As a B2B company, your content marketing can play a significant role in differentiating your brand, grabbing the attention of prospects, and assisting in lead generation efforts. To remain competitive in B2B content marketing, you must provide at least three different forms of marketing collateral on your website: white papers, case studies, and blog posts. Why are these so crucial for B2B content marketing? Recent studies from KoMarketing’s 2014 B2B Web Usability Report show that 38% of B2B buyers believe that case studies, white papers, and blog posts are “must have” pieces of content. Surprisingly, this content was given the same weight of importance as technical information, and both of these only slightly fell behind pricing information as the most important piece of content, at 43%. Despite the fact that B2B buyers are looking for this type of content, this study showed that 54% of buyers believe case studies, white papers, and blogs are often missing or insufficient from vendor’s websites. Let’s take a look at each of these 3 types of B2B content marketing collateral and why they are so crucial to your business’ overall marketing and lead generation strategy:

White Papers

White papers provide necessary information and value to your audience, especially to prospects. By offering this value to readers, you are establishing your expertise and enhancing the credibility of your brand. For lead generation, white papers can be key to help you identify potential prospects and gain their contact information. One easy way to do this is to gate the content, and ask for a name and email address before providing access to the entire white paper. Since these individuals are interested in the information you are offering and the only thing required from them is filling out a quick form, white papers can help you build a wider base of prospects.

Case Studies

Case studies work to support your B2B marketing efforts by offering information and evidence to support a buyer’s purchase decision, as well as acting as a valuable content marketing tool. For buyers looking to solidify their purchase decision and prove to higher-ups that your product or service is the best choice for them, a well-written case study can establish the credibility of your company and push prospects through the funnel, closer to their final decision. How has your business solved a problem? What can you provide specialized insight on? Providing this content to your audience in the form of a case study serves as a compelling piece of content that educates and engages with your prospects and clients.

Blogs

Blog posts are yet another great way for your company to showcase its expertise and offer insight into industry topics. These posts will not only act as a resource for your prospects and clients that can help build their trust in your credibility, but they can also boost your company’s SEO efforts. Search engines like to reward websites that are continuously creating quality, relevant, and fresh content. What better way to do this than through an ongoing blog strategy? When created and promoted well, these three types of marketing collateral will help your business’ lead generation, SEO, overall brand equity and credibility.

Read about the Top 3 Methods of Sharing B2B Content.