Here’s a surprising fact – 64.4% of people worldwide used the internet at the start of 2023. This huge audience presents a real challenge for IT firms trying to develop their content strategy. About 68% of tech content marketers don’t deal very well with creating content that speaks to different roles. Tech companies face an extra hurdle because they need to explain complex solutions to different types of audiences.
The numbers show that organised approaches get results. Around 66% of tech content marketing leaders have their strategy written down and ready to go. It also looks like 58% of technology content marketers will spend more money on content creation next year, which shows just how important it’s becoming.
Your IT firm needs a solid content strategy to succeed. Content marketing delivers real results – 58% of content marketers use it to build stronger relationships with their customers. Let’s take a closer look at creating a content strategy that works for IT companies and their unique marketing challenges. We’ll show you step-by-step how to turn complex tech content into compelling stories that connect with prospects throughout their buying experience.
Step 1: Define Your Business and Content Objectives
Clear objectives power successful content marketing. Your IT firm needs specific goals that turn ideas into strategies and deliver real business results.
Clarify what you want content to achieve
Most tech firms think content just needs to generate sales. This mindset makes them miss other significant milestones that build revenue. Getting email subscribers and demo requests matters, but retaining customers and building a unique brand are just as valuable.
Your content marketing should work hand-in-hand with your company’s strategy. The best marketers stand out by targeting goals their executives and sales teams can get behind:
- Getting more leads (89% of successful marketers make this their priority)
- Building relationships with subscribers (77% focus on this)
- Boosting sales revenue directly (65% put this first)
You might also want to think about building SEO for steady leads, boosting new customer revenue, growing your email list, and promoting customer loyalty. Each goal serves a different business need as your company grows.
Set SMART goals and measurable KPIs
The SMART framework helps turn big ideas into real targets. Your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This method cuts through the noise and gets your team focused on results. To name just one example, see how “increase web traffic” becomes: “Boost organic traffic to the product blog by 25% this quarter by focusing on core content marketing keywords”. This clarity shows everyone what winning looks like.
Your goals must be:
- Specific – Know exactly what you want and who will do it
- Measurable – Pick main metrics you can track
- Achievable – Make sure you have the resources to hit your target
- Relevant – Check that stakeholders see the business value
- Time-bound – Set clear deadlines and checkpoints
Your KPIs should show how well your content works. Look at conversion rates to see lead generation success, track website growth, monitor rankings for keywords that drive sales, and measure real engagement beyond just clicks.
Connect content to sales and retention
The best content strategies bring marketing and sales teams together. Shared goals and metrics help both teams pull in the same direction. Start with goals and KPIs that match your company’s big picture. These metrics should tie directly to business success, with regular checks to stay on track.
Your content should help customers at every stage not just when they’re new. Many marketers use content only to attract leads, but it works great for keeping customers happy too. Good how-to guides and onboarding content help customers get more value, making them more likely to buy again and tell others. Track how many existing customers read your content, whether support calls go down, your repeat customer numbers, and changes in customer loss rates. This complete approach helps you bring in new business while getting more value from current customers.
Step 2: Audit Existing Content and Resources
Your IT firm needs to evaluate its existing content before creating new material. A detailed content audit sets the stage for a strategy that works.
Review and repurpose old content
Smart content repurposing helps you get more value from what you already have. This beats the wasteful ‘create-publish-forget’ approach that drains your resources.
You should ask these questions to find content worth repurposing:
- What content shows the best performance in analytics and user engagement?
- Which content formats are missing from search results?
- What older pieces need updates to match industry changes?
- Which content strikes a chord with different departments?
Tech companies see multiple benefits from repurposing: better content value, wider reach, higher SEO rankings, new followers, consistent branding, and steady publishing schedules. It also makes scaling your content substantially easier since you don’t need to start from zero.
Identify content gaps and overlaps
A detailed content audit shows what your strategy lacks and explains where you can improve. List your website content and track key performance metrics. Pick metrics that tie to your business goals instead of vanity numbers—page views, bounce rates, time on page, keyword rankings, and backlinks show how users respond to your content.
Your audit should spot:
- Low-quality content that adds little value
- Content that needs updating
- Topics you haven’t covered
- Content that isn’t available to all users
Your strategy should also get into competitor content that ranks above yours in search results. This helps you pick which keywords and topics deserve your attention.
