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B2B Content Revolution: Why Personalization Matters for Engaging Your Audience
By Joshua Nite
Why personalize B2B content? If your solution is the best fit for a particular problem, why not just list your features and benefits and let your product sell itself?
That’s the kind of thinking that dominated B2B marketing for decades. But in the age of distraction, we need to embrace a simple truth:
B2B content is not about you.
It’s not about your solution or your brand. Your audience should be the star of your content — they should see themselves represented in it. B2B content needs relevance and resonance to rise above the noise and earn attention.
Here’s why personalization is essential for B2B content now, and why it will be even moreso in the future.
Why Personalization Matters in B2B Content
Personalization isn’t just about sprinkling a few custom details here and there. It’s about understanding your audience’s pain points, challenges, and aspirations, and crafting content that directly speaks to those points. When you show that you’ve done your homework and truly “get” your audience, you build a foundation of trust that paves the way for fruitful interactions.
Crafting Personalized B2B Content
So, how do you create personalized B2B content that hits the bullseye? Here’s a quick guide to get you started.
1 — Know Your Audience Inside and Out
Too often, creating market personas involves more creative writing than data mining. It’s all well and good to try to empathize with your target audience as a mental exercise. But don’t stop there.
Start with defining the industries, job titles, and even potential target accounts that fit your ideal customer profile. Then take it a step further: Who are the people you’re trying to reach? What conversations are they having and where are they talking?
Even more important: Who are these people listening to already and what messages are they hearing? Using tools like Meltwater and Traackr can help you see who is influential to your target audience. From there, you can analyze what content people are engaging with, too.
The more you know about your audience, the more you can tailor content to them based on facts, not just speculation.
“The more you know about your audience, the more you can tailor content to them based on facts, not just speculation.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites
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2 — Segmentation is Key
Once you’ve gathered your data, segment your audience. Create distinct groups based on shared characteristics. This allows you to create content that speaks directly to the concerns of each group.
Don’t be afraid to create many small segments, as long as each one has significant differences in their pain points or potential messaging.
3 — Customize with Care
It may seem like personalizing content for multiple segments would get unwieldy. But don’t think of it as creating entirely net new content for each group. Start with a more general asset — blog …read more
Source:: Top Rank Blog
