How to Create a B2B Content Marketing Plan for Your Company

B2B content strategy is like navigating rough terrain, unlike B2C is smoother path.

You might wonder why content marketing isn't more present, and why aren't more businesses adopting it?

Due to its high failure rate, there's widespread skepticism about content marketing's value as an investment.

This article will show you how to create a B2B content marketing plan that suits your company's needs and that actually generates results.

Let's begin!

What is the Importance of B2B Content Strategy?

According to statistics, successful B2B marketers allocate 40% of their marketing budget to content marketing.

Content marketing offers various benefits, the most important of which are:

• High ROI for a Low-cost Channel - Content marketing yields high returns with minimal costs, mainly for labor and tools, and negligible distribution expenses.
• Content Has a Long Lifespan - Evergreen content yields enduring benefits, ensuring sustained returns over time.

But besides that, it also helps you:

• Establish your brand as an industry leader.
• Develop trust with potential customers.
• Enhance your likelihood of achieving high rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).
• Increase brand awareness through social media sharing.

9 Steps to Create a B2B Content Marketing Plan Aligned with Your Strategy

Each B2B content marketing approach is unique.

Here's where to start.

1. Define Your Goals, Persona, and Brand of Voice

The first step is always the hardest because setting goals requires you to find a balance between what’s possible and achievable.

🔑 To strike the right balance, make sure to assess the SMART goals.

Goals must be realistic, so make sure to follow these steps:

• Consider Industry Benchmarks - Industry reports cover various aspects of digital marketing, offering insights into trends and goal setting.
• Consult Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)—If you wish to increase your website conversion rates, you should naturally consult SEO agency experts.
• Readjust Your Goals - As you gather additional data, feel free to modify your goals, as they serve as metrics of success rather than rigid commitments.

🔑 To develop strong buyer personas, we recommend:

• Speak With People in Your Department - Commit to internal reviews that will help you better understand the mindsets of your buyers and prospects.
• Create Buyer Persona - Find out your buyer's personal background, industry, job roles, goals, challenges, and other relevant info determined through internal reviews.

Keep in mind that you can always create more buyer personas if needed!

🔑 Voice and tone should assist you in creating a powerful, memorable brand that your target audience will connect with.

In case your voice and tone don’t match your brand’s persona tough decisions may be necessary, especially in industries with a narrower range of acceptable tones.

2. Brainstorm Topic Ideas

To bolster your B2B content marketing plan and make sure you are a productive content writer we suggest the following:

✅ Create a Swipe File - Have your collection of email subject lines, landing pages, sales pages, outstanding blog or social media posts, headlines, and so on.

Use this to organize swipe files into sections for different forms of material, such as emails, headlines, and CTAs.

✅ Organize Brainstorming Sessions - An effective brainstorming session can help you produce a large number of new content ideas.

Here are some pointers to help you organize a successful brainstorming session with your team:

• Keep the Participants to a Minimum - Break up into groups of five or fewer for the initial brainstorming, and then report back to the group.
• Keep the Ideas Open - Find a mechanism to assess the validity of each proposal and determine whether it can be incorporated into your approach.
• Maintain Recording Sessions - If the meeting is virtual, record the call. If it's in person, jot down ideas on a whiteboard or paper and take a picture for everyone's access.

✅ Create a Follow-through Plan - You should have a strategy in place to begin developing content as soon as your list of content ideas is complete and in order of priority.

Some factors to consider are:

• Will you engage with an SEO agency to ensure that your website content is optimized?
• Who will compose the content? Are you planning to engage a freelance writer or generate the content in-house?
• Who will edit the text, prepare it for publication, and finally publish it?

3. Map Content for All Stages of the Funnel

Once your goals are set and your audience is defined, the next step is determining their funnel location.

Creating content for each funnel stage allows you to successfully assist prospects and increase your likelihood of making a purchase.

There are 3 key stages, so let's check what content goes into each:

• TOFU - The awareness stage that requires content that focuses on educating your audience.

Topic example: "What is Email Marketing" or "How to Implement Email Marketing".  

• MOFU - Middle-of-funnel is intended for the evaluation stage and content should describe the problem and potential remedies.

Topic example: "Best Email Marketing Tools".

• BOFU - Bottom-of-funnel is intended for the conversion stage and content that marks your solution as the best or makes it easily accessible.

Topic example: "Mailchimp vs Mailerlite" or "Mailchimp Review".

4. Prioritize Topics with High Potential

Choose topics within your ranking capabilities and avoid ones that are too challenging for you to rank for.

✅ Research Competitors - Keeping an eye on your competitors allows you to develop better content and pinpoint high-potential topics.

