One of the things that's very cool about content marketing is that there are so many different kinds of content to create. You've got white papers, eBooks, customer success stories, how-to guides, videos, podcasts, Tweets, blog posts...and more.
What I fail to understand is why the article gets so few kudos. Research reports on collateral use focus on white papers, solution briefs, data sheets, video and case studies. No mention of the article.
Content articles should be a staple in B2B marketing programs. An article of 750 to 800 words allows marketers to focus on one aspect of a problem-to-solution scenario. They only ask for a few minutes of your prospects' attention at a time, but can leave valuable takeaways that build momentum across the buying process.
A series of articles enables you to tell a "story" over time. Each one can build on the last, creating more credibility for your company with every "touch." With sales cycles lengthening we all need to build more trust over the long haul, right?
There's a lot of talk about the difficulty of producing the volume of content needed to keep meat on the bones of nurturing programs. Articles can help.
A white paper provides one touch for your nurturing database. It may do a great job of generating leads for months, but in the nurturing sense it's one touch. However, consider that you can likely extract 5 good articles from a solid white paper.
You do the math.
Articles are more likely to get read because they require less effort and time commitment than a white paper. Think about the last time you downloaded a white paper. Did you actually have time to read it from beginning to end, or did you skim it and save it thinking you'll go back to it later? If so, did you ever go finish reading it?
A few good reasons to use articles:
- The limited topic focus of a well written article allows you to pinpoint prospects' interests.
- Articles provide lead-ins for follow-on conversations based on something specific and relevant to your prospects. The fact that they probably read them helps.
- Articles pull prospects farther into a relationship with your company by doling out valuable information a bit at a time.
- Your company's credibility increases with each relevant article your prospects experience.
- Articles take less resources to produce than many other types of content.
- Articles provide a continuous source of fresh content for your website, giving your prospects more reasons to return and spend time with your company online.
When it's critical to keep the attention of your prospects over the course of a lengthening buying process, give articles a chance. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the response, the insights and the growing level of engagement your content marketing will produce.
