Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog, “Why B2B Marketing Requires Content Differentiation”

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Why B2B Marketing Requires Content Differentiation" expounds upon the concept of how B2B brands can achieve differentiation through content in an engagement economy. A commonly shared perspective being put forth from the competitive B2B marketing space focuses around the idea of the brand "being able to do it better than their competitors." In a very real sense, the notion of going head-to-head with competitors on any level, from content marketing to selling products, most often fails to differentiate brands from the competitive pack.

In today's highly competitive universe, this era is morphing into an economy that's driven by engagement. In fact, some marketing pundits and experts are suggesting that competitive advantage will rely on a brand's ability to engage and retain customers over and above generating and retargeting leads. However, that is not to suggest that attracting and closing new business should be more or less an afterthought. Quite the contrary, insofar as dealing with sales churn is a permanent, forever ongoing strategy that must also coincide with brand differentiation initiatives. In short brands and marketers are now under the gun to execute both a sales churn initiative as well as a brand differentiation focus. Products and services aside, one the most effective ways to engage a differentiation strategy is through content.

For starters, if one is of the mindset that personalized content offers brand differentiation, and while personalization is important, it nevertheless misses the demarcation point of being unique or different. All things being equal in terms of product or service viability, product value, and more importantly, how that particular value status ranks in the market, the whole idea of differentiation needs to be definitive.

Defining Content Differentiation

Differentiation covers several areas. For one, it's about what the brand wants to convey. Brands and marketers need to speak to whatever the competitive edge may be over and above competitors. Content should also delineate why your customers came to you in the first place and moreover, why they continue to remain with you. Further, any content breakthrough will depend on overall content.

For example, when a brand publishes something dreary, or perhaps an item taken from a competitor campaign, or boilerplate content, the results in most cases end up falling short. Likewise, publishing mundane videos, been-there-done-that infographics, or white papers for the sake of content, most likely will leave the brand flat, as nobody cares.

Relevant B2B content types that produce engagement results are critical. Differentiated content is one thing, and it's quite another to understand what types of marketing tools that content should embody. In the B2B world, according to Chief Marketer's "2018 B2B Lead Gen Outlook" report, 58% state that engagement is one of the top items on their to-do lists.

Instead of accomplishing better engagement rates, the survey conducted among 205 B2B marketing organizations across the nation concluded the following content marketing strategies are what they are using to move prospects through their own sales funnels:

• 49% - Articles and Blogs
• 37% - White Papers
• 36% - Videos
• 33% - Research Reports
• 25% - Product Research Comparisons

Discovering Product Differentiation

When a brand can differentiate its product set, it makes logical sense that the resulting marketing content should align for higher engagement rates, thus leading to more sales. In many cases, brands often overlook a product/service differentiator because the mindset is limited to the competition. Interestingly enough, brands may already have a competitive advantage that would appear unimportant in the grand scheme of product offerings.

The Blue Ocean Strategy states that instead of competing in the traditional manner of going head-to-head with the competition, brands should create a new market where it's possible to render competitors irrelevant. To that end, merely creating some value add is a good thing; however, creating a new market based on a unique selling proposition positions the brand to rise above the competition.

For example, Cirque Du Soleil reimagined the circus industry by replacing the traditional circus model of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey® Circus with high-wire themed acrobat performances. These performances reflect the iconic works of artists and musicians, such as Michael Jackson, Elton John, and many others.

Cirque Du Soleil also chose to create a higher value proposition by instituting premium refreshments and upscale venues. The new and different offerings from Cirque Du Soleil allows it to exist in a separate space than any other circus marketer.

Brand Differentiation

Car dealers, in particular, are notorious for believing that their automotive brands are commodities, in that cars and trucks are like selling toasters, whereby everybody who can afford one, needs one, and eventually they will buy their brand. That is why we have seen commodity type TV commercials and internet versions of those spots. Albeit some automotive marketers are beginning to join specific car models with a set of lifestyle needs and circumstances, a tactic that is more often done by the manufacturer versus the local car dealership.

Regardless of what type of widgets your brand is selling, the commodity approach begs the question, if your brand or product fails to be different from the competition, then why should a consumer consider buying that brand? What differentiates your brand from the competition?

Approach to Executing the Differentiation Factor

Brand differentiation is a monumental challenge for any brand. To march down the differentiation road, brands and marketers must invoke a clear cut strategy to tackle this issue effectively. By merely creating 'different' ad campaigns to justify that a brand is different can readily become a marketing trap that has the propensity to backfire. Consumers are already pitting brands against each other and they, better than anyone, are educating themselves on the differentiation factors about competitive brands.

While brand differentiation formulas will always vary, a survey conducted by the Tomorrow People, entitled "Dare to Be Different: The State of B2B Content Marketing Differentiation in 2017," found that 44% of marketers were not using data to differentiate. Another 41% are not brave enough to step outside of a conventional box. Furthermore, a whopping 69% claim not to have enough time to plan to differentiate! However, B2B marketers have a multitude of reasons to differentiate their content, by channel, audience, or both, and they include:

• 71% - Aimed at Providing Improved Customer Experience
• 70% - Want to Attract More Customers
• 49% - Looking to Provide Greater Differentiation from the Competition
• 41% - Want to Increase Customer Loyalty
• 6% - Expected by Senior Management

The report highlights the benefits of developing differentiation strategies to attain real product and brand demarcation. After all, if a brand fails to execute a roadmap that delineates it from the competition, then any hype about achieving real brand differentiation will fall by the roadside.

The Net-Net

Brand marketers need to examine if their offerings are genuinely different from the competition. Why? There must be a product or service that is genuinely unique to achieve real content differentiation. Benchmarking other brands and product sets is an exercise that will help you create content and messages that demonstrate that differentiation. The findings outlined in this post are a good starting point to achieve brand differentiation in the age of the consumer engagement economy. Thanks for reading "Why B2B Marketing Requires Content Differentiation!"

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