Here are useful ideas on how to keep an eye on your competition:

• Add top keywords to Google Trends to determine which terms and topics are trending in your industry.
• Use a tool like Open Site Explorer to discover which pages on your competitor's sites are receiving the most links and where those connections are originating from.
• Use HubSpot or SEMRush tools to see what keywords your competitors rank for.
• Analyze who follows who on social media and what kind of material they're sharing.
• Use a service like Google Alerts to identify brand mentions online, which helps you see what types of content are getting attention from your competition.
• Analyze competitors' content to highlight gaps in your own, allowing you to incorporate similar topics into your content pipeline.

✅ Perform Keyword Analysis - Analyze trending keywords in your niche by inputting them into Google search to discover additional search terms and phrases.

Use buyer personas and the buyer's journey as guides:

• Which themes are most relevant to your personas?
• What would they like to learn more about?
• What are their challenges?

5. Create a Content Calendar

Now that you've prioritized your topics, you should focus on creating a content calendar.

A content calendar is a document that helps you plan, coordinate, and carry out your content strategy.

It keeps track of all the information on your planned material, including:

• Topic and title
• Owner
• Content type
• Progress (writing, recording, editing, etc.)
• Assigned writer
• Publishing deadline

You can create a simple calendar in Google Sheets.

If you require something more advanced, you can utilize applications such as Trello, Asana, or Basecamp.

6. Assign the Content Creation Tasks

Role assignment is critical for promoting responsibility and effective teamwork.

By clearly defining their duties and responsibilities, you guarantee that everyone is on the same page and understands what they are accountable for.

Here are a few examples to give you an idea of how to assign content creation tasks:

• Content creators can be in charge of idea generation and content production.
• Content editors can play a significant role in checking and modifying information before it is published.
• Material managers can make the final decision on whether to publish a piece of material or return it to the editor or creator for correction.
• Another team in your organization may be responsible for measuring the success of each piece of content using analytics and metrics.

Simply ensure that your content marketing workflow includes collaboration tools that enable team members to communicate and keep each other informed as needed.

7. Determine Budget, Tools & Resources

We recommend creating a content marketing budget based on the elements that will affect your operations, short and long-term goals, and available resources.

Here’s what you should look into:

• Goals of the Content Marketing Strategy - Clearly outlining your goals will assist in establishing the amount of investment required in terms of both time and money.
• Types of Content Created - Videos are often more expensive than blog entries, whereas case studies may incur additional fees such as doing research or interviews.
• Distribution Channels - Examine the channels that best match your target audience's tastes and habits.
• Frequency of Content Creation and Distribution - Consider the resources needed to sustain a consistent flow of information while upholding quality standards.

🔑 Using the appropriate tools, organizations can increase the quality of their content, reach their target audience, and produce more leads and sales.

Try these keyword research tools for B2B content creation:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Ahrefs
• Moz Keyword Explorer

If you need graphic tuning, you can use Canva.

Or utilize ChatGPT AI to overcome the writing block.

Whether you need an SEO tool, a content research tool like Buzzsumo, or a personalization tool like Hyperise, it’s up to you.

8. Plan Your Distribution Channels

The channels you employ to distribute your material will depend on your target audience and available resources.

To develop an effective B2B content marketing distribution strategy, follow the steps below:

• Select Your Platforms - Think of platforms like LinkedIn and list where else you can distribute content.
• Align Content - Use article content for blog deals while for social media you can opt for photo or video content.
• Start with Free and Move to Paid - List target platforms and content forms, track them with tools and then prioritize which platform works best for your money.
• Optimize - A strategy may thrive, then falter. Analyze the decline and refine the strategy.

9. Optimize and Repurpose Best-performing Content

78% of B2B marketers do keyword research primarily as part of their SEO optimization.

Optimizing existing content involves ensuring it's keyword-rich, well-written, and informative.

The quickest strategy to improve organic traffic to your website and blog is to refresh existing material that is already receiving visitors.

Updating material shows Google that it is still relevant today, so it will rank higher in search results.

Follow these examples on how to repurpose content:

• Turn a high-performing blog piece into a webinar, and then reuse parts of the webinar into short social media videos.
• Collect blog postings on a related topic in an ebook, or repurpose a portion of an ebook into a blog post.
• Convert a blog post into an infographic, instructive film, or social media thread.

Repurposing content allows for more social media posts without constant brainstorming, ultimately enhancing online discoverability.

Conclusion

To maximize your ROI, you need a well-defined strategy.

Remember that flexibility is key, so don't hesitate to adjust your strategy if needed.

Are you unsure about how to create a B2B content marketing plan for your company?

Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn how to improve your content marketing plan today.