Zest had the pleasure of attending the B2B Marketing Expo at London’s ExCel Centre last week. With a lineup of marketing specialists and keynote speakers across the schedule there were many insightful ideas and intriguing strategies to be heard. Eighty of the industry’s most recognised companies got involved, including the IDM, Google and Digital Doughnut. The seminars and lectures were packed with great bite-sized tips that would give any Marketer the tools they need to elevate their campaigns and profiles to the next level.

Amongst all the discussions and analysis of emerging trends content marketing remained one of the hot topics.

Here were our three key takeaways from the day:

1. Let your brand do the talking

To establish a reputation and build trust, companies should always have consistent but transparent values across all of its content and communications. Customers need to believe in a brand, so that they come to you instead of you going to them.

2. Sell a story

Give your content a narrative, so that it can be relatable and give your brand a character. Stories and personalities are what people remember, even when they forget who told it.

3. Build relationships

Don’t use content only to make sales. People don’t like to be talked at, they want to be entertained, educated and inspired. Building personal connections with your target audience will encourage engagement and will ultimately increase website traffic.

Our verdict is that the B2B Marketing Expo is a recommended event for any marketers who are looking to find out the latest educational content and networking opportunities.

The Buyer Journey is the process a potential customer goes through from the initial realisation stage, to the decision stage where they make the purchase. It’s imperative for content marketers to understand the Buyer Journey as only then will they truly be able to understand their customer’s approach, needs and values. To help you appeal to your ideal customer, we take you through the step-by-step process a buyer will go through on their journey.

AWARENESS STAGE

At the awareness stage, the potential buyer will be coming to the realisation that they are in need of a certain product by experiencing and expressing symptoms of a problem or opportunity.

The customer will be undertaking educational research to more clearly understand, frame and put a name to what they need, whether they view it as a problem or opportunity.

The content types that work best during the awareness stage include educational content, such as white papers.

CONSIDERATION STAGE

At the consideration stage, the potential buyer has defined and named their problem or opportunity. They are starting to research and understand the various available approaches and methods to help solve their problem or opportunity.

The content type that works best at the consideration stage includes expert guides and videos.

DECISION STAGE

At the decision stage, the potential buyer has decided what their strategy will be and has compiled a list of all available vendors and products. They’ll be continuing to research each of these vendors and products before ultimately making the final purchase decision.

The content types that appeal at the decision stage include case studies and product literature.

To find out more about Zest’s content services, get in touch with our dedicated team.