Implications
Our aim in this report was to dive deep into the content hubs of a cross-section of leading tech B2B brands and gather insights that will help you navigate your own content marketing strategy and set benchmarks as you prepare for 2025.
Tech B2B brands have been steadily publishing long-form content of different types to generate leads, create thought leadership, and expand their addressable audience. With audiences preferring to complete more than 70% of the tech B2B purchase journey autonomously this is one of the capabilities needed for relevance in this space.
The brands we reviewed published over a thousand assets that delivered value and insight. Only three of the 50 brands we researched produced no long-form content at all. On average, brands produced about three content assets every month.
They keep going because they see all the benefits of investing in the creation of resources that not only have the power to introduce your product to the customer in all detail but also teach them something new. Content innovation is a requirement for differentiation, but so far, very few brands address this specifically (for example, including interactivity or creative formats).
The real power of long-form content is in converting leads by enriching their know-how and letting them explore technological advancements in depth. Should you ask for their email address to do so? That depends on your marketing strategies but one point to note is that your audiences are used to gating: 41.7% of all the content we analysed was gated.
Takeaways
Approach content creation systematically and in alignment with sales and marketing goals, creating editorial calendars that are meaningful and achievable.
Identify opportunities for both value and innovation in determining content strategy. Focus on the value of the content and its place in the customer journey, not on just the initial publication. What is the baseline level of content you need to compete, and how can you stand out?
Minimise content cost by adopting the right processes to uncover content opportunities, create content efficiently, and review it speedily. Content cannot just be created by marketing teams. It needs subject matter expert involvement as well.
Think carefully about AI and determine whether and to what extent an AI-augmented effort would work for the organisation. Creativity and bold approaches will deliver far better results than volumes of copy.
Enhance interactivity to keep pace with the rapidly developing industry. These days, seeing network optimisation solutions or chatbots powered by AI and 5G enabling thousands of new services to come to life is no exception. The way telecom brands communicate, for example, must reflect these advances.
Create content that illustrates specific use cases of their solutions and real-life applications of your solutions for the target audience to understand them and realise all their benefits. Long-form content is an excellent platform to achieve that, offering room for detailed explanations and claiming the thought-leader position.
Carefully consider the potential of gating as a lead generation strategy. With cloud comms brands gating 100% of whitepapers, it’s time to evaluate the benefits of free access, such as growing audiences, differentiation, or building credibility.
We created a self-assessment scorecard to help you audit your current long-form content approach.
Email your results at hello@isolinecomms.com and we’ll feature your brand and content in our newsletter. If you score 80% or higher, we’ll send you a congratulatory gift.
