B2B Content Doesn’t Have to Be About You

I just finished writing  an article on “How to Get More Bang out of Your Internet Marketing Bucks,” for Construction Equipment Distribution magazine. It was a fun article to write because it gave me an opportunity to connect with some of my favorite marketers. John Jantsch, best-selling author and marketer whose blog and book, Duct Tape Marketing, is a favorite among small business owners, was one of my top picks.

When I found out Jantsch marketed a contractor association earlier in his career, I was pleasantly surprised. He already had a very good sense of the construction industry.

What content would John Jantsch recommend to a construction equipment dealer?

So I asked him,  ‘If you were a construction equipment distributor, what would you do for content? I really liked his response:

“I would recommend holding a roundtable of five or six big contractors in their industry,” said Jantsch. “The dealer could facilitate a discussion about industry trends, which would be recorded and put online.”

It reminded me that the best content doesn’t have to be about your products and services.  It’s about providing the customer something of value.“There are different ways to view content,” said Jantsch. “A dealer can produce content that will be far more useful than the traditional specs on the loader bucket.”

One of the most successful advertising salespeople I know was famous for attaching a hand-written note to each issue of the publications that he mailed to advertisers and prospects every month. He would mention different articles in the issue, or maybe just their ad, that he thought they would be interested in. You would not believe how this small personal gesture resonated with clients. People would meet him at trade shows and they would say, “You’re the guy who sends me the notes!”

Sharing valuable content, whether we create it, or curate it, adds value to a relationship.  Chances are you already share content. Can you leverage this same idea for your business–using social networks and a blog?