B2B tech content marketing: the value of building trust

What the desk of a hard-working cybersecurity content marketing professional should look like

Content marketing has gained recognition in recent years as a powerful marketing channel for any business.

Research shows that it’s cheaper than traditional forms of marketing and delivers more leads per dollar spent. 

But I think content marketing is particularly valuable for B2B tech companies for one key reason: the key role it plays in building trust. 

Trust is particularly important in B2B tech marketing 

It goes without saying that B2B tech companies need to generate quite a lot of trust in a prospect before they can close a sale. 

While trust is also important in B2C, buying enterprise software isn’t like buying a tube of toothpaste.

This is why, according to a Marketing Charts study, roughly three-quarters of B2B sales to first-time customers take 4 months at least to close, and close to half take 7 months or more.

If you look at a vertical like cybersecurity, it’s clear that a particularly high degree of trust is needed from their customers. 

This is mainly because the cost of getting this decision wrong is very high. Cyberattacks and data breaches often have a devastating financial cost - $4.35 million on average globally - and can shred consumer trust in the affected organization.

So IT professionals need to be certain that they can trust a cybersecurity vendor is completely trustworthy and that the solution meets their needs before committing to the purchase.  

How a high-quality content marketing strategy builds trust

When it comes to the first stages of building a relationship with and instilling trust in a prospect, content marketing is a highly effective tool.

When someone is only just becoming familiar with a brand, being too ‘salesy’ is unlikely to make a strong impression on them. And the more complex and bespoke your product is, the more likely that’s going to be the case. 

On the other hand, providing free information that helps your potential customers solve a problem or better understand an issue - without making a hard sell - goes a long way in creating goodwill. And establishing yourself as an authority on industry issues with unbiased content on relevant subjects - so-called ‘thought leadership’ - builds a sense of credibility in people’s eyes.

The importance of this is underlined by Gartner research showing that 83% of the average B2B purchasing process - such as researching and ranking solutions - actually happens before the buyer gets in contact with a vendor. If you publish content that helps buyers educate themselves during this process, your chances of being the solution they choose will increase drastically.

All of this can be achieved through a variety of mediums - social media content, white papers, blog posts that incorporate search engine optimization (SEO), and guest articles in publications. 

B2B tech companies, then, can benefit immensely from turning their websites into high-quality, go-to resources for those who want to learn about their domain. 

Allowing prospects - who despite being decision-makers may not necessarily be subject-matter experts - to educate themselves with blog posts, case studies and white papers will help to turn them into leads. This is because when they are ready to buy, they’ll already be aware of your brand and invested in your useful resources. 

Results may not come overnight but in the long run, building trust through a well-executed B2B tech content marketing strategy will pay huge dividends.