Let’s be real right from the start—content marketing for B2B is not easy. You have to juggle different formats, multiple audiences of decision-makers, and all the novelties appearing in the content creation space.
Making mistakes in your B2B content is almost certain—but also easily fixable. In this article, we’ll show you the 11 most common B2B content marketing mistakes and ways to fix them.
TL;DR – 11 Most Common B2B Content Marketing Mistakes:
- Losing human touch
- Lack of clear goals and strategy
- Failing to measure and iterate
- Neglecting content distribution
- Ignoring the voice of the customer
- Recreating competitors’ content
- Relying on top-of-funnel content alone
- Not updating your content regularly
- Ignoring B2B influencer collaborations
- Misaligned tone of voice
- Overreliance on AI
Losing human touch
One of the biggest mistakes B2B marketers make is losing the human touch in their content. It’s easy to get caught up in creating content that’s purely promotional or technical.
But what really resonates with B2B buyers is content that speaks to them on a personal level.
Instead of focusing solely on your products or services, try to create content that addresses the pain points and challenges your target audience faces.
The easiest way to do this is to follow storytelling principles. Storytelling humanizes your brand and connects with your audience on a deeper level.
I don’t want to toot my own horn – but here’s an example from my LinkedIn content:
My target audience—bootstrapped founders—shares the same struggles as I do. They and I are both building our businesses without any external financing or guidance.
Those hurdles connect us and build my audience’s trust by showing them I actually understand their needs and pains—because I’m experiencing them myself.
After all, even in B2B content, people buy from people. And they appreciate content that speaks to their needs and concerns.
Lack of clear goals and strategy
Another common mistake in B2B content marketing is the lack of clear goals and strategy. Without a solid plan, content efforts can easily become disjointed and ineffective.
To avoid this mistake, start by setting specific, measurable goals for your content marketing efforts. This could include increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales.
One disclaimer here – make those goals realistic. Just because you think you’re able to get 1,000 YT subscribers in a month doesn’t mean it’s possible.
The easiest way to see if your goals are realistic is to check industry benchmarks for specific platforms, channels, and industries:
Once you have your goals in place, create a detailed content strategy that outlines how you will achieve them.
Your content strategy should include critical elements such as target audience personas, content themes and topics, distribution channels, and a timeline for content creation and publication. Again, no guessing is allowed here.
To formulate an effective strategy, you have to base it on the data available. Use tools like Semrush Market Explorer, GummySearch, or Statista for quantitative data:
Once you have all the numbers gathered in one place, use the DCI framework to uncover actionable insights from the data:
By having a clear roadmap in place, you can ensure that your content is aligned with your overall business objectives and is effectively reaching your target audience.
Failing to measure and iterate
One of the most significant advantages of digital marketing is the ability to measure the performance of your content in real-time. However, many B2B marketers make the mistake of creating content without tracking its performance or making data-driven decisions based on the results.
To avoid this mistake, be sure to set up analytics tracking for your content and regularly monitor key metrics such as page views, engagement rates, and conversion rates. Use this data to identify what is working well and what can be improved, and then make adjustments to your content strategy accordingly.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content, formats, and distribution channels to see what resonates best with your audience.
For example, if you see a meme you posted generated engagement from people outside your usual follower circle, it’s a good sign your audience appreciates a touch of humor.
By constantly measuring and iterating on your content, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are continuously improving and driving results for your business.
Neglecting your distribution
Neglecting content distribution is another common B2B content marketing mistake. Even if you have high-quality content, it won’t be effective if it’s not reaching the right audience.
To avoid this mistake, make sure you have a solid distribution strategy in place. This could include promoting your content through social media, email newsletters, partnerships with industry influencers, or even paid advertising.
It’s also important to consider where your target audience spends their time online and tailor your distribution strategy accordingly. For example, if your audience primarily uses LinkedIn for professional networking, focus on promoting your content on that platform.
Additionally, consider repurposing your content into different formats to reach a wider audience. For example, you could turn a blog post into a podcast episode or a video series to cater to different preferences.
By paying attention to your content distribution strategy, you can ensure that your content is reaching the right people at the right time, ultimately driving more engagement and results for your business.
Ignoring the Voice of the Customer
Ignoring the customer’s voice is a critical B2B content marketing mistake. Your target audience holds the key to what they find valuable, interesting, and engaging. By disregarding their feedback and preferences, you risk creating content that doesn’t resonate with them.
To avoid this mistake, prioritize listening to your customers. This can be done through surveys, interviews, feedback forms, or social media monitoring. By understanding their pain points, goals, and preferences, you can tailor your content to meet their needs better.
Additionally, consider incorporating user-generated content into your strategy. Sharing testimonials, case studies, or success stories from your customers can add credibility and authenticity to your content. It also shows your audience that you value their opinions and experiences.
Here’s an example of such content we’ve done for Ryan Dickerson, an Executive Career Coach:
This type of content shows Ryan’s expertise without us having to rely on salesy language and pushing the customer down the funnel.
