4 Facts that Prove Personal Connection in 2021 is Important for B2B Content Marketing

2021 is in full swing and if your content marketing strategy doesn’t include getting personal to build relationships with customers, get back to the drawing board.

In the upside-down world that was 2020, Edelman’s 2021 trust barometer reveals that, astonishingly, people see the business sector as a more reliable source of information than government, media or NGOs.

Content marketers must build trusting relationships with customers and go beyond mere brand awareness or pointing customers down those first rungs of the sales funnel.

That means it’s time to become your customer’s B2B BFF. Not convinced? These B2B 2021 content marketing trends will quickly persuade you to take a personal approach to your content marketing.

1. Successful Personalization Fosters Customer Buy-In

The Content Marketing Institute measured 2020’s top-performing content marketers and found that:

• 73% nurture subscribers, audiences or leads (only 38% of the least successful do).

• 64% generate sales/revenue (only 41% of the least successful do).

• 60% build a subscribed audience (only 25% of the least successful do).

We can churn out thought leadership until the cows come home, but if it’s not resonating with your customers on a personal level, you won’t see its return in subscriptions and sales.

2. If You Aren’t Building Relationships with Your Customers, Someone Else Is

• The Content Marketing Institute’s 2021 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks Budgets and Trends found that between 2019 and 2021, the number of respondents who reported that building trust was a goal grew from 68% to 81%.

• Similarly, two years ago only 54% respondents said that they had a goal to build loyalty with their existing customers, while this year, that number grew to 68%.

It’s undeniable that the trend in content marketing strategy is moving toward growing customer trust and loyalty, so rest assured that if your company isn’t making customer relationships a top priority another company is.

3. Videos Make Your Content more Accessible

Video is as hot as it’s ever been in content marketing right now – 55% of customers use videos when making purchasing decisions. Videos are ideal for getting personal with customers, speaking to various user needs by interviewing professionals, how-to videos and demonstrating products.

• Right now, 86% of businesses use video as a tool in their 2021 marketing strategy compared to just 61% in 2016.

• A whopping 96% of consumers have watched an explainer video (the most common type) to learn about products and services.

• 75% of B2B buyers attended webinars in 2019, and COVID-19 only spurred major growth in the virtual video format, with three out of four businesses replacing physical meetings with webinar hosting.

When it comes to keeping customers on your page, a well-placed video can increase your SEO and significantly improve the time visitors spend on page.

4. Quality Content Builds Trust

Marketers who strive to not only get customers’ attention, but also deliver meaningful content that is relevant to their clients’ work are seeing results.

• 83% of marketers who report “extremely” or “very successful” work in the last 12 months attribute it to “the value our content provides.”

Your customers, like you, have weathered a tough year. They’ll notice if you can adapt to meet their needs.

In a world where people are putting more and more stock in messaging from businesses, B2B marketers have not only an opportunity, but a responsibility to tailor the work we put out there to be helpful and engaging. At the end of the day, all good salespeople know that without building trust, loyalty and relationships, the business dries up.

If you need a partner to help you build content strategy and then produce and publish content for your business, let’s talk. Reach out to info@3aspensmedia.com to learn how we can help you build a stronger relationship with your customers.