How to Develop Your Own B2B Marketing Content Pt. 1

Meet Marketer Molly. She’s read the articles. She knows what content is and why it’s important. She gets it, ok! But here’s what Molly wants to know? How in the world is she suppose to do all her current marketing duties and somehow produce interesting content on a regular basis? Is there some magic content wand out there she has yet to find?

Well sorry to say Molly, but there’s no magic wand. I can, however, give Molly and other B2B marketers reading this blog some helpful advice to make content creation less daunting. First, start by assessing your situation. Answer the following question for me.  

Which statement best describes you?

a) My company has dedicated resources within our marketing budget for content development.

b) My marketing budget is tiny as it is, and my company expects me to find a way to develop content on top of everything else.

If you answered (a.), congratulations! You have a head start on this content development journey. There are a couple of ways to proceed. You can hire a part-time (or full-time depending on resources and needs) in-house or contract writer to focus on developing original b2b marketing content for blogs, tip-sheets, webinars, whitepapers, eBooks, or whatever fits your strategy. You’ll be needing photos, graphics, and maybe even video to go with the written content, so hiring a designer is a good idea as well.

If you answered (b.), don’t worry. You may have to be more creative with your resources, but you still can develop great material to fuel your content marketing efforts. Look inside your organization and assess your talent pool. Perhaps you have a coworker with a knack for creativity and writing. It may be possible to solicit his help and talk to management about shifting duties. If there’s no one but you, be realistic. Develop a content calendar that makes the most of your time, and prioritize quality and consistency over quantity. A well-written blog article that consistently posts every Monday will benefit you far more than ten sloppy articles in two weeks and nothing new for 2 months.

Now listen closely, I’m going to share a secret with you. There’s a simple trick to developing content—Write every day! I’m not saying you have to become Jane Austen over night. I’m telling you to block off 20-30 minutes in your workday, everyday, and write something. Don’t worry about making it perfect. That part comes later. Just get ideas down on paper. If you do it everyday, before you know it you will have lots of material to draw from. And just like any exercise, writing gets easier the more you practice.

So now what?

Developing your own content may seem scary, and I understand if you’re feeling overwhelmed. But like all things that seem scary at first, taking a step back to assess your situation and decide how best to use your resources will get you started in the right direction. You’ve taken my test, and I’ve shared my secret with you. Let’s start producing some content.

Image courtesy of Unsplash.com 

Learn more about the steps to creating your own content by downloading our ebook, Feeding the Monster.