By listening to and incorporating the voice of the customer into your content strategy, you can create more relevant and impactful content that resonates with your target audience. This can lead to increased engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, conversions for your business.
Recreating competitors’ content
“Let’s do what they did” is a mistake that many B2B marketers fall into. While it’s important to stay informed about what your competitors are doing, simply copying their content is not the way to go.
Instead of replicating what others are doing, focus on creating unique and original content that sets you apart from the competition.
The easiest way to do it is by leveraging your experience. You are the person working with your customers. You hear their struggles. You help them using your unique systems. Describe it in your content.
Even from an SEO standpoint, content that highlights your experience offers something new to search engines – and search engine bots love that:
One way to ensure your content is original is to conduct thorough research before creating it. Use tools like BuzzSumo, Ahrefs, or Google Trends to identify trending topics and gaps in the market that your content can fill. By staying ahead of the curve and providing valuable insights that others haven’t touched on, you can position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to take risks and try something new. Whether it’s launching a podcast, hosting a virtual event, or partnering with a niche influencer, exploring different avenues can help you stand out from the crowd and attract more attention to your brand.
By focusing on creating original and innovative content, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors and capture the attention of your target audience. This can ultimately lead to increased brand awareness, engagement, and conversions for your business.
Relying on top-of-funnel content alone
One mistake that many B2B marketers make is relying too heavily on top-of-funnel content alone. While educational and awareness-building content is essential, it’s not enough to drive conversions and sales on its own.
To avoid this mistake, ensure that your content strategy covers all stages of the buyer’s journey. This includes creating content for each stage, from awareness and consideration to decision-making and post-purchase support.
For example, if you notice that your blog posts are generating a lot of traffic but not converting into leads, consider creating more bottom-of-funnel content, such as case studies, product demos, or free trials, to help move prospects further down the funnel.
By diversifying your content mix and catering to different stages of the buyer’s journey, you can provide value to your audience at every touchpoint and increase the likelihood of conversion.
Not updating your content regularly
Another common mistake in B2B content marketing is neglecting to update your content regularly. Content that becomes outdated or irrelevant quickly loses its value and can damage your brand’s reputation.
To avoid this mistake, make sure to regularly audit and update your existing content to keep it fresh and up-to-date. This could include refreshing statistics, updating product information, or adding new insights and perspectives.
In addition to updating your existing content, consider repurposing it into new formats or mediums. For example, you could turn a popular blog post into a webinar or a series of social media posts to reach a wider audience.
By keeping your content fresh and relevant, you can maintain your audience’s interest and engagement, as well as improve your search engine rankings over time.
Ignoring B2B influencer collaborations
One mistake that B2B marketers often make is overlooking the power of influencer collaborations. Partnering with industry influencers can help you reach new audiences, build credibility, and generate more engagement for your content.
To avoid this mistake, identify key influencers in your industry who have a strong following and authority in your niche. Reach out to them with a proposal for collaboration, whether it’s co-creating content, hosting a webinar, or participating in an interview.
By collaborating with influencers, you can leverage their expertise and influence to increase your reach and credibility among your target audience. This can help you build trust, drive engagement, and ultimately, generate more leads and sales for your business.
Misaligned tone of voice
Finally, a common mistake in B2B content marketing is having a misaligned tone of voice. Your tone of voice should reflect your brand’s personality and values, as well as resonate with your target audience.
To avoid this mistake, take the time to define your brand’s tone of voice and ensure that it is consistent across all your content. Whether you want to be professional, friendly, conversational, or authoritative, make sure that your tone aligns with your brand messaging and the preferences of your audience.
Additionally, consider the context in which your audience will consume your content. For example, a technical whitepaper may require a more formal tone, while a social media post might benefit from a more casual and engaging tone.
By maintaining a consistent and aligned tone of voice in your content, you can strengthen your brand identity, build trust with your audience, and create a more cohesive and memorable brand experience.
Over-reliance on AI
One mistake that some B2B marketers make is over-relying on AI for their content creation and distribution. While AI can be a powerful tool for automating specific tasks and analyzing data, it should not replace human creativity and intuition in content marketing.
To avoid this mistake, use AI as a supplement rather than a replacement for your content marketing efforts. AI can help you identify trends, analyze data, and automate certain processes, but it should not be the sole driver of your content strategy.
Additionally, remember that AI is not capable of truly understanding human emotions, preferences, and nuances. It’s crucial to balance the data-driven insights provided by AI with human insights and empathy to create content that truly resonates with your audience.
By using AI as a tool to enhance and optimize your content marketing efforts rather than as a crutch, you can create more compelling content that drives results for your business.
Final Thoughts:
Avoiding these common B2B content marketing mistakes can help you create more effective, engaging, and impactful content for your audience.
By focusing on humanizing your content, setting clear goals and strategy, measuring and iterating on your efforts, prioritizing content distribution, and listening to the voice of the customer, you can enhance your content marketing efforts and drive better results for your business.
Remember, content marketing is about building relationships, providing value, and solving problems for your audience. And if you feel like you need a partner to help you realize this vision – grab a spot from our calendar below and let’s chat:
