Have you ever wondered why it’s so important to have a content marketing strategy to be successful in 2022 and beyond? The internet has fundamentally changed how customers are investing in security systems.
Consider these statistics:
- A large number of B2B customers, 90% of them to be exact, start their B2B buying journey with an online search. (Dialogtech)
- B2B buyers are more than halfway (57%) through the decision process when they finally get in touch with a potential vendor. (WebFX)
- 54% of decision makers say they spend more than one hour per week reading and reviewing thought-leadership content. (Edelman/LinkedIn)
Customers are online, self-educating to find solutions to their problems by reading blogs, social media posts, watching videos, downloading resources and more. That's why it's important, but if you've ever struggled on what to write about, you're not alone.
In part one of this series on content marketing strategies, we’ll share a few simple tips on how to choose the right topics and exactly what you should be writing about on your company blog.
The Key to Content Marketing Success
Here at Vector Firm, we write, design and promote content for clients in the security industry in the form of blogs, social media posts, video explainers and content assets. We’ve learned a lot in the process about what’s working and what’s not working. If you want your content marketing efforts to be effective (better quality leads, shortened sales cycles etc.), there is one goal that each topic you choose needs to deliver on every time: buyer education.
Educating prospects and customers with your content builds trust and positions you as the subject matter expert. Now that you understand buyer education is the goal, let’s dive into how to choose the right topics for your company blog.
How to Choose the Right Topics for Your Blog
First, if your website doesn’t have a blog – you need one. Beyond the benefits of search engine optimization, a blog is simply the place where you store all of your educational articles. For your customers, think of the blog as a place where they can find answers to specific problems.
Choosing topics to write about in your blog is easy and effective if you focus on the questions your customers obsess over and research before they make a buying decision.
Choose topics that answer questions related to these five categories:
- Pricing and cost – How much do things cost? Factors, scenarios, customization etc.
“Five factors impacting the cost of cloud-based access control systems.” - Problems – Problems your customer might experience with your solution as an answer
“School Security and Safety Problems Solved with this Layered Approach.” - Comparisons – This vs that…
“On-Premise vs Cloud-based Access Control? – Discover what’s right for you.” - Reviews – Honest observations about a product or solution
“In this blog, we review XYZ Analytics and what it means to your security system.” - Top or best-of – What are the best options available
“What are the top CCTV cameras on the market in 2022?”
Sales and Marketing in Full Alignment
We embrace the concept of sales AND marketing alignment (not sales vs marketing). Your customers expect that any and all information about the products and services they plan to purchase will be available on your website and will look to your blog for answers first.
Marketing teams should be talking with sales teams about the topics & questions they hear from customers (use the categories above to get started). Once those articles are posted on a company blog, your sales team can share and amplify those posts with prospects and current accounts.
In our next post, we’ll share how to choose the right topics for social media.
Are you in the security industry? Do you need help with your content marketing?
Contact Vector Firm today to discuss your content marketing needs.
We write, design and promote content for customers in the security industry. We offer a FREE Discovery call where you can share your goals and learn more about how we work with you and your salespeople.
