From the moment you open your eyes in the morning and check your email to that last scroll through Instagram or the news at night, you are constantly being bombarded by content. We all are. From journalists and influencers to our friends and family – not to mention advertisers, there’s a non-stop battle for our attention going on through articles, photos, status updates, podcasts, videos and graphics.

So how do you stand out with B2B content?

Well, it’s not as easy as it once was. When content first became part of the marketing mix, you could throw any old posts up on your site, and as long as it had the right keywords you could hit Page 1 of Google in no time.

These days, the competition is fierce and Google is very fussy about what gets on page one.

Here’s what this means for you:

• Your content needs to be genuinely valuable to the reader: become a resource
• You need a point of view – to offer insight as well as the facts
• You need both quality and quantity, one or the other won’t do

But how?

If you’ve got experienced, creative in-house writers who have the capacity to create this level of content, you’re good to go. What if you don’t? If your team is already maxed out and you can’t hire right now, hiring an external content marketer to help out has a ton of benefits.

Here are a few of them:

A burst of creativity

An outside perspective can be really useful in determining your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, and identifying the content that will really resonate with your clients. A good content writer will ask probing questions that will help you to add value. They won’t give you the same old ideas or rehash what you did last year; they’ll come to you with brand new ideas and different perspectives.

Optimise your budget

Hiring a freelancer is a cost-effective workaround if you can’t or don’t want to hire someone full-time for the role. You can scale up and down easily according to how your budget is flowing, and there is no long-term commitment. It’s a low-risk way to get started with or maintain your Content Marketing. You’re looking at spending €45k-55k  plus benefits to hire a qualified and experienced Content Marketing professional, but you can hire a kick-ass freelancer to help you scale up your Content for much less than that.

A 30-second trick to boost your traffic

Bring in project-specific skills

There are some requirements that don’t come up every day, but are crucial to your business: the Annual Report for your shareholders and Board, representations to government, important pitches, or a white paper just before your IPO. For those occasions when your documents need to be word-perfect, you may need to bring in a specialist writer or editor.

Or maybe you need someone who’s an expert in creating email newsletters, running HubSpot campaigns, or improving your SEO. Your need may not justify a permanent new hire, and a freelancer could be the ideal solution.

A personalised experience

Choosing a freelance writer over an agency is cost-effective, and it also means you get a personalised experience. When I worked with a global insurance company, our gold-plated agency constantly assigned their newest hires to our account, which slowed things down enormously and caused massive frustration. When you hire a content writer, they place huge value on building long-term relationships with their clients and rarely take them for granted.

Content Marketing tips for B2B organisations

Still not sure whether  or not to hire a content writer? No worries – I can help. I offer all clients a free 15-minute call where we can discuss your goals and the best ways to achieve them. There’s absolutely no obligation to hire me at the end – so what have you got to lose? Shoot me an email now and we can set up a time.

What are your tips for building out a B2B Content strategy? Leave me a comment below and let me know.

ABOUT KATIE HARRINGTON

 Katie Harrington is a Communications and Content Creator based in Dublin, Ireland. Her e-book, Strategic Communications: The Science Behind the Art launched in November 2016. Katie has worked with global brands including Accenture, EY, Emirates Airline and Allianz, as well as in the Irish parliament and Qatar’s semi-government oil and gas company Nakilat.