As the way businesses operate changes, and as the way we consume content is shifting, does the term B2B – business to business – need a rethink?
That is what we heard at CommsCon the other week – where Ogilvy PR shared that at the heart of each business we’re communicating to, are people making the decisions – so the more emotive we are as B2B storytellers, the more effective our communications will be.
To help us communicate in this shifting landscape, four trends were revealed – and lucky for you I’m going to summarise them below.
1. Interactivity
According to research from a Demand Gen report, interactive content is more effective at educating buyers than static content by 23%. We should be looking at ways to make our content more interactive, by including quizzes, chatbots, calculators or interactive graphics. These can help us drive traffic to social and capture any new leads.
2. Keeping it real
Coming out of Covid, people are more likely to engage with content that isn’t all ‘pretty and pink’ – but with stories and insights that share our mistakes and failures. We need to resist the humble brag in our content, and make sure it is authentic and real, not all glossy and shiny.
3. The long not short of it
We’ve been hearing this for a while – long form content is back on the rise, but it is particularly driving engagement with the ‘minor stream’ or those niche audiences who love detail on a particular topic. It could be the rev head enthusiast, or someone who has a passion for baking. Articles that average 2,000 words could see an increase in organic traffic and social shares.
4. Business influence
Influencers are not just ex-reality stars plugging the newest makeup drop. There are influencers in B2B communications as well. We need to be on the lookout for key people in our industries who have an authentic voice to help tell our brand story.
The key thing to remember as B2B communicators as the landscape continually shifts and evolves is that at the centre of our content is real stories that are engaging, authentic, and has people at the heart.
Alex Williams