B2B Content Marketing for Thought Leadership, Value Added, and Entertainment

B2B content marketing has always had the goal of establishing a brand or company as an authoritative thought leader and adding value with information.

Now the goal is to entertain as well as to provide information or education. Why?

• One reason is clutter--so many brands are adopting content marketing for differentiation, it's harder to stand out. Brands need to have the right content for their audiences (and their strategies).
• Another reason is media access--B2B customers want to be able to access content marketing via any digital device and through a website or social media. This diversity of points of access makes attracting and retaining an audience more challenging.

Not surprisingly, IBM is an expert in B2B content marketing. Its US home page has links to free downloadable subject guides, developer info, free tools, authoritative studies, and more.

The IBM YouTube Channel includes sub-channels for Watson and other categories of interest to a range of B2B buyers.

The IBM Twitter account (tweet above) posts videos and other content of interest--not just product/service related but general interest, as in the AI content promoted above.

And IBM's Facebook account similarly posts frequently with ever-changing content for B2B buyers, as well as serving as a recruiting tool.

Virtually every post has visual interest, whether a photo or video, to add to the appeal. It's not just a data dump, it's content marketing in a format that fits the B2B audiences' preferred method of accessing information. Importantly, the content marketing is ready 24/7 whenever a buyer anywhere wants to learn more about a subject of interest.