Amid a Dumpster Fire of Replacement-level Writing, What Content Still Works?

“I will rewrite and edit your content using AI, ChatGPT and chatbots.”

500 words.

Total cost: $5.

This is the reality of content marketing in the era of ChatGPT. It has never been easier to create content — tons of content.

Thoughtful business leaders and content marketers don’t need to learn the difference between good content and the type that you can get for $5 on Fiverr or Upwork. That’s not the challenge. The problem we’re currently facing in content marketing and thought leadership has to do with sheer volume. In an absolute tidal wave of business content, how can you cut through the noise and make an impact? How do you deliver your content to your target audience and make sure they read it? What still works?

Thankfully, the answer isn’t complicated. For most B2B companies, there are three simple pillars for a highly effective content marketing program: data stories, customer case studies, and thought leadership. Each of these pillars requires hard work to develop and execute, but once the programs are off and running, they can deliver value at every moment in the sales funnel.

Here’s how:

Top of funnel: Cold, hard data

Why it works: Every startup believes that their product is the best thing since sliced bread, but they’re going to have a hard time gaining traction and attention without some form of external validation. Analyst reports and media coverage are effective, but they take time to materialize. Generating third-party data allows you to accelerate the validation process, using objective facts to establish the problem and market need that your product addresses.

What it takes: The good news is that tools like Pollfish and SurveyMonkey make it possible to conduct surveys in a matter of days at an affordable price. Want to poll 300 marketing leaders about what challenges they face when organizing webinars? Easy. That data can then inform a wide range of high-performance content that you can use to drive attention and get people interested in your solution.

Mid-funnel: Creating customer evangelists

Why it works: I’m not breaking new ground here. Customer case studies work. Instead of asking a prospect to take your word for it when you tell them about how effective your product is, you line up three of your most successful customers and let them do the talking for you. But the reason most companies don’t effectively leverage their customers is because it’s difficult — you’re at the mercy of their timelines and approvals, and many customers will be reluctant to share the numbers and metrics that will truly make a case study shine.

What it takes: There’s no one right way to create customer evangelists. Classic case studies work. So do guest bylines and quotes in press releases. The key is the ability to pivot and be persistent. Maybe a customer will be scared off by the idea of throwing a light on their data in a case study, but they’ll be willing to offer some limited data points for a round-up with multiple participants. Maybe one of your customers is looking to build their personal brand, and giving them a guest byline will help to accelerate the process. No content marketing program is complete without customer stories — do whatever it takes to get them.

Bottom funnel: Targeted, sales-focused thought leadership

Why it works: Expertise matters. Your CEO and other executives should be your most effective sales tools. By using their profiles and voices to answer the most challenging questions in your sales cycle, you create assets that can be deployed over and over again to convert potential customers and drive results. An executive’s voice is a finite, highly valuable resource. Instead of trying to use thought leadership to cut through the noise at the top of the funnel, deploy it as close to the decision point as possible. That’s when the imprimatur of their resume and title will deliver maximum ROI.

What it takes: For this approach to work, you need three parties to find common ground and then work like a well-oiled machine: marketing, sales, and the executives themselves. Sales needs to be upfront about where they need the most help in their conversations; executives need to provide the vision and broader market context to help shape the story; and marketing needs to tie it all together, finding the perfect approach that keeps the reader interested while drilling down on their biggest doubts and concerns.

These three content pillars are challenging, but they’re not complicated. We have a clear roadmap to content success — it’s simply a matter of following that roadmap or finding a partner who can help lead the way.