It’s not uncommon for B2B marketers to feel a bit…lost when they are looking to develop their online marketing plan.
Creating the best content targeted at the right people (decision-makers) is no easy feat. What is easy is spending too much time failing to create a plan — or worse — sinking time into creating the wrong type of content.
The best to build an online marketing plan is to start with a persona-focused strategy that will dictate what to say to your prospects and when.
In 4 steps, you can build a plan that will save you time and more effectively engage B2B decision makers.
1. Create target personas
Target personas are the types of prospects that you want as customers. These are almost always your decision makers.
Well developed personas will lay the foundation for creating content that targets their specific questions and challenges. If you get these right, you can be sure to create content that will establish you as an industry expert on that subject.
People buy from industry experts.
But what does it look like to take a buyer persona and start creating great content? Talk to your sales people.
2. Outline the frequently asked questions
Your sales team talks with prospects every week who all ask the same (or similar) questions. The fact that these questions come up again and again is an indication that there is plenty of opportunity to take it upon yourself as a marketer to better educate your prospects, and even address common objections before sales even gets involved.
Try outlining 10-12 questions for each of your personas. These questions will be the basis of your content development.
3. Create quality cornerstone content
Cornerstone content is the best way to generate leads through your website. This content is premium and extensive, and is typically something that your prospects will download in exchange for some information as they become more and more sales-ready.
Looking at your list of questions for each persona, create a content offer for each question that will address it at length. Make it truly valuable for the person who is downloading it. Many times these offers take the form of 10+ page eBooks, but they can also be crafted as webinars, email courses, or slideshares — whatever it is that your prospects will find valuable and engaging.
4.Write blog posts to support cornerstone content
Blog posts are the baited hooks that bring visitors to your website. As decision makers search for solutions to their challenges, they will stumble upon your blog posts. The purpose of these posts is to engage the reader, provide them with an answer to their question, and offer them an opportunity to take a next step to learn more by downloading your content offer.
The best way to outline blog post topics in a repeatable way is to elaborate on a specific topic covered by the cornerstone content piece.
As an example, this post covers a specific aspect of our eBook about creating content in boring industries, which you will find at the bottom at the post. If you are engaged enough by this methodology, you may choose to click that call to action and download our comprehensive cornerstone content offer.
Get to it!
This methodology has helped hundreds of companies to re-think the way that they build their online marketing plan. Give it a go with yours and be amazed by the time you save and the results you see.