Pillar to Guide

That pillar quote is attributed to Lea Michele, Broadway star and author when she was talking about lighthouses.  To the digital tech world, content pillars are similar in that they guide the proper content to a company’s customers at a precise time.

Where To Begin

As in any quest, companies engaged in B2B first need to set realistic and measurable goals with timelines.  This requires sitting down as a team and talking it through so everyone’s on board with the goal.

Who’s Your Audience When Building A Pillar?

Buyer personas are important in formulating a content pillar.  They’re kind of like emojis for each type of client, but very real in terms of data.

Knowing who the target audience is and understanding their interests and desires allows marketers to customize their company’s messages.  Companies that don’t yet have that data need to gather that first in order to formulate a successful campaign.

And beyond discovering more about customers’ goals and challenges, what’s also important is finding out their primary sources of information.  Where do they currently get it? Which ones are credible and reliable? What social media and membership groups do they depend on? 

Other questions should include what they like about the company’s products or services.  They also need to be asked about any objections, complaints and suggestions they have, Are there any value propositions and other improvements that would cause them to consider giving  more business to the company?

How?

The best and preferred way of capturing that information is by asking customers directly.  Most customers would appreciate being asked to share their feelings about a company, its products or services.  Speaking to them is the best but if time and distance don’t allow that, emailing an open-ended survey can also work.

Buyer Persona

The information gathered should now be logged and used to create a buyer persona which is akin to a client biography.  Having this information enables a B2B company to customize a content strategy for each client that will not only produce more leads, but also result in more sales.

This additional data on clients opens two more doors.  The first is the newly-acquired information will probably entail new goals for each client.  Why not shoot for an increase in sales? 

The second is adding to the original goal and strategy a plan to approach similar prospective clients.  The information gleaned from current customers, like the associations and membership groups they belong to, opens up the potential to get out in front of these similar audiences as well. 

It also gives companies an insight into marketing to potential customers who match up with the different buyer personas they’ve created. Of course, a more tailored persona should be created once new customers are brought aboard but chances of success with that new market are enhanced by the knowledge gleaned from the earlier research.

Assessment

Like all plans, be prepared to measure the results against the goals and timelines.  Also be ready to make adjustments, as needed, depending upon the findings and results.