Kevin Lee: 5 ways to make B2B content less boring

Didit Editorial

10 years ago

October 24, 2014: In his latest ClickZ column, Kevin Lee takes on the issue of boring B2B content. He writes: “We’re all taught that content that isn’t engaging, inspiring, satisfying, and helpful will cause users to hit the dreaded back button. But the sad fact is that the majority of commercial content on the Web is dull, fails to resonate, and falls flat, even when it’s accurately targeted at a given audience.”

There’s no single panacea to cure narcoleptic B2B column, but Kevin recommends that marketers consider adding more behind-the-scenes content, “out of the box” content, “obsessive” content, and “strange data-driven” content. For example, “Everybody loves data-driven articles, but too many B2B data-driven articles use the same data served up by the same research firms. Instead of parroting the same numbers, think creatively about how you can tap into the Web’s big data repositories to produce some relevant data that’s never been seen before. Google Trends can be a good source of trend data for your vertical. Even if you don’t have access to Twitter’s API, it’s fairly easy to mine data from Twitter using XML include statements. Similarly, your own site analytics may be useful for developing this kind of data. Plus, you’ve got all the industry competitive intel tools to use. Just be sure you cite the data source.”

Personality-driven content is also another way out of the “boring B2B content trap.” Could it be that your charismatic A-type personality CEO will be the Web’s next viral superstar? A strong opinionated voice “might be just what you need to set your brand apart on YouTube, the second biggest search engine in the world. As an added benefit, video shot for YouTube may provide topics and quotes that can be used on written content.”

Read complete article at ClickZ.com.