An Open Letter to B2B Content Marketers

Dear B2B Content Marketer:

First let me say that I am one of you. I spend countless hours each week writing about, thinking about and helping my clients maximize the value of content. I am passionate about content marketing and believe that there is no better time to be a B2B marketer and we have so much opportunity ahead of us. However, I need to write and ask you to stop!

We are squandering this opportunity that has been given to us. I just finished reading through Content Marketing Institutes B2B Enterprise Content Marketing Report and the results do not bode well for those of us in this profession.

Only 22% say they are successful with content marketing and only 35% have a documented strategy (which is most likely why so few are seeing success). Despite these kinds of results, the overwhelming majority of marketers responded to the study saying they will continue to create more and spend more on content marketing.                                                                                                      

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By this report and others in years past, it would seem that as B2B content marketers we have lost our minds and show no signs of changing course. A 6% drop evidences this in effectiveness year over year.

I understand that creating content is fun. We have so many channels, so many opportunities to push content out, we have become publishing machines and in so doing have been able to identify and find a sense of purpose with our profession. But, at what cost? We are simply creating content without direction, with little to no understanding of relevance to our buyer and customers and are creating noise. As a result, this noise is turning off those with whom we are looking to engage.

We can do better than this. To make this work the only thing required is patience and some hard work. Before we begin the next content initiative, can we pause for a moment and do some work to collect insights on those with whom we are trying to attract? Can we find out what matters to them, what pain points and challenges they have, who they collaborate with internally and the roles they play? Can we work to understand their content consumption preferences and patterns? If we do, we will reap the rewards of greater success and content marketers can start to measure real results.

Let’s look to make 2016 not the year of Content Marketing, but the year of better, more relevant, higher ROI Content Marketing. It can be done if we take the time to acquire the right skills (CMOs invest in this!) and we are willing to put in the work necessary. We have to change our approach, get to a place of sanity and become the strategic cog in the business wheel that CEOs are expecting.  

Sincerely,

Carlos Hidalgo