Content Marketing is Critical for B2B Tech Companies - RevM

Do you focus enough attention on your content for your technology marketing campaigns? The most comprehensive recent industry report shows that your competition probably already is.

The '2018 Technology Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends' report reveals that tech companies are boosting their brand awareness and turning their leads into conversions with content marketing campaigns much more than B2B marketers that work in other industries. Nearly 70% of B2B tech marketers state that their company is ‘very committed’ to using content marketing, in comparison to the 63% of marketers in general that are committed to the strategy.

The '2018 Technology Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends' study reveals some interesting statistics:

• Technology marketers utilise email as their primary method of distribution for their content and use LinkedIn as the main platform to promote it.
• Nearly 75% of tech marketers use YouTube as a way to distribute content. This is in comparison to under 60% of B2B marketers that use YouTube in other industries.
• B2B tech marketers are much more committed to blogs and white papers than B2B marketers that operate in other industries.
• B2B tech marketers claim that generating new leads and nurturing existing leads are the most important functions of their content marketing strategy. B2B marketers across all industries list the generation of leads as the priority of their content marketing, but say building awareness of their brand and creating audience engagement is more important than nurturing existing leads.

So why are B2B tech marketers even more keen to utilise content marketing than their counterpart B2B marketers operating in other industries?

Technology purchases and decisions are made at multiple levels of a company

When a company decides to purchase new technology, the decision has usually been run past several departments. Executives, finance heads, and IT staff will all have a say in technology purchases, along with the area or department of the business where the new technology or automation will operate. B2B tech marketers know that to make a sale as smooth as possible they have to speak to everyone affected by the purchasing decision. Content marketing is aimed at being shareable and speaking to each decision-maker throughout the process.

The extended technology sales cycle

It's no wonder the sales cycle can be a drawn-out process when so many decision-makers are involved before a technology purchase is given the go ahead. B2B tech marketers rank lead nurture as a priority in their content marketing because they know how important it is to produce content that is focused on each step of the buying process. It also uses top of mind recall to ensure buyers find the content memorable at every step of the sales journey.

Buyers of technology consume large amounts of content

A published Tech Target Media Consumption Report claims that over 90% of buyers of technology consume content during the early periods of a sales journey.However, 85% also consume content at the halfway stage of a sales journey. Good content helps to educate buyers about technology and to establish authority and expertise, something that the B2B digital marketing experts at RevM understand and that influences our content creation. The right piece of content at the right time in the sales journey can be crucial in demonstrating expertise and moving the buyer along in the sales journey.

A recent study by Think With Google showed that 77% of buyers in a B2B transaction won’t communicate with a salesperson until after they have conducted their own research. The same study revealed that many B2B buyers will complete up to 90% of the sales journey independently. This means that technology marketers have to make their content do the job of educating the potential buyer. Content is key to lead generation, but also fulfils the vital customer education role that a salesperson would have traditionally been responsible for.

Search engine rankings

Even when it comes to B2B, decision-makers find the solutions to their business problems and the services that can help them through search engines. In order to even be considered, a B2B tech company need to be showing up in search engine results. Producing engaging and educational content that can be consumed and shared by B2B buyers is a great way to boost your search engine rankings and attract leads into your sales funnel.

Find out how you can increase your content marketing with a free Marketing Assessment.