Busting Marketing Myths: Content Marketing Isn’t Just for B2C
There’s a persistent myth floating around that content marketing only works for B2C companies. The flashy social media posts, catchy slogans, and viral videos? Sure, that’s B2C territory. But here’s the truth: content marketing is equally powerful for B2B, and we’ve got the data to prove it.
Myth: Content Marketing Only Works for B2C
The assumption is that B2B buyers only care about product specs, pricing, and contracts—not blogs, case studies, or social posts. But at the end of the day, the people making B2B decisions are still, well, people. They need useful information, industry insights, and solutions to their problems, which content marketing delivers.
Truth: Content Marketing Works for B2B Too—Backed by Data
Let’s look at the numbers:
- 95% of B2B buyers say they view content as a trustworthy marker of a company (Demand Gen Report, 2022).
- 77% of B2B buyers say that they consume at least three pieces of content before even talking to a sales rep (Forrester, 2021).
- LinkedIn, a primarily B2B platform, reports that companies who regularly post content generate 6x more leads than those who don’t.
Take HubSpot, for example. Initially known for inbound marketing (mainly B2C), HubSpot realized the power of content marketing for B2B early on. By publishing data-backed articles, offering free tools, and case studies, they’ve become a thought leader in B2B marketing and sales, driving massive growth. Their State of Marketing Report is consumed by thousands of B2B marketers annually and provides crucial insights that influence decision-making in the industry.
Or consider IBM, which uses content marketing to target enterprise clients. They publish research reports, whitepapers, and case studies that showcase their solutions, making them a trusted source for industry insights. This helps shorten sales cycles for complex tech solutions by building trust before the sales process even begins.
The 5DM Advantage: Data-Driven Content Marketing
At 5DM, we take content marketing one step further by grounding everything in data. Here’s what that looks like:
- Audience Insights: We dive deep into data to understand the behaviors of B2B decision-makers. For example, we analyze which types of content (like whitepapers or videos) they engage with most, how long they spend on certain pages, and the kind of questions they’re searching for online.
- Content Performance: With our data tools, we track content engagement down to the click. By understanding which blog posts, eBooks, or videos are driving the most traffic and conversions, we can continuously optimize and create more of what works. Take the example of a tech company that increased their qualified leads by 67% after we used content engagement metrics to tweak their strategy and deliver more targeted, data-backed solutions.
Why B2B Needs Content Marketing and Data
Tailored Content for Long Sales Cycles: B2B buyers take time to make decisions. But by continually delivering content based on data insights (think follow-up emails with targeted blog links or infographics), you can keep them engaged throughout their decision-making process. For example, Adobe’s marketing team uses data to personalize their content for different industries, generating over 30% higher engagement on their whitepapers and eBooks.
Credibility through Content: Take Salesforce—a B2B giant that doesn’t just sell CRM software. They produce regular thought leadership pieces, such as their “State of Sales” report, positioning them as industry leaders. This not only drives traffic but builds trust, which is critical in B2B.