How to Develop a Solid B2B Content Marketing Strategy
                     How to Develop a 
Solid B2B Content 
Marketing Strategy
https://goodmanlantern.com/
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Content marketing is a vital part of any B2B marketing strategy. Not only is it 
effective for generating new leads – it is also useful for nurturing warm leads into 
sales-readiness. It also contributes to the entire sales and marketing pipeline. The 
stats back this up. The average B2B customer consumes between three and five 
pieces of content before they engage with a sales rep. 96% of those buyers choose 
to do business with organisations who have provided them with relevant content 
throughout the buyer’s journey. So it’s clear that an effective content marketing 
strategy can have a dramatic impact on both lead generation and lead quality.
There are two parts to creating an effective content marketing strategy – the 
content and the distribution. Whether your content is created in-house, or it’s 
outsourced, you need to be tactical about your content marketing strategy. Leads 
nurtured by content spend up to 47% more, so you want to make sure your 
content marketing is done right.
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FIRST THINGS 
FIRST
Content marketing 
differs in outlook from 
other B2B marketing 
strategies, because it 
hinges on giving 
something back to 
your prospects. 
Channels like email 
marketing and digital 
marketing push 
adverts and messages 
out, asking people who 
have an interest to 
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express it.
In the short run, they may gain a free demonstration or trial, and in the long run, 
they’ll gain a product or solution.
With content marketing, however, you’re offering something of value in exchange 
for the expression of interest. These objects of value come in the form of an 
insightful or informative medium; most commonly, this is a blog or downloadable 
asset like an eBook or whitepaper. It could also be something a little more varied, 
such as a video, podcast or infographic. This content is created with a double 
intention: to raise interest in your product or solution, but also to share knowledge 
and entice discussion in your field.
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This means prospects are further inclined to inquire, as they’re thankful for the 
content and now thinking about their business needs. But it also works to nurture 
those who may not be ready to buy just yet. After reading a few blogs and 
watching a couple of videos, the prospect may then realize you can help them, and 
come to you for a solution.
So how is this done? How can you create an 
effective content marketing strategy that generates both hot and warm 
business leads, doesn’t repeat itself and is consistent in its results? 
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HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE B2B 
CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY
Perfect your Buyer Personas
If you’re not already using buyer personas, you should be. And if you are, make 
sure they’re perfect. 
In a nutshell, a buyer persona is a representation of your ideal buyer. The more 
information you can attribute to it, the better. Make sure you’re covering both 
bigger picture factors and more detailed, micro preferences. For example:
• What industry are they in?
• What facilities do they need for your product/solution to work?
• Who is their clientele?
• What’s their annual turnover?
• What’s their business size?
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Where are they based? These are often similar to the questions used in turning a 
normal business lead into a qualified lead. Then look to more specific detail:
 What’s their job title?
 What’s their seniority?
 Can they make a decision alone?
 What’s their time scale for purchasing?
 What’s their budget?
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 What are their needs?
 Which hours of the day are they in the office?
 What are they already aware of and what do they need to know?
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Other Details About B2B Content 
Marketing
Pad your buyer persona out with these details. Some organizations have two or 
three different personas, where they have several use cases and market to 
varying industries. So why are buyer personas important? Once you’re in the 
head of your ideal buyer, you’ll know what language will get them excited and 
intrigued, you’ll know what they’re looking for in research, you’ll have insight 
into the movements and advancements of their industry. This all feeds into 
making the most successful content for your specific audience that meets the 
business needs of your desired buyers. Last year, 71% of the organizations who 
exceeded revenue and lead generation goals were actively using buyer 
personas. 
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This is because a buyer persona allows you to appear less “sales-y” in your B2B 
marketing; 81% of those using buyer personas were able to improve their business 
proposition and product value within their content marketing, so they saw more 
leads generated! Don’t forget – buyer personas change, just like every aspect of 
marketing, so ensure you update them at least every six months. Even if there is 
little or no change, this will help ensure all your marketing channels are tapping 
into the correct buyer mind-sets.
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Make an Informed 
Decisions About 
Mediums and Platforms
Now you’ve got those 
buyer personas nailed, 
let’s use them to make 
informed decisions and 
create an effective 
content marketing 
strategy.
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Start by asking, what information do our ideal buyers want to know/consume? 
Think of broad topics that apply to your product/solution, like “B2B sales” and then 
delve deeper into niche topics and subjects, such as “sales analytics”, “sales call 
techniques” or “sales pipeline”. Pick two or three of these broad, big starting 
points, and draw five-to-ten detailed areas from each one. Relate these back to the 
needs attached to your buyer persona, also to their industry, job title and clientele.
