Drive sales with content that changes their point of view.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, the most successful B2SMB marketers spend an average of 40% of their marketing budget on content. At that level of spending, content needs to do more than engage busy small and midsize business (SMB) owners. It must get them to take action. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with content that changes the business owner’s point of view (POV).
POV-changing content
POV-changing content is content that, at minimum, does the following.
- Informs or educates SMBs about something they didn’t know that can help them better run their business, and…
- Goes above and beyond the obvious to create an “a-ha” moment.
Most companies, especially those creating content for SMBs, are publishing the same old stuff. They produce content that doesn’t teach business owners anything new. That just gets ignored, or worse, it has the potential to damage your brand when you’re perceived as wasting their time. To be meaningful, the insights you offer in your content don’t have to be mind-blowing. However, they must make the audience see things in a different light.
How can you determine if your content will change an SMB’s POV? Ask yourself (and your content creators) these questions:
- What is their current POV on the topic?
- How does your content change their POV?
The answers to these questions will tell you whether or not your content is likely to induce the action you seek:
- Read more
- Register/Subscribe
- Buy now, and so on.
It’s important that these questions be discussed at the very beginning of the content creation process so they’re top-of-mind all the way through, from choice of topic to creative execution.
Understand the SMB mindset
To determine the answers to the questions above, it’s critical that your team understands the SMB mindset. We see too much content being created for SMBs by practitioners and agencies who do not have significant knowledge or experience of this unique and diverse segment. And yes, it is painfully obvious.
Here’s an example—a forward-looking webinar series from SAP. Even without being a finance pro, you can tell from the topics that the webinars are about what business owners and CFOs need to know (but may not) to compete in the near future.
Create impactful content
To effectively change an SMBs existing point of view, your content must also be impactful. The keys to making an impact are the:
- Source of the content
- Editorial process
With respect to the source, it is essential to use content by real experts—people who work in or with SMBs each day. Better still, find people who help businesses cope with and capitalize on change. For the webinars mentioned above, SAP employed incredible external experts. Note: There are many so-called SMB “influencers” who are not really experts.
It’s also critical to have a an editor who understands the SMB landscape so they can identify the genuine experts and push them for their best insights.
The bottom line is your content needs to change the POV if it is going to motivate busy SMBs to act, and ultimately drive sales for your brand. Especially at the beginning of the buying journey, business owners are looking for ideas and solutions to the challenges and opportunities they face. If you’re not providing them with insights that change their point of view, they are likely off to the next website that will give them what they need.
