Putting the creativity needed to inspire audiences with your company’s B2B content marketing ideas and B2B social media content ideas can feel like an uphill battle at times.
Regardless of industry vertical, the B2B segment has a clear preference for informative over entertaining or engaging content. This is by no means unreasonable: according to our 2024 tech buyers report, 74% of buyers use content to learn about a given technology ahead of considering a purchase, so it really is important for a brand’s B2B content to be educational.
But you don’t have to sacrifice entertainment on the altar of information every single time. An increasing number of B2B brands are managing to create content that is at once fun to read and a good source of information. Injecting a little bit of creativity won’t compromise the valuable information and data you are offering your clients.
Not sure where to start? Below, we rounded up nine B2B content ideas and B2B social media content ideas that offer plenty of opportunities for spicing up your resource centre or your social media feed.
1. Stop thinking B2B, think P2P
To make B2B content marketing ideas work for your brand, organisations need to change the way they think about B2B customers.
As the name states, in B2B, you’ll be dealing with a business – but what is every business in the world made up of? People.
Regardless of whether it’s B2B or B2C, business transactions take place between people, which is where the concept of P2P (people-to-people) comes from.
To engage with an audience, B2B content ideas and B2B social media ideas need to address the “human” side of businesses to truly land with prospective clients.
B2B marketing isn’t emotionless, however, there is a subtle difference between the emotions that motivate B2C buyers and B2B buyers.
While B2B prospects are generally not moved by common B2C motivators, like impulse or status, different individual emotional motivators apply. The fear of making the wrong decision, the level of confidence in the forecasted ROI, the level of trust established in the seller’s people, for example, are all very real emotional motivators in the B2B world. So use these emotional drivers in your B2B social media content marketing ideas and B2B content marketing ideas.
2. Collaborate with influencers and industry leaders
It takes time to build a following; months and months of hard graft. Working with influencers and industry leaders for your B2B content ideas could speed up the process.
Influencers and industry leaders have large audiences and devoted fans thanks to years of experience in the game.
Collaborating with them allows your B2B content ideas a leg up, leveraging their following to reach a wider audience that you might not have had access to before.
And although it can be a quick way to grow in your industry, it can also be very expensive. But the expenses are more than worth it in many cases, with ROI more likely to exceed advertising costs.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, businesses can expect a $5 return on investment for every $1 invested in influencer marketing.
If you choose to go down this route, it’s important to work with influencers whose following matches your target audience. And for the love of your business, don’t work with controversial figures. It’s not worth the headache.
3. Create an academy
When thinking about your next set of B2B content ideas, why not look into creating an academy?
Academies offer valuable educational content in your industry, and can help brands engage new audiences and establish themselves as industry leaders.
Whether highlighting your product, attracting an interested audience, establishing authority, or focusing on the power of SEO, creating an academy is one of the more beneficial ideas if you’re interested in both financial and brand growth.
4. Publish case studies
If you want to position your organisation as a leader in the field, your list of B2B content marketing ideas has to include case studies.
Case studies demonstrate how your product or service may solve a customer’s challenges – one of the most important things to market about your organisation.
B2B content ideas need to demonstrate what your product is capable of, and what better way to do this than by allowing people to see it in action.
There’s a myriad of options you could choose from, including press releases, white papers, social media posts or even blog posts.
By sharing these success stories, you will demonstrate your organisation’s expertise and authority in the industry, while also providing possible solutions to difficulties that your potential consumers may face.
5. Interview your team
If you have a regularly updated company blog, it can be a challenge to find new topics and prompts that are insightful but also engaging for the reader.
Some engaging B2B content ideas could incorporate employee interviews, to add a dash of fun to your blogs. Combining employer branding with your blog content adds an authentic touch to your marketing efforts, allowing you to connect with your audience and spotlight your talented team at the same time.
You can interview your employees about a variety of topics: career advice, industry thought leadership questions, or just totally random stuff like what cocktail they would be (a total nojito over here, if you’re curious). If you need inspiration, we recently fired questions at our amazing Account Director Louise Elali; check out her interview.
TOP TIP: Make your B2B content ideas and interview-style blogs even more fun by asking your team or even your company’s LinkedIn followers to submit questions which your interviewee can then answer. This is a great way to add interactivity to your blogs – and tell your audience exactly what they want to know!
6. Record a TikTok (yes, really!)
We all know it: reading can be boring! Or at least, not as stimulating by itself as other forms of media can be.
Globally, 92.3% of internet users aged 16-64 watch online video content at least once a week, according to an extensive report from We Are Social and Meltwater, which is why it’s important your B2B content marketing ideas include engaging video content. It’s not just B2C content that is reaping the rewards from video, either. B2B companies have more consistent success using video marketing, including a 54% higher conversion rate.
