Understanding distribution channels for B2B content marketing

Successful B2B content marketing takes commitment and consistency. But it’s not enough to create great content. You need to get it seen, too. 

Content that isn’t landing in front of your target audience is content that’s going to waste. It’s here that a B2B content distribution strategy comes in. Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of B2B content distribution and the most effective B2B content types for driving sales.

What is B2B content distribution?

B2B content distribution is the process of getting your content seen by the right people at the right time. A strategic use of content channels, time of posting/sending, and audience segmentation are all important in a B2B content distribution strategy.

B2B content can either be owned, earned, or bought (paid). 

• Owned content is content that your brand produces and posts. Your website, blog, social media channels, and email marketing are all examples of owned B2B content.

• Earned content is created through word of mouth and reputation. Think backlinks, PR, third-party product reviews, and so on.

• Paid, or bought, content is content you put cash behind, e.g., a sponsored social media post or a pay-per-click ad.

While a comprehensive B2B content strategy will include a little of each, owned media has one advantage versus the rest: it’s owned (read: controlled) by you.

And when it comes to B2B content distribution, the fact that you’ve got full control over your owned content means that you call all the shots (and what business founder doesn’t love that?).

Owned content is usually the content that’s most focused on your target audience, too. Your website will (or should!) be 100% written with your buyer persona in mind. Your email marketing will land directly in their inbox. And your blog content can follow an SEO strategy designed to answer their most burning questions.

Why is B2B content distribution important?

When you’ve put time and money into creating B2B content, you want to make the most of that investment. A personal blog can be something you write just for you, but the purpose of B2B content is to capture leads, convert sales, and keep customers engaged.

This will be hard to achieve without eyes on your content. 

Get your distribution channels for B2B content marketing right, and you’ll:

• Reach your audience where they’re at: This includes getting content on the right channels and posting or sending it at the right time when decision-makers are most likely to engage.

• Enable multi-channel engagement: B2B content marketing is a marathon and not a sprint. A good distribution strategy will use multiple types of B2B content to reinforce your brand message and build brand awareness across search, email, social media, and industry publications.

• Move prospects through the marketing funnel: This is what we want from B2B content marketing, right? Content should drive conversions, and understanding which channels to use and when across the buyer journey is a key part of the strategy.

Top distribution channels for B2B content marketing

Let’s get into the details of B2B content distribution: the top channels to use and the types of B2B content that work best.

Company website

Why have a strong website?

• Your company website is a piece of the digital landscape that you own and control completely.

• It forms the central hub for long-form branded content and resources.

• In B2B, an engaging website — that’s updated regularly — boosts credibility and brand authority.

• It’s here that you can double down on SEO to drive organic traffic and capture leads.

The best B2B content marketing types to post on your website

• Whitepapers and ebooks: Your website is the central distribution channel for long-form guides and branded assets. SEO-optimized landing pages should be used for best results.

• Service and product pages: These can speak directly to your target buyer’s pains and gains.

• FAQ pages: Get ahead of prospect objections with clear answers to frequently asked questions. Bonus points for making this search optimized and using an FAQ schema markup.

• Case studies: Customer success stories are a powerful conversion tool for the lower end of the marketing funnel.

• Blog articles: An on-site blog can be so effective for B2B content marketing that we’ve given it a dedicated section below…

Blogs and articles

Why invest in blog articles?

• A blog is the perfect place to publish thought leadership content, building your authority.

• Frequently posting and optimizing keyword-rich, long-form content supports SEO.

• An on-site blog keeps your website fresh with new, indexable pages.

The best B2B content types for an on-site blog

• How-to guides, best practice insights, and industry commentary: These content types all attract top-of-the-funnel traffic through organic search.

• Thought leadership and opinion pieces: Presenting a unique viewpoint that’s aligned with your product or service positioning will build your brand story and position your business as an expert resource in your niche.

Email marketing

Why invest in email marketing?

• Emails deliver targeted content directly to your audience and, as a result, can achieve high ROI.

• As a channel, email marketing can be segmented and personalized at scale and in a way that other types of B2B content cannot.

• Nurture or “drip” sequences keep prospects warm and keep your brand top of mind.

• Automation can be used for consistent outreach, engagement, and relationship building.

The best B2B content types for email marketing

• Email newsletters: If your audience has missed your latest blog, whitepaper, or webinar, a weekly, biweekly, or monthly email newsletter is one way to make sure this valuable content gets seen.

• Drip and nurture campaigns: Put your lead nurturing on autopilot with a strategic sequence of through-the-funnel email content.

• Event promotions and product/service updates: Keep your audience updated with what’s new in your business and draw their attention to new product or service features.

LinkedIn

Why LinkedIn for B2B?

• LinkedIn is the largest professional social network, making it ideal for B2B targeting. There’s a very high chance that this is where your B2B buyers are spending their time (Facebook and X can be useful B2B channels, but they’re not always the best investment).

• Great LinkedIn content will build brand awareness and position you as a thought leader.

• Organic posts help foster trust and engagement within professional communities.

The best B2B content marketing types to post on LinkedIn

• Snappy thought leadership posts: Link these to longer resources on your website to join up your content channels.

• Infographics, polls, and carousels: Disrupt the same-y scroll experience with eye-catching content.

• Repurposed content from your other channels: Got a blog with high readership? Turn it into a quick video for LinkedIn. This, and other types of content repurposing, are an effective way to get more ROI from the content you’ve already got.

Creating a B2B content distribution strategy

With the theory pinned down, here’s how to create your B2B content distribution strategy. 

1. Define your audience.

2. Identify where they spend their time.

3. Select your content channels accordingly.

4. Repurpose successful content across multiple channels.

5. Leverage automation and scheduling tools to manage content distribution seamlessly.

6. Track your content performance to see what works best where, and what time content should be distributed for the most engagement.

7. Don’t be afraid to drop channels that aren't performing.

Scribly can help you define the best distribution channels for your B2B content marketing

B2B content marketing is our bread and butter at Scribly. We’ve developed proven strategies and frameworks over our work with 200+ clients — helping you produce content that converts with the right messages, on the right channels, at the right time.

Book a free strategy call today to get started.