A Content Marketing Report For B2B Businesses

An analysis of B2B companies was carried out to gain a better understanding of the ways in which they approach the challenge of content marketing as well as to identify the best approaches in this space.

Some of the elements that were considered included:

• The number of B2B companies with a blog
• What type of content they’re publishing
• The amount of organic traffic received by B2B blogs every month
• Which characteristics high-performing B2B content display
• And much more

Here, we’ll take a closer look at some of those findings.

A Summary

In summary, the findings include the following:

• 72% of all B2B businesses have their own blog.
• Only 8% of those companies use their blog solely for sharing PR-style, company-focused content.
• The B2B blogs which create educational content get over 50% more organic traffic when compared to those that primarily publish company-related content.
• Less than 30% of B2B businesses permit comments to be made on blog posts.
• 65% of companies utilize stock images when creating blog posts.
• In B2B content, the top CTA is highlighting related content or posts.
• 35% of B2B companies use the CTA “subscribe to our newsletter”.
• Less than a quarter of companies have pop-ups appearing on their blog.
• Overall, there are 282 visitors to B2B blogs each month from organic search.
• The top performing posts on B2B blogs get around 99 social media shares and around 49 visits each month due to organic searches.

Let’s look in more depth at some of these stats.

How Many B2B Companies Have Blogs?

Almost three-quarters of all B2B businesses have their own blog. Those blogs are their primary content marketing effort and a major source of their organic traffic. Without having a blog, almost 30% of all B2B companies appear to make little investment in content marketing strategies. However, market spend is likely to grow in this area.

Most B2B Companies Are Using WordPress

It’s clear that most B2B companies with a blog are using WordPress as the CMS. HubSpot is in the second position, with only 9% of B2B companies utilising it.

Almost 40% of B2B Companies Are Publishing Educational Content

Company blogs are used for four distinct purposes:

• Company information
• Educational content
• Industry news
• A mix of the above

Just over half of B2B companies take a mixed approach with most content focusing on giving readers valuable educational content that helps them solve their problems while also promoting themselves as an authority in the field. 38% of blogs actually publish only educational content.

Educational blogs can receive as much as 52% more organic traffic when compared with company-focused blogs, so it’s not too surprising that they’re popular, with fresh and informative topics proving to be must-reads among audience members.

Leaving Comments

Too many B3B brands aren’t creating a community when they blog. Only 29% of B2B blogs allow comments to be left by readers and this means that there’s less site engagement with the target market.

Using Stock Images

More than half of B2B blogs are using stock images for featured images and 14% aren’t using any images. Only 21% are using customized images 9in their posts. While stock images are handy and convenient that can be used in multiple locations, and unique images on sites can have a positive effect on the site’s organic web ranking.

Calls To Action

Content is a good traffic source for a B2B blog however typical bounce rates hover at about 50% so having clear CTAs is helpful in converting traffic into leads. The most common CTAs used by B2B businesses include:

• Subscribe to our newsletter or blog
• Recommended or related articles
• Download our gated
• Start your product trial
• Book a demonstration
• Sign up
• View prices
• Contact Us

The top CTA is showcasing relating articles – 39% of all B2B companies use this CTA. The second-top is subscribing to newsletters, which are found on 35% of B2B blogs. Yet almost 25% don’t use CTAs at all.

Using Pop-Ups

Only a quarter of B2B businesses use pop-ups on blogs. There are nine types in use:

• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Promoting specific content
• Booking product demonstrations
• Signing up for products
• Allowing browser notifications
• To contact the company
• To do a survey
• To launch a free trial
• A company announcement

The top pop-up type asks visitors to subscribe to the newsletter, but promoting content comes a close second.

Blogs Get Around 282 Visits Each Month From Organic Searches

On average, B2B blogs get 282 visits each month from organic search. However, there’s variation in the figures. The top 10% of B2B blogs get about 22,000 organic search visits every month while the lowest-performing 10% get virtually none. Several sites get no organic search traffic and all, and some get under ten visitors from their SEO strategies each month.

On average B2B blogs are ranking for around 784 keywords however, again, there’s variance with the top 10% ranking for over 34,000 keywords and the bottom ranking for just 2.

Backlinks

Referring domains and backlinks are key factors when it comes to influencing SERPs. On average, a B2B blog will get 1145 backlinks and they will be from 120 different referring domains. Again, of course, variance is key.

The top 10% of companies get on average 147,000 backlinks and those are from 2560 referring domains. However, the lowest-performing 10% just get 4 backlinks and they’re from just 2 domains.

In Conclusion

As you can see, although most B2B blogs have certain traits in common, there’s a significant amount of variation in how well they perform. On average, the figures may look impressive but it’s clear that some businesses are excelling while others are floundering at the bottom of the performance stakes.

With the above statistics in mind, it’s clear to see that some B2B businesses have a long way to go when it comes to improving their strategies, while others only need to work at maintaining the lead they’ve already achieved so far in their industry.