8 reasons B2B brands should invest in content (apart from lead generation)

As a B2B content marketer, you already know how effectively content generates leads. The chances are high that your top incentive for hitting publish month after month is the leads you get from content.

But imagine you start generating that same number of leads (let’s assume you only need that much) from other marketing activities (like referrals/ telemarketing), would you still create content?

I posed this question to B2B content marketers in my network a while ago and got interesting responses.

The consensus: Yes. Content creation should still be in your marketing playbook — even if you have enough leads from other channels.

8 evidence-backed reasons supported this consensus. Let’s discuss them.

1. Content has a wide reach

While it takes 20 cold calls (at a 100% conversion rate) to generate 20 leads, one piece of content can get you those 20 leads.

With effective distribution, each piece of content you publish can reach hundreds and thousands of prospects and convert a good number of them in a fraction of the time it’ll take to individually cold call and convert that same number of prospects.

When shared on social media and industry communities, content transverses global and physical barriers and allows your brand to reach more prospects faster than any other marketing activities could.

“For content creation,” explains Victoria Roscow, Head of SEO Content at Dark Horse, “one of the big benefits is that you only really need to do it once to reach–and, more importantly, continue to reach–your target audience and convert them into customers. Initially, you need to invest in useful, purposeful content but once you set it live on your website, you can sit back and let the leads come to you. Optimizing it over time ensures you remain in front of the right audience.”

2. Content helps share your brand’s unique thesis

In today’s B2B buying world, customers prefer brands with approaches they resonate with.

When prospects decide to buy from you because they love your brand thesis/approach, they are mostly loyal as long as that thesis does not change. Compared to brands chosen for flimsy reasons like cult following, you are at lesser risk of customer churn. Therefore, a strong, intriguing, relatable brand thesis can be your brand’s most valuable asset.

Content gives you a stage to share that thesis.

Take Funky Marketing for example, most of their clients choose to work with them after reading and agreeing with their promising thesis on LinkedIn posts, as shared by their Founder and Strategist, Nemanja Zivkociv.

If they weren’t creating content, they would have no place to share that thesis and no chance of attracting those clients. After all, there are limits to how much you can chatter when on a cold call or talking physically to a prospect.

With content though, you can share your thesis in different formats and win a chance to be seen not just as another brand but as a brand that gets your audience and shares a uniting motion with them.

“So apart from generating leads,” shares Lexi Croisdale, Content Marketing Manager at Varonis, “content helps you humanize your business in the sights of prospects. You can share your mission, highlight first-hand experiences, and truly humanize your business which is a powerful differentiator in today’s buying world.”

This approach has worked well for Mentees.

According to their Founder and CEO, Uku Tomikas, “Storytelling our successes and failures speaks directly to their audience. It empowers Messente, turning us from an abstraction into a partner dedicated to our customer’s success.”

3. Content helps build a thriving brand

A thriving brand–meaning a company that customers and prospects trust and follow–is one of the biggest assets any B2B brand can have.

With a thriving brand, getting and retaining customers or hitting year-over-year revenue goals becomes easy.

And the easiest way to build that trust and following is through content creation.

Think about how you use Google or social media search bars.

If you make a search on Google and spot a blog you know shares educational content, you will probably click on that blog, even if it’s not the first result. OR if a video from an influencer that has helped you tackle a problem pops up in an Instagram tag search, you would probably view that video first.

That’s how content builds trust. Since that brand and influencer have shared content that benefitted you in the past, you already subconsciously trust and place them above others. And when you are ready to purchase a solution–just like when you needed information–they are more likely to be considered.

Bernard Meyer, Senior Director of Communications and Creative at Omnisend believes that “Content is an investment into your brand. Every time you write a brilliant piece of content, you are building up the image your existing customers or prospects have about you.”

Content therefore acts as a bridge between your brand and cold, potential buyers. By securing trust, content makes you the go-to when prospects are ready to buy.

“Maybe you’re bringing in leads from cold calling,” advises Sara Jensen, Principal at Brighter Messaging, “but they aren’t ready to convert into customers. Add them to your mailing list and send them useful content. Over time, a percentage of them will be nurtured into customers.”

Will Yang practices this daily as he heads growth and marketing at Instrumentl. According to him, “Content allows me to demonstrate knowledge and establish myself as an authority in my field. It helps me connect with people on a deeper level compared to cold outreach. Through educational content, I can guide prospects to solutions and position my business as a trusted advisor.”

Eric Doty, Content Lead at Dock, explains that “a lot of the content we create at Dock (e.g. our podcast) isn’t for lead gen. It’s to position ourselves as thought leaders in the space and stay connected with other smart people in our industry. It’s a long-term play to create more positive brand sentiment over time.”

“If you stop creating content,” warns Vivek Shankar, Freelance Content Marketer at Animalz, your biggest loss will be the brand-building effect it provides.”

4. Content fuels other marketing or sales efforts

Most marketing activities fall apart in the absence of content. You need content to run ads, do an SEO campaign, or succeed at cold calling. Likewise, content (e.g. case studies) is necessary for the sales team to close deals faster and more easily.

