Most B2B sales aren’t made in the same way they were made even 10 years ago. Today, the business consumer is smarter, more skeptical, and wants to do his or her own research before speaking with you. You can’t use the same tactics you’d use in a B2C sale. If you’re struggling to make your B2B content marketing strategy work, ask yourself: Have you found the right audience and do you understand their wants?

Before you rush out to speak with anyone who fogs a mirror, consider who might be the best prospects for your product or service. Finding the right audience isn’t as easy as it sounds. You can’t exactly scour Internet forums to see what prospects are saying (unless you get lucky with LinkedIn). Unlike consumer purchases, business purchases tend to be well-thought-out instead of impulse buys.

You may consider buying targeted mailing lists, testing pay-per-click advertising, sponsoring content on social media such as Linkedln or finding other creative ways to attract an audience. Think about what your ideal customer wants and target your content marketing strategy and message to that ideal. This is sometimes called “defining a buyer persona.”

B2B consumers tend to be ruled by one emotion: Fear. Purchasers have to answer to management, and purchasing decisions have to be made very carefully. There are also multiple people involved in the transaction. Gatekeepers can prevent your marketing message from being seen, which is another problem.

Defining your ideal audience and focusing your message will help you get through to the right people and avoid being ignored. The more broad and generic you appear to be, the less urgent your sales message is. The opposite is also true. Even a feisty gatekeeper doesn’t want to be responsible for costing the company money.

So, focus on ways your solution can help solve existing and immediate problems for the buyer.

To learn more about how to improve your content marketing strategy, reach out to NiKnack. We’re happy to help you strengthen your marketing program!