Executive Marketer explore content strategy for B2B technology and B2B buyers. The discussion revolves around creating content that addresses buyer journeys, questions, and understanding the audience’s needs and preferences.

• Understanding the content needs of B2B buyers
• Addressing buyer journeys and questions
• Creating content that is engaging and informative
• Organizing content effectively

Focus on creating content that answers buyers’ questions and speaks to their context

In B2B technology marketing, it is essential to create content that addresses the questions and concerns of potential buyers. David Kirkdorffer emphasizes the importance of understanding the buyer’s context and creating content that speaks to their specific needs.

David said, “As a content person, you may not have authority or purview over the website, depending on your role. But what you can do is bring the challenge to the website team and say, ‘Look, if I was looking for this information, I come to this, how do I find it?'” Jeff Coyle added, “You have to be proud of the fact that you can implement, troubleshoot, and build somebody who would want to give you a referral because if you don’t, they’re going to learn about it on Stack Exchange or a forum, and not from you.”

By focusing on answering buyers’ questions and speaking to their context, companies can create content that is both engaging and informative, ultimately driving more sales and increasing customer satisfaction.

Make B2B content fun and entertaining to engage with buyers

David Kirkdorfer and Jeff Coyle discussed the importance of making B2B content fun and entertaining in order to engage with buyers. This can be achieved through the use of memes, analogies, and storytelling, as well as by creating content that is unique to the company’s industry and target audience.

David said, “Memes are an amazing example of powerful messages that are fun because memes are understandable because people recognize the truth.” He also suggested that creating content that focuses on the pain and success of the buyer can lead to more engaging and fun content. Jeff added, “I think blue ocean content and then also success and pain lend themselves to creating fun ideas.”

By making B2B content fun and entertaining, companies can better engage with their target audience and improve the overall buyer experience.

Organize content in a way that exhibits expertise and answers buyers’ questions

Organizing content in a way that exhibits expertise and answers buyers’ questions is essential for B2B companies. David Kirkdorfer suggests that instead of organizing content by media type, companies should focus on organizing content based on the questions it answers and the information it provides to buyers.

David said, “As we’re creating content, or we’re auditing our websites for what content we’re already providing, take an honest look and say, ‘Well, where do we have a lot, where do we have a little?'” He also suggested auditing existing content and updating titles and abstracts to better align with the questions buyers are asking.

By organizing content in a way that answers buyers’ questions and showcases expertise, companies can better engage with their target audience and provide the information needed for them to make informed decisions.

Interesting Insights

1. Buyers typically have four key questions they want to answer during their journey: Is this the right category of solution? Is this a vendor we should consider? Will we be successful implementing this solution? Will we get an economic benefit from this solution?
2. Content should be engaging, informative, and entertaining, with a focus on educating and inspiring the audience.
3. Organizing content by media type is common but may not be the most effective way to address buyer questions and needs.

Key Quotes

• “Our buyers are looking for ideas, and we’re providing ideas in different media across different channels.”
• “The experience of learning about and working with your business is a differentiator.”
• “The key thing is to be interesting from the buyer’s perspective so that you’re making the content that the buyer cares about.”
• “If you can introduce new information that causes people to reassess their status quo, then that’s what happens to that 7% and that 30%.”
• “If you’re working at a startup today or you’re working at a Fortune 1000 focused enterprise software company, you know the problem. So how can you focus? Well, the main thing I’m suggesting is those four questions and looping answers to those information that answers those four questions infusing all of your content.”

Featured Guest

David Kirkdorffer has 20 years of B2B Tech marketing experience at start-ups and publicly traded technology companies targeting IT and LOB buyers in SMBs and Enterprise Accounts.

Technologies David has marketed include MarTech, software developer tools, numerous cybersecurity solutions, databases, business process optimization, and IT infrastructure. David’s marketing is focused on driving sales as he guides teams and activities toward new ways to increase market awareness and opportunity creation.

• Connective tissue between Sales, Product, and Marketing.
• Building marketing programs, systems, and metrics for more Sales Opportunities.
• Determining the right ICP target and developing the right messages to optimize success.
• Sales enablement & content – building the content needed to accelerate Buyer activations.

David’s marketing has helped drive four acquisitions and one public offering.

Resources

• Slides from the show.