Content Marketing is one of the best tools by which companies can build brand awareness and brand trust, and educate their audience. With people spending more time than ever online in 2020, thanks to the pandemic lockdowns, the way they consume and engage with content online has changed. Below are some of the top emerging content marketing trends for B2B companies for the upcoming year.
Email Learning Series
Another great tool for engaging B2B buyers in 2021 is to create an email learning series on various topics in your niche. Brands should decide on a topic that they think their target buyer would be interested in learning more about and devise a week-long email series that educates them, along with actionable tips on the topic. This helps the brand engage with their ideal audience and build brand awareness.
Video Content
Video content is highly engaging and entertaining and has been around for a while. But with various platforms improving their video capabilities and focusing on video content, such content will be even more in demand in 2021. Businesses should aim to create short-format videos that are informative and display the brand story, along with processes to target their clients. Educating and informing their ideal customers through this type of short-format video will help companies build brand awareness and engage their target market in an entertaining manner.
Webinars
Webinars look set to be a powerful tool for companies to display their expertise and boost sales. Studies show that about 75 per cent of B2B buyers purchased post-consuming webinars in 2019, and the trend is definitely here to stay. Brands should ideate and organise informative webinars on various important topics in their niche to educate their ideal buyers. Encouraging them to attend and offering them special deals at the end of the webinar is a great way to boost sales and to build up a loyal brand following.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content is another trend that looks set to stay in 2021. This could be customer reviews, testimonials or photos & videos, highlighting the content your loyal customers create for you. This is a great way for brands to highlight positive conversations and brand experiences that may help convince their target audience to purchase from them in the future.
Collaborations
The best way for brands to increase their reach and explore new markets is by collaborating with other brands. Strategic tie-ups will help a brand gain access to a new potential customer base. These collaborations also work well as they act as a vote of confidence from one brand to another. Research shows that people are more likely to buy products or services that are recommended to them from a trusted source.
Podcasts
B2B podcasts are gaining popularity in 2021, and businesses that utilise this medium are likely to be highly successful. They don’t need to have a high production value, as long as you have something important to teach your target audience. This can simply be an interesting and insightful conversation that you think might benefit your audience.
Brands can also hold weekly conversations with leaders from the industry to discuss various topics that could be of interest to your target market. This will help draw in new audiences and build brand awareness.
Featured Snippets
If you’ve used Google search and come across that large box on top that answers your question with clear pointers, then you already know what a featured snippet is all about. Getting your brand content featured in one of those snippets is a big win for the company as it’s usually the first thing users’ eyes fall on when they are searching for answers.
The featured snippet is a great way to gain some additional organic brand exposure. Brands that want to get featured need to include clear pointers, how-to lists, information tables and summary paragraphs that Google could pull up and display for various relevant search terms.
So make sure you create content that is fully SEO optimised, keeping in mind your ideal customer, and make sure it’s structured in the right way to increase your chances of getting feat
