Earlier today I published a new post to the Silverpop Demand Generation blog — one that looks at the next phase of dialogue around content marketing for B2B demand generation.
The post opens by recounting the ‘first evolution’ of content marketing — i.e., the evolution of the topic up until recently:
The last year has brought growing dialogue around content marketing as an integral component of modern B2B demand generation.
First, we’ve seen increasing acknowledgement that, in a Web 2.0 world, the dynamics of the B2B buyer are shifting and that at the core of these new dynamics are fundamental shifts in buyers’ information consumption patterns. Buyers are doing more education on their own, ahead of speaking with a salesperson. Second, this has occurred in tandem with growing interest among B2B marketers both with inbound marketing strategies for lead generation and with marketing automation as a central platform for nurturing B2B prospects in a buyer-driven fashion.
Content marketing is the architecture behind information exchanged with the buyer before we can get them to ’sales ready’; it is the rationalization of what content that our prospective buyers need at various stages of the buying cycle and via what media and channels; and it is integral to the nurturing process. Content thus has moved from tactical to strategic.
It then asks, ‘So what’s next for the dialogue around content marketing?’
Now we are entering a second phase of dialogue and evolution around content marketing, where we’re talking about how to take it forward.
The post then analyzes three emerging dialogue threads around content marketing, its integration with marketing automation and its role in modern, buyer-centric B2B demand generation — also citing a number of marketing experts, such as content marketing ‘guru’ Joe Pulizzi, and relaying their perspectives on this evolving topic.
These threads are:
- Building out the new era of dynamic, buyer-driven content marketing campaigns
- Closing the loop so that it’s clear what content has impact and how to tune your content mix
- Developing the right skill set and building the right team to effectively manage your B2B organization’s content marketing ‘machine’
Propelling Brands 