{"id":37749,"date":"2023-10-26T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/?p=37749"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:12:25","slug":"why-do-b2b-content-marketing-strategies-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/blog\/story\/why-do-b2b-content-marketing-strategies-fail","title":{"rendered":"Why do B2B Content Marketing Strategies Fail?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Lieb, in her book <\/span>Content: The Atomic Particle of Marketing<\/span><\/i>, describes content as the single most important element of any marketing campaign. At Hinge, we talk about content as not only being important – but as having <\/span>changed the way <\/span><\/i>professional services are both bought and sold.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the B2B community still thrives on word-of-mouth referrals for winning new business, prospective clients \u2013 even in the most traditional industries \u2013 have learned to turn to digital channels first when they\u2019re looking for someone to solve their problem. Digital channels give open, unobstructed access to what buyers of B2B services prioritize most when judging your fit for their needs \u2013 your expertise. This is echoed in our own research. In <\/span>Hinge Research Institute\u2019s\u00a0 2023 survey of the marketing practices and priorities of high-growth professional services firms<\/span><\/a>, we found that high-growth firms prioritize making their expertise more visible, and they do it through valuable, educational content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why the uber focus on content? Isn\u2019t there enough noise out there, where every firm has a blog and posts on social media? While the digital universe allows us to fake many things, you can\u2019t easily fake expertise. You can certainly try. Just because you have a blog however doesn\u2019t mean your blog is informative. Herein lies the primary set of reasons for why B2B content marketing strategies can fail.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a B2B Content Marketing Strategy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before I get to those reasons, let me put some definition around what I\u2019m talking about.\u00a0 A B2B content marketing strategy is an online strategy that elevates thought leadership<\/a> \u2013 the written manifestation of a firm\u2019s expertise \u2013 through the routine publication of free, valuable, educational content. This type of educational content is then used to attract new leads, nurture existing leads, and build preference for the firm.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, content marketing is only as valuable as it is on par with topics that are relevant to a firm\u2019s target clients. When a firm develops content that resonates with what audiences are grappling with most \u2013 content that is tightly tied to the challenge that woke the target decision maker up at 4 in the morning, it accomplishes three things:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Demonstrates a deep understanding of issues its prospects care about<\/li>\n
  2. Engages its audience<\/li>\n
  3. Builds trust<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The more often a firm produces relevant content, the more engagement it creates, and the more trusted it becomes. In many cases, leads that are nurtured through content marketing become \u201cconverts\u201d to a particular firm\u2019s approach or way of thinking. Sometimes they will even hire a firm they have been following without soliciting competitive bids.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Bottom line: educational content is the new currency of the professional services marketplace. <\/span>Content <\/span>marketing<\/span><\/i><\/a> is the strategy that turns that content into profits.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Download the Content Marketing Guide for Professional Services Firms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    When content marketing fails<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    If content marketing is associated with all things good: profitable, results-oriented marketing that carries a relatively lower level of effort than some traditional marketing, client loyalty and so on, why aren\u2019t more firms on board? Because it\u2019s also associated with a high rate of failure \u2013 which in turn yields a high dose of skepticism about whether content marketing is a worthy investment.<\/span><\/p>\n

    With that, I\u2019d like to point to 8 primary reasons that B2B content marketing strategies fail.<\/span><\/p>\n

    1. Content that isn\u2019t relevant to the target audience<\/h4>\n

    The most foundational reason that content fails is when it\u2019s not important or relevant to the target audience. Content won\u2019t perform in the way I described above when it\u2019s written only in the context of what you know and what\u2019s important to you. It\u2019s only when you produce content that intersects what you know with your clients\u2019 key priorities that it can be truly relevant.<\/span><\/p>\n

    A second guiding principle around producing relevant content is discipline. Writing about <\/span>everything <\/span><\/i>you know won\u2019t cut it either. Rather, think from your audience\u2019s perspective. They\u2019re trying to figure out what you\u2019re an expert in. Just like listing 20 services and even more sub-services in the navigation of your website produces a suboptimal and confusing user experience, when you produce thought leadership about everything under the sun that relates to those multiple services, prospective clients are left wondering, \u201cwhat does this firm really do?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Instead, keep a visual in your head much like the figure below. Think about the couple of services that are really critical to your firm\u2019s growth, intersected with the challenges and problems that keep your prospective clients up at night. This exercise will help you uncover some finite set of issues around which you should then produce your thought leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n\"Issues-to-write-about\"\n

    Here are several criteria to consider when choosing your topics:<\/p>\n