While TikTok might not currently be part of your plan for future B2B marketing plan, it really should be. For one, you just can’t beat its numbers. TikTok is available in over 160 countries, has over 1.1 billion users, and has been downloaded over 220 million times in the United States alone. TikTok has an enormous audience your brand can tap into. Plus, it’s a myth that only Gen Z uses it. TikTok’s statistics shows that in the US, for example, 26% of users are between the ages of 25-44 – that includes a lot of B2B tech decision-makers, too, Nearly half of Gen Z is using TikTok and Instagram for search instead of Google, according to Google’s own internal data.
As for B2B social media content marketing ideas, there are so many TikTok trends you can piggyback off of. We have a penchant for quotes from The Office, as you can see in our social media guru Bailey’s favourite video.
So go and grab that tripod.
TOP TIP: Adding your own spin on a trending sound is one of the best – and most popular – TikTok features, allowing you to showcase creativity and increase relevance. Check out this simple how-to guide to using TikTok sounds.
7. Sending funky newsletters are engaging B2B content ideas
No, emails are not dead! Even in 2024, 99% of people checked their emails every day, according to email marketing stats, so a well-crafted email will still hit the spot. Regularly sent and thoughtfully written newsletters that offer real value will strengthen the sender’s relationship with their audience – but to achieve this, you really need more than a glorified email ad.
Our report showed that 33% of B2B buyers are put off by B2B content marketing ideas that are too promotional. While it’s important to highlight the values of your products and services, you can’t afford to be constantly tooting your own horn.
If you’re looking for newsletter inspiration, there’s no better place than the (appropriately named) Really Good Emails website, where you can find a beautifully curated selection of marketing emails from a wide range of companies.
TOP TIP: We know that headlines can make or break an email newsletter. Here’s a list of catchy subject lines to get your open rates up, like “Why Your 5-Year-Old Is More Digital Than Most CMOs”.
8. Upload a LinkedIn video
Social media is so competitive that you really need to think outside the box to get the right engagement levels. Forget simple posts, empty stats and boring banners with nothing to say. Just like TikTok, LinkedIn also lets you post a variety of different formats that are infinitely more attractive and fun to look at than an ordinary post, so it’s time to make the most of it!
Effective B2B social media content ideas could include sharing video interviews with employees, like our telco BSS provider client, ZIRA:
Or shout about the benefits of your product with exciting animations as Verdant Technologies did about their HarvestHold Fresh technology.
The sky’s the limit!
TOP TIP: Don’t forget to add a relevant – and ideally trending – hashtag to highlight your LinkedIn post. The easiest way to search for relevant hashtags is the search bar, which will share related hashtags with you immediately. Clicking on a hashtag will show you how many followers it’s got, so you can easily gauge its popularity.
It’s also a good idea to follow relevant hashtags to get a feel for the type of content people like.
9. Record a podcast episode
Podcasts continue to enjoy immense popularity, with over 4.5 million registered podcasts in the world today. As well as a fun way to spend your twice-a-day, hour-long commute, they’re also great B2B content marketing ideas and tools, allowing brands to showcase their expertise and letting their spokespeople shine.
It’s possible to have your company’s spokespeople feature on individual episodes: check out this insightful interview in EM360 with the CEO of Emnify, focusing on security in cellular IoT devices.
If you’re looking to highlight your brand’s unique voice more consistently and cut yourself a larger chunk of the podcast pie, as B2B content ideas go, it’s not a bad idea to launch your own. With podcast platforms like Zencastr, it’s actually a relatively straight-forward process!
TOP TIP: “What’s in a name?”, asks Shakespeare’s Juliet; “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet”. Not so for podcasts: what you call your own matters hugely. Check out Spotify Podcasting’s how-to guide for finding a killer podcast name that is catchy and searchable and will get your audience rushing to your episodes.
Psst! Isoline launched our own podcast (you can find the latest interview here)! If you’re interested in featuring as a guest, let us know at hello@isolinecomms.com!
Take your B2B content marketing ideas to the next level
All day, every day, we interact with a deluge of B2B content ideas, from social media and emails to brochures and articles. With such an overwhelmed audience, whose attention is tricky to capture, you need a thoughtful approach to content, rather than just regurgitating the same old ideas. A fun idea or a new spin on something you’ve done before is a great way to enhance your engagement – and maximise leads – without too much effort.
Need creative B2B content ideas to spice up your content marketing strategy? We’ve got what you need. Speak to us now at hello@isolinecomms.com.
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