Premium content such as eBooks, whitepapers and case studies all help to move prospects closer to making a purchase decision. This type of content and subject matter can give you valuable insights into what a prospect is interested in as well as their stage in the buying cycle. Quality educational content can also help your organization stand out as a thought leader in your industry. Here we take a look at how to create a library of premium content for your B2B organization.

Develop A Content Calendar

The first things you’ll want to do is schedule out the creation of your premium content pieces on a shared content calendar and then assign tasks to your team. Quarterly campaigns focused on promoting your most recent premium piece with blog articles, social media posts and paid advertisements will help to generate more downloads and top of the funnel leads. Continuing to promote previous pieces that are still relevant can greatly increase your visibility and search rankings. Content marketing takes time to become highly effective, but you can get some early wins with great content, the right distribution plan and a willingness to engage with your audience.

Build A Resource Page

A dedicated resource page on your website will house all of your premium pieces and give visitors a singular location to consume your most in-depth content. You should include a link in your main navigation to your resources page. The design should be easy to navigate and provide simple instructions on how to access your content. High-quality images should accompany clear and concise descriptions of each piece. As you build your library, you’ll want to segment your pieces according to topic and content type. This is a page that you ultimately want everyone that visits your website to land on, so you want to ensure you have a smooth user experience and enticing content.

Create CTA’s And Landing Pages

Call to action buttons that guide website visitors to landing pages that have a form gating your premium content is how you turn your website into a lead generation tool. Your CTA’s should stand out from the rest of your website and clearly communicate the action you would like the visitor to take. Once they get to the landing page, they should be met with a brief description of the content they are about to download and the value it will provide to them. Your form should ask questions that will help you to identify the needs of your prospect along with their contact information. Make sure the value you are providing them aligns with the amount of information you’re looking for.

How To Use Premium Content

Each type of premium content plays a specific role in the sales and marketing process. Ebooks are traditionally a great way to draw in top of the funnel prospects. Whitepapers focus on specific solutions and are great for guiding those in the middle of the funnel toward making a purchase. Case Studies are particularly effective at the bottom of the funnel when a prospect is trying to decide which vendor to purchase from. Producing new premium content on at least a quarterly basis ensures your sales and marketing teams have the continuous steam of fresh content they need to generate leads and close deals.

• “An ebook is short for "electronic book." They're made for online use, notated by embedded links and videos. Ebooks are responsive and are usually guides for large topics. For instance, some popular ebook topics revolve around SEO, inbound marketing, and ecommerce.”
• "Whitepapers are reports that break down a complex topic for the reader, and then provide an in-depth solution or opinion about that subject. They’re aimed at helping audiences comprehend a complex issue or inform a difficult decision.”
• “A case study is a detailed story of something your company did. It includes a beginning -- often discussing a conflict, an explanation of what happened next, and a resolution that explains how the company solved or improved on something. A great case study is also often filled with research and stats to back up points made about a project's results.”

In an increasingly digital world, content is going to continue to become more important to both marketing and sales. Having a well-developed yet flexible plan to produce and distribute your premium content will have a major impact on the success of your campaigns.  A blogging, social media and advertising strategy should be put in place to improve distribution and promote your premium content.

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