Episode Summary
Content collabs are a huge asset for anyone in enterprise sales — when you do them right.
But with such a low barrier to entry, it seems like just about everyone is trying their hand at content marketing. So, how do you get started? And, more importantly, how do you create a successful collaboration strategy?
On this episode of B2B Power Hour, we talk to Andrei Zinkevich & Vladimir Blagojević, B2B marketing experts and co-founders of fullfunnel.io.
It’s difficult to get in front of decision-makers in the B2B space. Collaborating with people your buyers already trust is an easy way to get in front of them. The best places to start looking for your collaboration partner — or “co-pilot” — are your buyer’s colleagues, peers, and influencers in their industry.
The basis of your content plan can be a lot simpler than you might think: Conduct in-depth interviews with your target market and existing customers. Then, make a list of questions they have throughout every phase of the buyer’s journey. Answer their questions in the form of content and look for collab partners who have the expertise to help solve them.
Consistency is key. Keep yourself honest by creating quarterly content plans, and break your strategy down into daily, weekly, and monthly posting strategies.
Listen in to learn exactly how to find your ideal collaboration partner, how to get them to agree to a collab, and how to plan out your content calendar for consistency and relevancy. You’ll walk away with actionable tips to help you earn social engagement that converts.
If you want engagement for the sake of engagement, you can simply post cat videos. If you want real leads, listen to this episode.
B2B Power Plays
Top takeaways from this week’s conversation
⭐ Choose the right collaboration partner.
Collaborate with somebody your buyer already trusts. That person has worked hard to build their authority, expertise, and credibility in that space, and joining forces with them is the perfect way to get in front of your target audience.
A few people your buyers already trust include:
- Their colleagues: Even if you can’t speak with the decision-maker of an organization, you can gain valuable insights from the people they work with.
- Their peers: Reach out to people in similar roles within your buyer’s industry.
- Influencers: Any thought leaders or well-known experts are also great potential collab partners.
💭 Planning your collab requires a clear vision.
Start planning your collab by figuring out the format. You could go for a mini-webinar, a live event, a podcast roundtable, or whatever will resonate the most with the audience.
Then, before reaching out to anybody, make sure you’re 100% clear about whose input would be best for this piece of content. Who has the best experience for this type of content, and are they willing to share their wisdom?
✏️ Create quarterly content plans.
Content consistency is still key. One of the best ways to stay on top of your content calendar is to set up a quarterly plan. Here's what to include:
- Top goals
- Demand activities scheduled to launch
- Key activities
Featured on the B2B Power Hour: Andrei Zinkevich
What he does: Andrei is the co-founder of fullfunnel.io, where he helps B2B companies with long and complex sales cycles.
Key quote: “It’s way more beneficial if my content gets 100 views from 100 dream accounts than 100,000 views from a random audience.”
Where to find him: LinkedIn
Featured on the B2B Power Hour: Vladimir Blagojević
What he does: Vladimir is the co-founder of fullfunnel.io, where he helps grow B2B brands with 5+ figure deals.
Key quote: “The most important thing is making sure that the content is relevant, being there consistently, and doing that again and again. Then, looking at the qualitative feedback.”
Where to find him: LinkedIn
Episode Highlights
Inflection points from the show
[00:30] The power of content collabs: A well-researched content collab can bring in a much bigger audience than your typical podcast episode. Research your ideal guest, involve your community, and turn it into an engaging discussion.
[6:07] Choosing your co-pilot: The best collaboration partner is someone your buyers already trust. This includes your buyer’s colleagues, their peers, and influencers in the space.
[15:22] Planning your collab: The steps to planning your collab include choosing the ideal format, having a clear plan before starting your outreach, and brainstorming the perfect partner for your content.
[19:39] Building an engaged audience: Focus on quality, relevance, and actionable topics to keep your audience coming back for more. Build up a real foundation rather than only focusing on big-name collaborations to bring in views.
[26:23] Content plan creation: The best way to stay consistent with content creation is to write a quarterly plan that includes key goals, key initiatives, demand activities, and upcoming collaborations.
[34:00] The prep phase: Conduct in-depth interviews to capture all of the questions people have throughout their buyer’s journey. Use those questions (and expertly crafted answers) as the basis of your content strategy.
[42:00] You can’t fake leads: With such a low barrier to entry, there are lots of newcomers to the content marketing space who think they’re getting good results. While there might be positive engagement, it’s not worthwhile if it isn’t producing leads.
[49:00] Pacing collaborations: Follow a content calendar to stay on top of daily, weekly, and monthly posts and collaborations.
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