B2B content marketing became a reality in 2013 and the New Year is the perfect opportunity for you to get on board. If you haven’t already, it’s time to start actively thinking about how to generate and share content that is relevant and informative to your target audience.

Here are some tips for shaping your 2014 B2B content marketing strategy:

Know your audience. Marketing campaigns only work if you know the people and companies you are trying to reach. What are your pain points? What are your main concerns? Are you making use of the many resources available to measure what’s important to them? Email surveys are a popular tool for assessing customer concerns, but a more convenient approach is through the avenues offered by social media, where business customers regularly meet in forums and chat rooms to discuss issues. key industry challenges and opportunities. The topics they discuss offer great fodder for your next content efforts.

Perform an audit of your existing content library. Some companies are hesitant to embark on an aggressive content marketing campaign because they assume that content creation is a long and arduous process. Not so! Chances are good that your business has already generated enough content to get you started in early 2014. Audit the content that already exists in your archives, from published white papers, videos, and blog posts to newsletters, case studies, and featured articles that appear on your website.

Don’t stop there. Look at the content that appeared on their microsites, mobile apps, print newsletters, podcasts, and infographics. How much of this material can be reused to provide value to B2B customers? For example, a recent interview with your CEO outlining issues facing the industry can be recalibrated into a quick, easy-to-read Q&A that addresses the specific issues that matter most to your target audience.

Create customer-centric content. Remember, content marketing is not about advertising or promoting your products or services (at least not openly). The key is to produce and distribute content that offers value to your B2B customers. They are not interested in hearing about all the features you have to offer, only how those features can benefit them and solve the problems they face as they start the new year.

They also want to read content that is clear and free of technical jargon. The broader the appeal, the more likely your content will be read and shared across different social media channels.

Set an editorial calendar. Your content marketing efforts should be organized, rather than messy. This means creating an editorial calendar that establishes the following:

  • When new content will appear (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
  • Where the new content will appear (in blog posts, white papers, social media, etc.)
  • Who will produce new content (from in-house experts or outsourced professionals)
  • What resources do you need to generate content today and for the rest of 2014?

Start promoting new content. Great content only works if the right people know about it. Be sure to actively promote new content when it appears, through alerts on your websites, in emails, on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Also, take the time to read and comment on content produced elsewhere (blog posts, articles, etc.) and, where appropriate, provide links to your own materials. Start conversations on B2B topics. This will stimulate new ideas for the future generation of content.

Design metrics to track your efforts. No B2B content marketing plan is complete without metrics to track and measure the success of your efforts. Include a variety of metrics in your strategic plan, such as:

  • Amount of web traffic generated by your content
  • Sales opportunities (both in quantity and quality)
  • Social sharing
  • Customer feedback
  • SEO Ranking
  • Direct sells

The B2B sales cycle can be long and complex. Content generation offers a great way to nurture qualified sales leads by establishing a reputation and resource for content that delivers measurable benefits to your B2B customer base.