In today's digital world, a company's online presence is more crucial than ever before. How we do business has changed dramatically in recent years, and consumer habits and preferences have shifted. This has had a significant impact on the world of marketing. In today's digital landscape, online content plays a crucial role in shaping a brand's image and determining its success.
Traditional marketing often consisted of one-sided communication directed solely at customers. However, in recent years, content marketing has become an essential component of B2B marketing efforts, resulting in a more interactive and conversational relationship between brands and their audiences — what we call the humanization of marketing.
What Is Editorial Content?
Editorial content is content — think blogs, podcasts, email newsletters, and social media posts — that is not aimed explicitly at selling something. Its goal is to provide value to the reader by offering insight into a certain topic or a certain field. It can be informative, entertaining, or educational. It can demonstrate your knowledge, expertise, or authority in your field by giving readers information they can use, which earns their trust. In the long run, that will drive more sales to you than overtly selling.
The Importance of Editorial Content for B2B Businesses
In the shifting world of B2B marketing and oversaturated ad space, creating quality editorial content is imperative. Investing in high-quality content and effective distribution strategies is the key to long-term success in the digital space. Unlike paid ads, evergreen content will continue to generate leads long after it's been published. Editorial content is also a sustainable approach that will ensure longevity in the online space and will pave the way for so much more than that.
Builds Trust with Customers
The editorial content created by your team and published on your company's content hub is an essential tool for building credibility. By providing personable and valuable information that engages with your target audience, you can establish yourself as a trusted resource for people looking for answers. This type of content can help build trust in your brand without feeling like a hard sell.
Take it from the Contently team in an article they wrote on their blog called The Content Strategist. “Developing an emotional connection with your audience is the best way to build their trust in your brand. This means knowing your customer and presenting them (not your company) as the ‘hero’ of your narrative. They are the ones who need to solve a specific problem.”
Instead of directly promoting a product or service, you showcase your expertise and directly help your customer. By consistently providing valuable information, readers will begin to trust your opinion and be more likely to make a purchase when you recommend a product or service.
Meet Your Audience Where They Are in the Marketing Funnel
Editorial content enables you to attract several personas, at various stages in the marketing funnel, on different marketing platforms. If you haven’t yet read our post on “How to Develop a Digital Content Marketing Strategy,” we talk about the significance of creating specific content for each buyer persona.
We are consistently looking for organic ways to meet customers at each stage of the funnel. Whether writing an informative blog post for Persona A or hosting a podcast for Persona B, editorial content can be tailored to meet your audience right where they are.
Build Up a Content Hub That Can Be Repurposed
As you continue to create content, you will accumulate a library of relevant topics for your industry and business. This collection of information not only benefits your SEO and humanizes your marketing but can be repurposed across different channels giving you a significant advantage in your promotional strategies.
Talk to and with Your Audience, Not at Them
If you're not investing time and effort into creating educational and informative content about your industry, you're missing out on a great opportunity. Start now, with Casted’s huge library of content on how to start a killer podcast and rise up through the five stages of the B2B Podcast Maturity Curve. While you’re there, take a look at a podcast hosting platform that actually cares about your content and allows you to transcribe your podcasts and repurpose them into even more editorial content.
