What marketers can learn from B2B content marketing

Jatin Modi, Founder and CEO at B2B digital marketing agency FrogIdeas, believes that the true test of content marketing happens only in the B2B space. He emphasises the fact that not just building brand awareness, but how positively the consumer thinks about it is one very important aspect to be kept in mind while taking the content marketing route in the B2B space. He said content offered to a consumer is different at different stages of his/her buying cycle.

“In B2B, one needs to make sure that the buyer is not just thinking of the brand, but also thinking positively about the brand so that it converts into business. The kind of content produced in the B2B space is staggered across stages, where it is different at every stage,” he said.

When it comes to measurement metrics, Modi explained that B2B brands don’t care about how the number of views; they care about who has viewed the content. “Quantity doesn’t matter, quality matters. Metrics to measure are similar, but what you measure is different,” Modi said.

In an interview with BuzzInContent, Modi talks about the nitty-gritty of content marketing in the B2B space and how different it is from B2C. He also talks about B2B marketers strategies during the Covid-19 period.

Launched with the purpose of serving the unmet needs of B2B companies, FrogIdeas is one of India’s few B2B digital marketing and corporate reputation agencies. Some of their clients are Interglobe Enterprises, Jim Beam, Mahindra Group, among others. In late 2017, it became the first marketing agency from India to be selected in the LinkedIn Marketing Partners Programme.

Some of award-winning produced by the agency are: ‘Coolest interview ever’ for HCL, ‘Power Of Innovations’ for Comviva and ‘10 years of mobiquity money’, for Mahindra.

Excerpts:

How is FrogIdeas coping with the Covid-19 situation when marketers have drastically reduced their regular advertising activities?

It’s a tough scenario because marketing is the first thing that gets cut when you get into any kind of a recessionary phase. We haven’t seen a massive impact on the B2B marketing space so far in comparison to B2C. But there have been a few contracts that are stalled. For some, we were expecting the value to go up, but everything is in the air right now. The marketing spends of brands is reducing. Even in the B2B space, no one will go out to promote a thought leadership article or a whitepaper. All the businesses are trying to figure out how to survive.

Most of the B2C brands have changed their content strategy to be relevant and topical to the Covid-19 crisis. Have B2B brands also changed their content marketing strategy?

Most of the B2B companies are trying to communicate around coronavirus. A lot of their clients today have time also because everyone is stuck at home. Therefore, brands are creating more content in video formats, more in-depth white paper, studies, which takes time to consume.

The buyer is also scared that the company he/she is dealing with has gone on work-from-home and the people working in the company have access to sensitive data. The buyer is also scared about the productivity they expect from brands. They are afraid if the brands have processes for making sure all the work is happening like the way it used to happen. The clients want to make sure the data is secure, and the delivery is seamless. The B2B companies are trying to communicate these two through content to them.

Isn’t it difficult for FrogIdeas to create content for all its clients around a single topic: coronavirus?

It is definitely tricky. We have a very skilled team that is always thinking of unique, fresh and authentic content.

How different is B2B content marketing from B2C content marketing?

Content marketing in the B2B space is very different from that of B2C space. In B2B, you are talking to multiple stakeholders at one point in time, while in B2C you are talking to a particular set of audience at a given point in time. Each stakeholder has different priorities in the B2B space. One needs to cater to each stakeholder based on their preferences and create sales leads.

The decision-making cycle in a B2B company is much longer. An IT company can take from 6-18 months for a deal to get closed. The role of marketing becomes crucial. One needs to make sure that the customers are continuously engaged with the brand as they have a lot of options at any point in time.

In the B2C space, advertising has just got transposed to the digital medium. If you were advertising something on TV, you could show the same film on digital. Essentially, it is the same advertising I am doing on digital.

In the B2C space, most of the brands are focusing on the awareness part of the funnel. In the B2B space, it is not just top-of-mind recall; it is also a consideration. In B2B, one needs to make sure that the buyer is not just thinking of the brand, but also thinking positively about the brand so that it converts into business. The kind of content produced in the B2B space is staggered across stages, where it is different at every stage. Content for creating brand awareness, consideration, decision making and advocacy is different for each objective. Depending on where the buyer is on the decision-making process, different content is served to diverse audiences differently.

How different is the measurement of ROI in B2B in comparison to B2C?

The brands and their buyers are cut into different funnels. In the buyer funnel, the brand tracks different metrics essentially. For example, social media engagement and number of views on a video is not a significant metric in B2B. B2B brands don’t care about how many views have happened; they care about who has viewed the video. Quantity doesn’t matter, quality matters. Metrics to measure are similar, but what you measure is different.

Do brands use influencers in the B2B space just like B2C?

We just did a report on B2B marketing. Almost all B2B marketers confirm that the kind of influencers available doesn’t matter in the B2B space. Most of the influencers are from lifestyle, fashion, health, sports and Bollywood category. These influencers have no value in B2B. The other kind of influencers that exist in B2B such as Gartner, Forrester and other analysts in these companies; one can’t buy their appreciation. You can’t go and offer them money to post something about the brand.

How important is purpose-driven content marketing in the B2B space, where most of the content is created around products?

It depends on the brand and if it is a value-driven company. If they are a value-driven company, then definitely their purpose comes out. For example, Tata steel is a value-driven B2B company. But almost every content marketing work they do is purpose-driven. At the end of the day, all the customers connect with a cause.

Which are the biggest companies in the B2B space according to you?

Any tech and fintech company in the B2B space are leading the pack.

How important is content marketing for the B2B brands and what part of the budget they invest in it?

I don’t think advertising works in the B2B space. Only content marketing works. The true test of content marketing is in B2B.

How much of a believer are you in employee advocacy, and how much do you put it in use?

It is extremely important in the B2B space. In the consumer space, it is mostly important from a hiring angle. In B2B space, it is important from hiring as well as front-facing customer angle. For example, a B2B company has one lakh employees with over 100 people in the sales team. The brand wants all its salespeople to write great content about the brand, which shows it in a good light. All these salespeople are connected to different buyers on their social media. Employee advocacy means that the brand will give them content served through a common platform, which these employees share on their social media and make sure that the buyer has more chances to think positive about the brand.

What are the mistakes people make while doing employee advocacy?

The biggest mistake companies make is that they don’t have a process to enable their employees to become advocates. They just tell them to share content directly. The employees don’t want to be pushed. We help some of our clients to create an employee advocacy dashboard, which is gamified and has curated content from the company, which gets served to employees. The employees link their social media handles from it, and then they can share from there. At the backend, they can see who is leading the board and like this gamified. It becomes competitive and fun.

The second mistake is that a lot of times brands don’t make good content to their employees. Even if you have a good process, but not good content to share, they won’t share it because they are putting their credibility online while sharing the content.