“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”
With the rise of inbound marketing and content marketing, content has become the cornerstone of many modern B2B marketing operations. Here’s how it typically works: Blogging drives top-of-the-funnel traffic to a company’s website.
From there, callsto-action (CTAs) encourage visitors to download content (e.g. ebooks, whitepapers, and templates) so they can learn more about a particular topic. This process can be repeated and scaled by marketing teams to include a wide variety of tactics at every stage of the funnel, but the end goal is always the same: to add value and build relationships that drive revenue for your business.
80% (40 out of 50) of the fastest-growing B2B companies maintain a blog and/or online publication.
44% (22 out of 50) of the fastest-growing B2B companies offer downloadable content, like ebooks or whitepapers.
28% (14 out of 50) of the fastest-growing B2B companies use gated content. 16% (8 out of 50) offer ungated content.
These differences in content accessibility highlight an important, ongoing conversation in sales and marketing: Should required forms and lead capture remain central to what we’re doing? Or are there other ways we can communicate with prospective customers once they’ve engaged with our content? For some companies, forms are being replaced or supplemented with 1:1 messaging, which allows sales and marketing teams to communicate with website visitors in real-time.
