Using Content Marketing to Build B2B Thought Leadership

In the B2B world, brand reputation is very important. No one will look at your company twice if they don’t see you as a reliable source of information/ services/ products in the field. But how do you get to create a powerful reputation, especially when you’re just beginning?

Here is where thought leadership and content marketing come into play. Actually, the second most important goal of a content marketing strategy (besides creating leads) is to make people think about you as an authority figure in the niche.

At the base, thought leadership is nothing more than a marketing strategy. When applied correctly, this strategy will increase your reputation as a brand or business and will allow you to be seen as an expert. Now that we’ve cleared this up, let’s see a few methods that will improve your content marketing strategy by building thought leadership.

Your target audience and their interests

So you want to be seen as an expert, but in what? In order to reach the right type of audience, you must first know the type of content that interests them. Do they want to know about stock market fluctuation, latest fitness methods, or simply improving patient retention using the online environment? By creating content that offers value and deep insight in the matters that interest your audience you will be able to establish yourself as a reliable source and an authority figure.

One of the best examples is the PatientSites.com brand, created to help PT clinics in improving their online strategy.  They created a powerful reputation for themselves by publishing content that is of high importance for small to medium businesses in the physical therapy niche.

Be creative and unique

Of course, you won’t be the only one who wants to attract other businesses’ attention. So what will make you special? Well, the answer is simple: originality and creativity. However, being original and thinking outside the box is not as easy as it might seem. You have to find that unique approach that will solve your clients’ issues in a way no one has before. This is what will make you popular and will improve your reputation as a powerful leader.

If we continue the physical therapy clinic example, they suggested clients to apply an increased level of personalization in their online communication. This will impress the existing patients and would drive them to talk about the clinic that treated them so well.

Learn from your mistakes

It may sound simple, but putting together a successful content marketing campaign is hard work. Even more, way too many times, small mistakes have a powerful effect on the outcome. If you fell in one of the traps don’t be discouraged; learn from it and get back on the horse.

However, I believe it’s best to learn from mistakes others did first and make your own. That’s why reading about content marketing myths and errors before starting the process is a fantastic idea. This way you get to learn the main pitfalls and you’ll also learn how to avoid them.

In the end, regardless of the fact that your business needs a boost of freshness or you are simply just starting, thought leadership through content marketing is a great way to attract attention and let people know you mean business.