Most people on a sales or cold call will need additional information (i.e. content) about your brand before deciding to become a customer. Without content, that additional information is non-existent and the chance of converting is very slim.

“Other marketing activities can generate some passive lead gen, but in the absence of content, it all dies away in a while.”

Hassan Ud-deen, Content Marketing Lead at Hack The Box

5. Content maximizes marketing ROI

Functional marketing can never occur in isolation. Marketing efforts shine the brightest when every channel lends strength to the other. Content especially is very great at maximizing the impact of other marketing initiatives.

“Content is a multiplier on other marketing activities. If you’ve watched or read something awesome from our company, our ads are going to have better conversion rates, our sales conversations are going to progress faster, and you’re going to be more excited once you’re in our product.”

Eric

This is why smart brands like GLYPH Marketing use content how it serves them best–to maximize marketing ROI.

Nic Von Schneider, Marketing Director at GLYPH Marketing explains that “every piece of content we create extends beyond the reader to support other marketing efforts. We gain data, analytics, and user-generated content that we can repurpose into email marketing, gamified approaches, ads, lead magnets, webinars, or even recycle.”

6. Content keeps your brand informed

Customers’ expectations change as the market evolves and more options become available.

This is not a death sentence. It just necessitates staying in touch with your customers so you can always know the changes in their preferences. That way, you have–at your fingertips–valuable insights on how to adjust your offerings to retain more customers and reduce churn.

Creating content is the easiest way to do this. Think about the comments on your social or blog posts, insights gathered from landing pages/email signup forms, or inquiries in your content communities. These are all easy ways to understand what your customers are thinking about.

Compared to other methods of customer research like customer interviews and surveys, these content-led methods are not only cheaper but also more natural. So, they have better chances of communicating real customer expectations.

Therefore, when you stop creating content, you cut off the strongest link between your brand and audience. When this happens, it’s only a matter of time before customers realize you are no longer in tune with what serves them the best.

Customers’ struggles are not static — they change with the market, and a company needs to offer ways to solve new and old problems, for new and old customers.

Bernard

7. Content generates highly qualified leads

Leads are not equal–some convert readily while some never will. But the leads you get from content are those that are very likely to become customers.

If you gain 2 newsletter subscribers(assuming you define a lead as someone who subscribes to your brand newsletter) from 2 different sources(e.g. an ungated whitepaper and a cold call), you can be almost certain the former has a better chance of converting.

The subscriber who joined after consuming your content already has a good idea of what your product, service, and unique proposition are. Compared to the latter subscriber who is getting acquitted with your brand for the first time, the former is very likely to convert and is even more likely to convert easily. After all, your content has convinced her of the suitability of your offer.

“From content,” explains Liam Taylor, Freelance Content Marketer at Enterprise Consulting (UK) LTD, “you mostly get a lead that already knows what they need to know and are ready to buy, but a lead from traditional marketing, telemarketing, etc, will need a fair bit of hand-holding before they even decide to buy (if they decide at all).”

“Not only are leads generated from content better educated about your company and services,” shares Veniz Guzman, SEO Specialist at Promet Source, “they also are more likely to see you as an expert and trust your solution when you pitch them.”

“Other sources of lead generation may land users on your website/email list,” says Chloe Robinson, Content Strategist at Wildcat Digital, “but what’s to say that they’re the right users that will end up converting? Content makes the difference. Your content tells users if your product, service, or offer is right for them and will deter those who don’t think it is the right fit.”

8. Content has a lasting impact

Content benefits often last a long while.

If you create a piece of content, it can continue to aid your business for years. It’s not uncommon for a long-form guide you wrote 3 years ago to still be generating leads–as long as you refreshed and updated it as needed.

“With telemarketing and referral marketing, however,” shares Victoria, “you have to continuously put in a considerable amount of time, effort, and money for every lead you’re going after.”

To gain a new lead from these other marketing initiatives, there is always an element of repetition. You either have to run a new ad campaign, make another cold call, or attend another networking event.

“Content in short,” explains Sara, “lives on long after other efforts have become a dusty relic. You can only go to so many networking events, make so many phone calls, and spend so much on paid ads — you get the point. Your resources(e.g. time) are limited. An optimized content piece, on the other hand, will continue to pay dividends as long as you keep it live on your website. It’s like owning your home and making mortgage payments, knowing that you’re building equity for the future.”

Content ≠ lead-vending machine

When done right, content does a lot more than generate leads. It can be a powerful way to differentiate your B2B brand, build customer loyalty, and grow a stable and expanding customer base, among other benefits explained.

If you ever need to convince your CEO that a content creation budget is non-negotiable, this blog post will help you convey your points more succinctly and clearly.

As Bernard mandates, “Investing in content is not a question–it’s an absolute must. And the payoffs are clear.”

It’s up to you then to shine a light on those payoffs–and this handy list makes for a great start.