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Mediums
Then you need to ask, how do our ideal buyers want to receive this 
information? Do they want to read it, or watch it, or listen to it? It’s good to 
offer a variety, as we all have different preferences, but here you can rule 
things out you know won’t appeal. If you’re marketing to a persona that 
enjoys detail and information, then a 60-second video is unlikely to spark 
their interest more than a blog, asset or 15-minute podcast. Draw up a list of 
mediums you’ll definitely use. Prepare a list of ones you’ll test and try, and a 
list of those you don’t think will work with your buyer persona.
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Platforms to Use for B2B Content 
Marketing
Now the final question- where would our ideal buyers like to find/interact 
with our content? This is where the strategy deepens and you look to the 
practical use of the content you’ll make. Of course uploading content to your 
website is a must, to grow a community and boost SEO, but think about how 
you’ll announce and share that content, via email, social media, direct mail 
even? Look at all the options through the eyes of your ideal buyer. Also, 
contemplate how often they would want to receive content. B2B 
organizations who publish 11+ blogs per month generate an average of 4x 
as many business leads!
Answer all these questions in detail, and you’ll be ready for the next step.
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Create a Content Calendar
A content calendar for your B2B content marketing plans takes time to 
create but is the key to implementing and maintaining an effective content 
marketing strategy. You should be planning out every week: what content 
you’ll publish, when and where.
Start on a large scale; apply a broad topic to a month or choose a campaign 
to run the length of a quarter, then go deeper. Spread those niche, more 
detailed topics across the assets, blog posts, infographics and podcasts for 
that month. This way you’ll cohesively cover that topic on both a surface 
level detail and a more in-depth, adept level of detail in the mediums you 
deem preferable to your ideal buyer.
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Plot titles for each piece on the calendar in the week you want them published. 
Also, and describe where they’ll be published, promoted and shared. Then you 
need to expand the calendar from a practicality perspective- when do you need to 
start constructing the content to publish on a certain day? What input will you 
need from your internal or external copywriter and/or graphic designer to complete 
the content? How many checks and amendment processes will you undergo?
This content calendar will be what gives your content marketing that ability to 
nurture leads through a journey, along with the ability to run a content market 
strategy with the power to bring constant results and reliable lead quality.
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Be a Thought Leader
96% of B2B buyers want more input from thought leaders in the content 
they read. To become one! Conduct the appropriate research for 
B2B content marketing and position yourself as a thought leader in your 
field. Whether you choose to relate closely to modern influencers in your 
ideal buyer’s industry, or you aim to carve your own path of learning and 
expertise, make sure you’re working with reliable resources. Find statistics 
from surveys or academic studies. Also, look to different schools of thought 
within your industry, to create content with superior knowledge. Set up your 
own surveys and use the results to make benchmark reports. Aim to be 
teachers- your prospects should come to you to learn about their industry 
and find research for their own strategies.
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This does wonders for many factors outside of lead generation. Namely, credibility. 
The name of your brand, when positioned as a thought leader, becomes associated 
with expertise, knowledge and trust. This helps all of your B2B marketing channels 
by legitimizing their message and increasing their standing in the market. This also 
helps your sales team; when leads come their way, they already believe you’re a 
brilliant organization and the best in your field, so closing that sale comes far 
quicker and easier.
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Track the Right 
KPIs for 
Effective B2B 
Content 
Marketing
With any marketing 
strategy, the reporting 
and analysis are as 
crucial as the build-up in 
its success. This is 
especially true of 
content marketing, 
where you’re running a 
constant campaign and 
nurturing journey. So 
make sure you not only 
have a good reporting 
system in place, but 
you’re recording the 19
best metrics to improve 
your strategy.
There are no right or wrong key performance indicators to measure; as every 
content marketing strategy will differ due to its buyer persona. Its KPIs will of 
course, also vary. We would recommend, however, ensuring you have a good 
website analytics software, that will enable you to see the number of views or 
downloads your content has achieved. This is a great starting place to track the 
reception of your content and its conversion rate. 
Remember, content takes time to work. It’s not as instant as some channels as it 
focuses more on the nurture of a lead. When you launch a new content marketing 
strategy, make sure you allow a few weeks for it to take effect.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Content marketing offers that softer approach that many buyers not only 
appreciate but also feel a benefit from. So it balances out your B2B 
marketing department where other channels focus on getting that instant 
“yes!”. Though it seems there’s loads to do to get started, the contribution 
of an effective content marketing strategy to sales and retention is as 
valuable as its B2B lead generation capabilities. So you’ll not only obtain 
more customers, you’ll keep them too.
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THANK
YOU!
Goodman 
Lantern
Phone: Email: Website:
+1 9292993999 [email protected] https://goodmanlantern.c
om om/
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