REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
RELATED LITERATURE
Local Literature
2B marketers are spending more than 25 percent of their budgets in the development, delivery and promotion of content, according to a recent survey run by the CMO Council and NetLine. Their objectives are to drive business leads, influence customer markets and grow brand presence and authority. More importantly, 87 percent of respondents indicated that online content has a moderate to major impact (67 percent and 20 percent respectively on what vendors they chose to work with.
While B2B sales and marketing groups appear to understand the need for better alignment through content marketing needs, strategic development is still in its infancy.
The survey report states that many organizations are engaged in "random acts of content development," lacking cohesive strategy. This assessment is based on findings indicating that the B2B buyer is migrating to peer-based communities and trusted new sources. The B2B buyer finds that vendor sites fail in many ways, including navigation, depth, and accessibility.
SEO should be a significant component of the B2B content marketing mix; augmenting these efforts from concept to execution. Here are four ways B2B SEO professionals can better impact content marketing initiatives.
As highlighted in recent coverage of the survey from eMarketer, quality trumps quantity significantly. "B2B executives have expectations for the content they consume, however, and seem disinterested in anything offering surface-level insights".
Furthermore, the survey report indicated that blatantly self-serving and promotional content is a major turnoff, cited by 43 percent of respondents. Research and whitepapers based on professional association and industry input led the list of content assets B2B buyers valued and trusted most.
Keyword research should be at the forefront of any content development initiative. Not only are B2B marketers looking for keywords