How To Boost The Buying Process via Content Marketing

Content marketing is a winning marketing and SEO solution in the “post-Panda” (Google) world.

Content farms, and scraper sites are a thing of the past. At least in terms of performance for your brand, and considering you are not just out for the ‘quick buck’.

Don’t you agree?

However, understanding and knowing your audience has never been more important. Much like smart demographics targeting for ads, banners and pay per click is critical – your content for B2B must be presented and consumed at timelines that match a searcher’s mind.

In search, we talk about navigational search, transactional search and info-based (informational) search patterns. The idea is simple. A visitor to your brand or website are all in a different state of mind. One searcher is perhaps at the end of their research, comparing vendors and pricing. Another may simply be in the early ‘awareness’ stage of research.

Much like buying a car (example), you would not want to see a sales page or a request form if you are just trying to find out the history of the vehicle, etc.

Google and Techtarget produced a research paper where B2B IT professionals search online during the buying process. You should download it here.

It includes ideas and feedback for content marketing in B2b using:

• Video
• Mobile usage
• RSS
• Registration forms
• Web page content (impacting behavior)

In fact, understanding buying cycles is not only about communication, but providing solutions to problems, needs and wants – all across a timeline, all while matching user intent, keywords and trending information.

Key Findings relating to the Information Technology (IT) industry:

• Search terms differ and specifically reflect various stages of the IT research and purchase process
• Validation of relationship between search and branding and as of this study ‘lead generation’ as well
• Buyer attitudes towards the marketers lead generation efforts – how and when they want to be contacted
• Utilization of new media: Buyers are highly selective about how they use new media, things like mobile devices, video and RSS feeds
• Information source preferences: search, IT publisher and vendor sites make the top three

Some things never change: solving buyer (or user) problems – they are dead center – as a core benefit, that drive everything you do.

In a way, it’s really this simple: if you are interested in dating a woman or a man, follow the natural laws, a process, and don’t go too fast. You’ll be able to “sell yourself” soon enough. (You’ve heard this all before, right?)

Here’s an example of a buyer process in the IT world:

Related articles to B2B content marketing and the buying process

• Is Content Marketing the 911 for Marketing ? (leadsexplorer.com)
• 5 ways to use analytics to find content marketing opportunities (seocopywriting.com)
• Insights from a Recent B2B Content Marketing Survey (reportcontentwriter.wordpress.com)
• Lee Odden writes: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2078260/step-model-killer-b2b-content-marketing-strategy

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