Content marketing has become a well established marketing tactic in the BtoB industry and is often placed at the core of a business’ marketing strategy. This fact became apparent in 2010 and continues to be important when looking ahead at the 2011 marketing plans. Due to the increasingly important role of this tactic marketers should take the next step in effectively using it.

Content marketing is the practice of developing and distributing information that is both valuable and relevant. This information is designed to attract and engage potential customers and to enhance brand loyalty with current customers. Content is distributed (or shared) through several different promotional channels, including social media, e-newsletters, podcasting, and webinars.

Content Marketing in 2010

This past year Roy Young, president of MarketingProfs, and Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42, conducted a study on BtoB content marketing which surveyed over 1000 marketers from North America. This B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends study found that “9 out of 10 B2B marketers are using content marketing to grow their business.” According to this study the top reasons why marketers implemented content marketing strategies were brand awareness at 78%, customer retention at 69%, lead generation at 63% and customer recruitment at 61%. The greatest challenge of content marketing faced by respondents was show to be “producing the kind of content that engages prospects and customers.”

Webinars Found to be Effective

According to the aforementioned B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends study only Forty-Two percent of those surveyed are using webinars as a part of their content marketing strategy. Out of that 42% adoption rate, 56% of the marketers rated webinars as effective. This rate of effectiveness is third highest, being only 1% behind research reports and 16% behind the most effective tactic of In-Person Events (72%). Social media, on the other hand, had a 79% adoption rate with only 39% of those marketers finding it to be an effective content marketing vehicle.

In this study the computing and software industry was shown to have the highest content marketing adoption rate, at 94%. Companies in this industry “are also much more likely to use webinars and webcasts” and had an adoption rate of 69%. Also, 63% of those respondents from this industry are using “content marketing for lead management and nurturing.”

Webinars and Your BtoB Content Marketing Strategy

Adding webinars to your BtoB content marketing strategy could benefit your organization in many ways, fulfilling multiple marketing and business goals. If raising brand awareness, customer recruitment, lead generation, or customer retention are the top goals in your content marketing strategies then a webinar is the perfect choice. According to the 2010 Lead Generation Optimization Key Trends Analysis from CSO Insights (a survey of 635 companies), “webinars one of the best and most popular way to do that.”

The best type of webinar that would allow you to reach your goals would be an informational or educational webinar. These types of webinars are designed to teach the attendees new information and/or illustrate how to solve a problem that is prevalent in their industry. Provide information in the webinar on how your business is integral in helping to solve the issue by (for example) including a case study that illustrates how your product helped a business. Conducting these types of webinars will establish your company as a thought leader in the industry, which is a key aspect to content marketing.

A second type of webinar that would be useful in raising brand awareness and customer recruitment would be, as obvious as it sounds, is an awareness webinar. In this type of webinar you would be featuring the launch of a new service offering or product, basic marketing tactics at their best.  You could also promote an existing service and introduce it to a new customer base. WTG Webinars recently conducted a survey of over 1000 of their webinar attendees and found “that nearly a quarter use webinars to find out about new technology in their industry.”

Content Marketing Challenges

“In 2011 brand marketers will be focused on improving customer engagement. It will be important for marketers to create written, audio, and video content so that customers can consume and engage with the content on their terms.” – Amanda Maksymiw, blog.openviewpartners.com

A webinar can solve the challenge of creating engaging content for both current customer and potential customers. Because a webinar combines both visual and audio elements it has the unique ability to engage attendees on a level that written content cannot. A webinar can bring the content to life. It also allows the attendees to engage with the speaker, creating an interactive environment.

Interactivity is important for two reasons. First, it lets the attendee ask questions and gain a better understanding of the issue or product offering.  Secondly, interactivity leads to content development. A topic or question, which you may not have thought of, could arise and that gives your company the opportunity to address it at a later date. This, in turn, can lead to customer retention because attendees most likely will come back to the company for the answer to that question or information on the follow up topic.

Webinars for 2011

In this last year content marketing became a well established practice among BtoB marketers, what does that mean for the coming year? In 2011 it will not be enough to simply implement a few content marketing tactics; companies will have to present the most compelling and engaging content to get ahead. Adding webinars to your content marketing strategy is the key in overcoming and conquering that very challenge.

By Jessica Kleppang