Article Marketing Makes Sense for B2B Lead Generation?

December 9, 2010

What is the biggest problem most B2B companies have when trying to get new content on their website or blog?

That’s right – who is going to write the content, and where are they going to find the time to accomplish this among their other responsibilities? I estimate 95% of businesses we run into struggle with coming up with fresh content for their site.

B2B companies selling products aren’t alone in this dilemma. Think about your industry trade magazines or trade organizations. Do they have publications such as a print edition, website, blog, or newsletter? Who writes that content? In most cases I’ve seen, the content is either submitted directly from people within the industry, or the content is essentially co-written with a person at a company and the staff writer at the publication.

At the same time this vast struggle for content is taking place across the web, there are article directories which allow quality articles to be uploaded and distributed freely, provided they leave the attribution intact.

How B2B companies leverage article marketing to add value

1) Get additional content for your website

Nobody has industry insider knowledge like you, but even the most prolific writers hit lulls in their time available to crank out lively pieces. Search through article directories to find content about related topics where the author is not one of your direct competitors. 5 minutes of scanning and 5 minutes pasting it in your blog just saved you an hour or two of research and writing.

2) Distribute your content across the web

If you write quality articles, they will be usually be picked up by a few websites. This gets your ideas in front of your target audience and you receive a link to your website from within your “about the author” box in the article. You receive instand recognition as an industry expert when another source reprints your article. The link back also helps with your search engine rankings.

3) Article directories rank better than you = more exposure

Even if no other website picks up the article, these article directories are highly favored by search engines due to the massive quantity of information they hold, and their status as “authoritative websites”. What does that mean for you?

Let’s say you are trying to rank for the phrase “Blue widgets”, and you are in position 35 on Google. That means just about…. nobody will ever see your page about blue widgets. However, if you write a well-optimized article for the phrase and upload it to an article directory, your chance of hitting the first page is considerably greater. Of course, you will either need to have the only article about it or have an article much better than the others, but that is one of the advantages B2B marketers have. We are usually in much more niche fields. We’re not out there battling with 4 billion other real estate agents or insurance agents.

4. Lets you talk about content you may not be able to otherwise

Trademark infringement can be a touchy subject on company websites. I’m not saying you should go out and do anything illegal, but sometimes legitimate product comparisons are nixed by upper management due to concerns over competition. Posting an article on one of these sites without directly tying it to your company can be a way to get these pieces out on the web for your prospective customers to see.

How to Get Started with Article Marketing for SEO and Lead Generation

Contact us for a consultation on how to prepare keyword-rich content that converts visitors into leads, and check out ezinearticles.com, articledashboard.com, and goarticles.com. Sure, there are many more article directories, but these will get 80% of your results and there are tools to syndicate publishing to the others. We can also take on the process completely for you, including the content creation if you desire.