By Nick Nelson

In his recently-published book, What’s Your Problem: Become a Better B2B Marketer by Enhancing Your Problem-Solving Skills, Steve Goldhaber argues that the discipline of content marketing boils down to a simple consistent objective: solving problems.

It’s a reasonable framing. Almost every piece of marketing content is essentially aimed at solving a problem. This really gets to the fundamental intent of B2B content marketing as a practice: by helping our audience solve day-to-day problems and overcome business challenges, we hope that they’ll eventually consider using our product or service to solve a bigger problem.

But content marketers can’t focus solely on solving problems for customers. We also need to look inward and address key challenges that threaten the value and impact of our problem-solving content. The old saying about “getting your own house in order” comes to mind.

Here’s a look at four prevalent conundrums faced by B2B content marketers today, and how I recommend confronting and conquering them.

How to Overcome 4 Vexing B2B Marketing Conundrums

Content marketers need to reckon with these stumbling blocks before they can race to big success with their strategies.

Conundrum #1 ? More brands and platforms than ever are competing for the diminishing currency of attention.

On the surface, it seems like a clear positive: Fueled by social distancing and a lack of in-person experiences, audiences flocked online more than ever in 2020. Usage of mobile devices and social media apps has risen dramatically. In theory, this means it should be easier than ever to attract eyeballs and engage users via digital marketing.

So, why the conundrum?

Two reasons. First: every brand and content-creating entity is aware of this trend, so there’s been a widespread increase in supply to meet the demand. That means more competition. Second (and not unrelated), audiences are fatigued after a year of being necessarily glued to their screens. Without question, it’s growing more difficult to earn and sustain someone’s attention, not to mention drive action and engagement.

What To Do? 

It has never been more important to adopt a quality-over-quantity approach. Zero in on a narrowly defined audience whose problems you can help solve. Create highly focused and directly relevant content. Personalization holds the key to breaking through with a clear message in an online environment full of buzzing static.

[bctt tweet=”“Personalization holds the key to breaking through with a clear message in an online environment full of buzzing static.” @NickNelsonMN #B2Bmarketing #personalization” username=”toprank”]

Of course, the heightened competition also calls for a re-emphasis on capturing the attention of a scrolling user. Go against the grain and deliver something your audience isn’t expecting. Rock the boat in a sea of sameness.

Our clients at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions recently shared tips for thumb-stopping content that catches a user mid-scroll and invites engagement, including examples. I especially like the bear ad example from eCornell.

Conundrum #2 ? Measuring results is difficult when direct links to revenue aren’t always clear or straightforward.

During …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog