Increasing SEO traffic can be one of the most difficult tasks for many B2B marketers. It’s competitive, difficult to crack if you’re working in a specific industry, and can be a tough cookie to sell. Many companies aren’t very keen on purchasing goods and services from someone on the internet if they can work with a client they’ve dealt with in the past. Because of this, people specializing in B2B have a difficult time marketing themselves if they’re not the familiar choice.
While B2B SEO is undoubtedly challenging, it’s not impossible. Here are some ways to build a proper B2B SEO strategy that can carry your business to the next level.
Focus on the Long Game
In the world of B2B SEO, patience is one of the most important virtues to have. If you’re looking for a quick payoff, then you’re likely to experience disappointment and frustration in this field. Remember that most companies aren’t eager to blindly invest their money in something they know little about. You should anticipate that most businesses will do a little more research on who you are, what you offer, and how well you’ve worked with past clients. As a result, this makes the sales cycles in B2B SEO significantly longer than B2C campaigns.
Leave Content Marketing on the Backburner
Before you can create a successful B2B SEO campaign from the ground up, you’re going to need to forget some of what you’ve learned about B2C marketing. Companies have different goals and interests than customers, and they experience different challenges as well. It’s only natural that you would design an SEO strategy that better accommodated their needs.
One of the first things to do when you step into the world of B2B SEO is limit the content marketing and aggressive use of keywords. While these two areas are still important, you’ll want to take a human approach and get to know your potential buyers. Here are some ways that you can achieve this:
- Search for prospective business clients on YouTube. View their channels and look at what they’re offering.
- Interact with business reps on Facebook and Twitter. See what their interests are and how they’re marketing themselves.
- Stay current with the top industry-related publications that cover which trends are hot and which are dying out in your industry. Let this knowledge inform how you converse with potential clients.
Stick to the principles of inbound marketing when designing a B2B SEO campaign but focus more on learning the business culture and the personality of the executives you’re dealing with. This is more important than generating awareness of your overall content.
So, do I need a blog then?
Yes, you do. Keeping an active blog filled with relevant content is a great way to increase traffic to your website. You’ll want to maintain a blog covering your content as well as building a database of detailed information in the form of media like white pages, webinars, and podcasts. All of this is essential for building your credibility and establishing yourself as an authority in the field.
However, what you should not be doing is basing your entire marketing strategy off of content marketing when reaching out to executives. Instead, you should be researching buyer personas of business leaders and custom tailoring your campaign every time you connect with these various companies so that you’re both on the same page.
