The Joke’s on You 

Don’t kid yourself, fellow B2B executive. Modeling your content marketing plan around the recent success of Coca-Cola’s content marketing campaign is a surefire way to fall flat of your marketing expectations. While Coke’s method is certainly effective in reaching a popular community, social business is different for B2C and B2B brands.

Sure, certain elements of a strong content marketing strategy will persist regardless of the “business” or “consumer” audience, yet awareness of the deeper motivations of your intended readership will make or break your brand.

Bring Your A-Game 

In B2B content marketing, potential business partners, clients and connections rely on the establishment of your expertise (not the image of your popular culture creation). If you are not the most informed, efficient and utility-oriented – why should your audience invest time, energy and money in your products, services or ideas?

This need to earn trust and verify expertise is a tricky fit into content marketing, where elements of entertainment are necessary to propel your content above that of your competitors.

Work and Play 

Content for B2B professionals must illicit a strong business ethos, while relying on a free range of creativity to achieve a balance between professionalism and enjoyment. B2B readers want to enhance their bottom line; but they also crave stories, case studies, and personal learnings like anyone else.

Here are a list of articles that delve into what it means for businesses to create content that speaks to their B2B counterparts:

B2B Content Marketing Articles 

How to Beef Up Your Online Content: Learning From Offline Activities

Social Media for B2B (Reminder: You Are Not B2C)

Putting Brains into B2B Content Marketing

Ways to Fuse Your Story Content with Your Company Name

The Secrets Behind Great B2B Content

If Content is King – Who is Queen?

Content is King in Social Media: What Are the Royal Essentials?

Companies with Highly Sharable Content

Stellar Examples of B2B Content

 

**This article was originally published on exploreB2B.**