Tag: business to business content

Six Things You Can You Learn from B-2-B Publishers

You’ve heard that everyone is a publisher now, so what can you learn from successful publishers.

B2B publishers have made a living off their ability to deliver  audiences, initially through print and now online. Long before there was SEO, publications knew that great content would bring them loyal readership. Publishers continue to be  go-to sources for information on industry trends, news,  leaders, research and best practices. And with more competition for a reader’s time from all sorts of sources,  today’s leading publishers are working harder than ever .  The draw is still great content. However, many magazine websites have been transformed from online versions of the  print product, into  rich sites that fully embrace multimedia and  social networks.

Now that you are trying to win over your own audience online with content, it makes sense to try and learn what you can from the pros.

1) Keep the needs of the customer/reader first and foremost.

It’s not about you and your company, it’s about your customer.  What are their problems and how can you solve them.

2)Be fair and factual.

Your audience knows you are trying to sell something, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a credible, reliable, source of information. Stick to the facts and avoid “ad-like” promises and sales jargon.

3)Hire professional writers.

Subject matter experts who can also write are few and far between. They are usually too busy with other jobs to write. Instead of trying to rely on them, hire a professional writer who knows how to pull the information from your sources  and present it in a useful, usable and interesting format.

4)Keep a schedule.

As a reader, I  know when my favorite industry publication will arrive each month, and I look forward to it. The same is true of my InBox.  Whether you decide to publish content on a daily, weekly or monthly frequency, stick to a schedule.  Be aware that there’s a direct correlation between frequency of content and website visits.

5) Look for the best way to tell a story.

Does the story lend itself to video, radio or text?  PMQ’s Pizza TV is used to demonstrate a technique for rolling  a pizza crust over the shoulder. It just wouldn’t be the same in print.

6)Add value with social sharing.

Today’s publishing websites include more ways for audiences to connect and share ideas with each other. PMQ Pizza Think Thank forum is a reminder that your customers and prospects can create your content.  On techrepublic.com, social stats are front and center, helping the audience find  useful content fast.

As a content marketer you need to know how to succeed in publishing. Examine your favorite industry magazine websites with a fresh eye. What do you like about them?  How can you use that information to  engage your audience? What do you see on consumer magazine websites that could translate to B2B?

Four Reasons Why No One Wants to Use Your 800 Number

Marketers spend countless hours coming up with strategies to engage customers and prospects through content marketing.  Yet, too often, when customers are trying to engage with a company, such as when they have a question or problem, we make it difficult. We relegate the answers to an 800 number, when we could be providing the information online. Here’s why 800 numbers are a turn-off:

1)      The automated voice mail. If there’s a better way to make your customers feel like they are not important, let me know.   When is the last time you heard a message that was engaging on an 800 line. “Listen carefully, we have changed our selections” is typically followed by an endless array of options, not one of which involves a human being. Companies may as well just scream, “We don’t want to talk to you!”

2)      The wait is too long. I recently spent 10 or 15 minutes waiting to ask a question of GoDaddy.com.  Another interaction with Lenovo took more than 30 minutes to resolve. And while you wait, you have to listen to annoying music, or sales messages.

3)      People who can’t solve their problems. When you finally do reach a human, it never seems to be the person who can solve your problem. By the time you have been transferred to the right person, you have explained the problem at least three different times to three different people.

4)      There’s usually no record of your conversation. Unless you count the confirmation number you scribbled on a scrap of paper. After a phone transaction, I am often left wondering if anything really will be accomplished.

Is it any wonder that your customers would look online for the answers to their problems? Studies show an increasing preference for online interaction.

Does your website content address your customer’s questions? Do you have an area for frequently asked questions?  Can a customer chat with an operator online? Can they access a customer portal to see their account information?

Many b-to-b marketers fail to answer common questions online because they want people to call them. But will they?

What’s your strategy?

How to Position Your Call for Action

Before adding a call to action on your website or blog, determine what you want your audience to do. Then use your content to provide context for that action. For this blog, we want people to link to our site and subscribe to our RSS feed. But there are many actions people can take. For instance, do you want to get an opinion? If so, don’t write as if you are the ultimate authority on the subject. Admit your ignorance. This gives your reader a chance to add something. People will love to fill you in. We were not sure which graphic design to use for this blog so we requested input from business friends on Facebook and other social networks. The feedback we got was tremendous and helped us understand what design would be most effective.

There are a number of decisions to make when buying something is your call to action. If your audience knows your company and products they may already trust you. But if they are unfamiliar with what you offer, you need to build trust. Disclose everything a potential buyer may need to know about the company and its products as well as any relationships that influence your selling process. Word choice is important in getting people to act. I recently learned that it is sometimes better to use the word “Continue” rather than “Buy” during the online purchasing process. The idea is that people love to buy but hate to be sold to.

At a website usability conference I attended, the importance of a phrase was revealed. Guess which words resulted in the most clicks: “Sign Up” or “Click Here to Sign Up” or “Get Started Now”? The last phrase resulted in a 35% click rate compared with 17% for the first and 22% for the second. That is substantial.

When trying to get readers to subscribe to your e-newsletter offer them something useful in return. For that universal question always lingers: “What will I get out of it?” Be sure to explain the benefits they will get from responding to your offer.

If you want someone to link back to you, do as author and business communications consultant Chris Brogan does. He sometimes adds a last paragraph to his blog post saying: “I’d love to see YOUR post on this. Please post and link back to this url.” He copies the URL and adds it to make it easier to respond.

People are so busy it may be hard to get them to act. Content that is engaging, easily understood, and of benefit to them helps. Have you found ways to increase your call to action response? I would love to see your post. Please post and link to here. Or if you feel like taking another action, subscribe to our RSS feed to stay current on best business to business content practices.

Every Product or Service Has a Story

Interview in ProgressI write a “Closer Look” feature for Construction Equipment Distribution magazine that focuses on a single supplier to the construction equipment industry. Rather than rely on a lone interview with the company’s CEO or president, I always ask for the names of a few customers to interview.

Customer interviews provide a “real world” framework for the reader.  Instead of describing a company’s product and services from the CEO point of view, I integrate a story of how their products or services provide a solution for customers.

The profiled companies are amazed at the information I  gather.  There is no big secret to this.

When you need a great customer story  follow these steps:

1)      Ask customers to start with the source of their initial frustration or need.

2)      Answer the questions of who, what, when, where and why. Get as much detail as possible.

3)      Ask if there was anything that surprised them about the product or service.

4)      Ask if there was anything that could have been done better.

5)      Give them an opportunity to review their comments.

Don’t just ask for a testimonial and rely on the customer to deliver it. If you get it at all, it will likely sound like something no one would believe. Hiring a professional writer to conduct the interview will provide the best results. Customers open up more when they talk to a third party. It shows a level of professionalism.  If that’s not in the budget, at the very least, select someone who is not familiar with the customer/client relationship. Review the questions in advance.   Follow the steps above and let the customer know you are truly interested in hearing what they have to say. That’s the secret to getting a great customer story.