Why You Should Stop Writing Self-Serving B2B Content

Typically when we consume information on the Internet, we are engaging with content that doesn’t necessarily meet our needs as consumers. We want content that helps us make the best decisions, not something that predominantly talks about the company we are seeking help from. This problem is rampant among the B2B industry.

It’s understandable that you want to tell your audience all of the great things your company does in an attempt to persuade them to pick up the phone and call you about your services. Well, I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t quite work that way.

Self-Serving Content is Irrelevant

When content is self-serving, it’s not relevant to your current or potential clientele. In order to illustrate this point, let’s dissect the typical format of a case study.

Case Studies

Generally, case studies go as follows:

• Client Situation
• About Your Company
• Your Solution
• Benefits and / or Results

B2B companies tend to use case studies to predominantly talk about themselves and greatly elongate the ‘About Us’ and technical ‘Solution’ sections. However, if the reader landed on your case study, chances are they have a general idea for who you are as a company and what you do, so you don’t need to take more of their limited time to reiterate the boilerplate copy that can be found on your ‘About Us’ page. If your readers cannot immediately recognize the need your content is speaking to, then chances are they will move on and look for another company to solve their problem.

Tailor Content for Your Buyer Personas

Instead, your content should be tailored toward the specific needs of your buyer persona. Step one to creating relevant content is determining who your buyer personas are and what unique pain points they have. From there, you can shape your offers in a way that your prospects will immediately recognize the need that your content is meeting.

Show Your Readers Measurable Results

In regards to the ‘Your Solution’ section of a case study, stay away from ‘here are all the technical steps we took which may have solved our client’s problem’ copy. Your potential clients want to see the measurable results of what partnering with you did for a company similar to theirs; they want to know that you’ve successfully helped someone else with a similar problem and that this isn’t your first rodeo.

Tune into Your Audience’s Main Pain Point

A way to stay away from self-serving content is by developing content around an ‘unconsidered need,’ or pain point, of your chosen buyer persona. These needs can be undervalued, unmet, or unknown, however, the impact on your reader should be the same - “This could pose a serious problem for my business, I need to act now.” Instead of divulging into the ‘About Me’ and ‘Solution” section, talk about the impact of not solving this problem and then deliver those results they are looking for. Of course you can add a little segment about the fact that you did indeed help solve this problem, but don’t over do it as the content is about them and not you.

Once you’ve created that relevant content, be sure to share it appropriately in order to get it in front of your buyer personas when they need it most.

Do you have any other tips for staying away from self-serving, irrelevant content? Share them with us in the comments!