We¡¯ve all heard ¡®content is king¡¯ one too many times, but that can only be the case if your content is impactful, right? Otherwise, your content is¡­the jester, so to speak?

This past week, our very own Founder and President, Christa Tuttle, joined three other B2B marketing experts as a webinar panelist for Feed Your Marketing Machine: Create Content that Generates Leads. The experts shared best practices around creating and curating content and discussed the types of content that resonate with prospects, how to position content and how content can convert prospects into customers.

Here are three practical applications and takeaways from the webinar that can be implemented immediately into your content creation and curation to grab attention and close prospects.

#1 Address ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?¡±
When you are mapping out a content strategy or devising the next topic to tackle, keep your reader/potential customer¡¯s point of view in mind. Put yourself in their shoes and ask: ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?¡± If they don¡¯t have an answer almost immediately, they will quit reading, viewing and/or engaging with what you are trying to share and you¡¯ve lost their attention. Scott Thomas, Founder & President of Intelechy Group, discussed how buyers today are extremely educated even before reaching the Sales team—that all of their research comes from what you are creating and distributing ahead of buyers seeking assistance to buy. If you are not engaging them, someone else will be closing the sale for themselves. Consider the ¡°Buyer¡¯s Journey¡±: Awareness, Interest and Evaluation and adhere to it. Another expert panelist Dave Wolpert, Chief Content Officer of Sales Engine Int’l, noted that people like ¡°bite-size¡± content, so offer the same content in small chunks or visually-quick consumable bites, this way, as potential buyers are seeking information, they can quickly consume what you are conveying. Christa Tuttle noted that not all people consume content the same. The following shows how people consume content best:

• 30% of the population consumes content best through auditory means
• 65% of the population receives content best visually
• 5% comprehends content best when delivered kinesthetically

This being known, share the same bite-sized content in a variety of ways for your customers to pick and choose their preference: infographics, whitepapers, short videos, blogs, etc.

Christa Tuttle reiterated that it is imperative to keep track of what resonates, and ¡°test, test, test!¡±

#2 Know when to gate content versus not gating it
The panelists offered these tips when it comes to gating content versus allowing viewers to access it without giving any contact information.

Gated Content:

• Anything that is a valuable, more in-depth educational piece or shows advanced interest in the product
• Examples could be analyst reports, white papers, webinars, eBooks, product trials, online product demos

Non-Gated Content:

• Anything that describes the company¡¯s general products and services, or assets considered thought leadership which are on the ¡°short side¡±
• Examples could be blogs, tip sheets, checklists, infographics, product data sheets, company overviews

The value of non-gated content is being readily and instantly available to the audience, which will also lend a hand in creating traffic through SEO. If content can be accessed easily, it widens the opportunity for the content to be shared as well.

#3 Take advantage of recorded content and understand the secret to success
Ben Cecil, Co-founder & Strategy Director of UPG Video, offered some interesting insight on video creation; the 80/20 Rule. Most of us spend 20% of the time focused on the content when making a video and the other 80% is dedicated to the production and aesthetics. Ben suggests you do the exact opposite. Focus 80% of your efforts into planning and strategy: the type of content, how you will convey this message and how you will make the content resonate with your viewers. It¡¯s the idea that style over substance says nothing.

The webinar was packed full of practical and strategic tips and tricks to enhance your content and to let your content do a majority of the selling for you. For more tips, listen to the entire webinar: Feed Your Marketing Machine: Create Content that Generates Leads.

Looking for other tactics to increase sales, generate leads and drive revenue? Contact Launch Marketing today! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest B2B marketing tips and trends.