Why B2B Content Marketing Themes Fail

Themes for B2B marketing programs are not a new concept. They're used to "organize" marketing programs and create a rallying cry around a market trend that will (hopefully) drive business momentum.

The problem with themes in marketing, as I see it, is that they're used as temporary marketing constructs — generally for the term of a campaign or perhaps a quarter. Themes generally do not originate based on a context that resonates with buyers.

Themes should be used as umbrellas that tie together the brand story with unifying and dominant ideas or motifs. A theme should weave through all of your marketing programs in relation to the brand's promise to customers.

What happens when themes are used as marketing constructs is that they:

• Change — sometimes wildly, confusing our target markets' perception about the company's promise.


• Lack Consistency — once your theme changes, those interested in your past theme may not follow along in your new one.


• Become Repetitious — when themes are used as marketing constructs, they are often too narrow and the content and messaging becomes boring and repetitive because there's no space for new ideas. Or not enough creativity to develop them.


• Lack Relevance — because they're focused on what the company wants to say rather than what the buyer wants to know.


• Become Anti-Social — With the rise in social media, if you're talking about your theme and then suddenly you're not, you appear a bit schizo (technical term) to those who followed you and now can't quite figure out who you are.

Here's an example using common themes for Technology Companies:

Q1: Do More With Less

Q2: Green IT

Q3: Align IT with Business

Q4: Mobility

There's nothing wrong with any of these. In fact the themes here can relate to many IT product offerings on the market today. The issue is the construct of sandboxing the ideas based on time periods.

Themes like this assume that prospects will only be interested in the theme during its assigned quarter. Well, unless you've got telepathic powers, this isn't likely to be true. But, yes, it's much easier to group your marketing efforts and programs based on ideas in a box than to think more holistically about building a storyline that engages prospects continuously and consistently.

Unfortunately, easy isn't the goal. Progressive engagement is.

I hear a lot of reasons for using theme constructs:

• It's the only way to coordinate marketing and sales messaging.
• We need something to present at the budget planning meeting.
• Our CEO wants to know what the themes are for next year.
• These themes match our product-launch roadmap.

I could go on, but you get the gist.

Here's the question that must be answered:

Are any of the reasons for using themes based on what's known about our target markets and what they care about?

I'm not saying to toss out the themes. What I'm challenging you to do is to weave them together into a story that builds a comprehensive business case to help your prospects solve their high-priority problems. It's not whether or not you use them, but in how you do so.

Instead of thinking, "I need another content asset based on Theme 1" - you should be thinking, "Based on the content our prospects expressed interest in, what will they want to know next?" Think "pieces of the big jumbo puzzle" not "4 different puzzles."

A story told over time focused on your prospects highest priorities will drive more pipeline velocity than the stop and start of themes based on what your company wants to say, when.

Comments

[MicroSourcing]

Consistency is still one of the biggest challenges businesses face when it comes to marketing. Marketers should try not to resort to overhauling the brand's image for the sake of getting consumers' attention temporarily.

[Hans]

Thanks for the post Ardath. I really appreciate your attention to the finer nuances of content marketing and your persistent focus on the customer as opposed to the company.

[RickShort21]

Interesting points, but your title is wrong. This piece should be titled, "HOW Many B2B Content Marketing Themes Fail", or "Why Many B2B Content Marketing Themes Fail". You have described what to do if you want to create a campaign doomed to fail, but didn't invest nearly enough time (7 sentences) describing HOW TO create a winner. I am reminded of diet experts who tell us what NOT to eat but leave us all wondering about what we SHOULD eat.

I have managed an extremely successful B2B content marketing program for years. I would enjoy sharing some of our principles, strategies, tactics, and results with you.

It's not that you are on the wrong track, it's just that you paint ALL programs with the same jaundiced brush. Some programs truly are delivering to the bottom line, consistently, for years.

Rick Short
INDIUM CORPORATION
www.indium.com/RickShort

[MicroSourcing]

Changing your theme is always a risk or a trade-off. Followers may not always appreciate the changes, which is why it's not something that should be done habitually.

[Ardath Albee]

Hans - thank you very much for your comment. I appreciate that you enjoyed the post.

Rick - Sorry you didn't like the post. My title does not include the word "All" - so I'm not quite sure what you're so worked up about. Congrats on your success. So glad you felt it appropriate to brag about it here.

Posting a link to your bio is an interesting approach. I'd have thought you'd choose to link to a sample of your winning use of themes to demonstrate what a "winner" looks like since that's what you stated as lacking in my post. Your comment essentially equates you to the diet expert you attempted to use to insult me.

I'm always open to discussion. There are many roads to Oz. This being said, I'm not very patient with people who choose to toss empty insults around and thump their chests rather than add something of constructive value to the conversation.