Assess team capacity and outsourcing needs
You must understand your team’s bandwidth before planning new content creation. Capacity planning shows how much work your team can handle without burning out. The core team should track their weekly tasks with time estimates using calendars, emails, and task management tools. This creates a clear picture of current workloads and shows where new projects fit. When content needs exceed your team’s capacity, outsourcing might be the answer. 84% of B2B businesses outsource content creation because they lack resources. Outsourcing lets you:
- Adjust content production based on seasonal needs
- Tap into specialised expertise in different tech areas
- Keep content quality high without overwhelming internal teams
- Let your staff focus on essential tasks that need their expertise
Note that content demands change throughout the year especially during product launches which makes outsourcing flexibility valuable for IT firms.
Step 3: Build a Strategy Around Your Audience
Your audience should be at the heart of any content marketing strategy that works. Understanding their needs and identity becomes vital for IT firms that want to shine in a competitive marketplace.
Segment your audience by role and intent
Audience personas need more than simple demographics. This approach becomes especially important for technology firms since about 68% of tech content marketers don’t deal very well with creating content for multiple roles. Your audience has complex needs rather than one-dimensional characteristics.
Start with qualitative and quantitative research to grasp what matters to each segment. You can segment by:
- Decision-making roles (technical evaluators, financial approvers, end-users)
- Industry-specific challenges and goals
- Content consumption priorities and behaviours
This comprehensive approach helps you avoid assumptions that could limit your strategy. Successful organisations have shown that the “jobs-to-be-done” framework gives an explanation about how people use your solutions.
Create content for each stage of the buyer trip
B2B buyers today do their own research before they contact sales. Your content strategy should cover all three stages of their trip:
- Awareness stage: Prospects know they have a problem but haven’t found solutions yet. Educational content that defines problems works better than product pitches. We used blogs, videos, and social media to answer fundamental questions.
- Consideration stage: Buyers compare their options actively. Detailed, comparative content shows your unique benefits. Case studies, webinars, and solution-focused content shine here.
- Decision stage: Prospects want to buy but might have doubts. Clear calls-to-action, persuasive content, testimonials, and demos address final concerns.
Address pain points with practical solutions
Your content must solve real problems. Start by finding specific pain points through audience research, social listening, surveys, and analytics. IT buyers often worry about implementation complexity, security issues, and ROI justification. After identifying these concerns, create content with practical solutions instead of vague promises. Trust matters in the technology sector where purchases involve big investments and risks. Content that shows genuine understanding of customer needs will strike a chord deeply. Companies that show empathy in their marketing perform better than competitors and see higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Step 4: Choose the Right Content Types and Channels
Your IT content strategy needs the right mix of content formats and distribution channels. The process requires careful thought to match specific content types with your audience’s priorities and business goals.
Use blogs, whitepapers, and case studies
Blogs form the backbone of most tech content strategies. 79% of content marketers keep an active blog. These versatile pieces help you build authority and improve search visibility. Technical topics often need whitepapers that provide informed analysis to attract prospects seeking deeper knowledge.
Case studies show real-life examples of how your services solve specific challenges. Technical decision-makers find the “challenge-solution-outcome” structure appealing because it demonstrates concrete results.
Make use of webinars and product demos
Technology firms cannot do without webinars today. 69% of consumers say product demos help them most when buying. These interactive sessions simplify complex concepts and allow direct involvement through Q&As, polls, and live chat. Product demo webinars bring many benefits. They remove geographic limits and offer affordable ways to reach global audiences. The recordings become valuable assets you can reuse. This approach turns one-to-one demonstrations into expandable one-to-many experiences.
Select channels based on audience behaviour
Your distribution strategy should focus on where your technical audience spends time online. You need to decide if your content fits better on owned channels (websites, blogs, email), earned channels (industry publications), or paid channels (sponsored content). GitHub works best for product integration, while Stack Overflow excels at technical support. LinkedIn creates stronger connections with decision-makers and business leaders in technical fields.
Document your strategy and calendar
A well-laid-out content calendar becomes your team’s single source of truth by showing your content pipeline clearly. Your calendar must include:
- Content types and titles
- Publishing platforms and dates
- Team responsibilities and deadlines
External expertise helps many IT firms improve their content implementation substantially. Turn content into conversionslet The ASK Network craft a winning content strategy for your IT firm. Book Your Strategy Session Now. Search engine algorithms and audience engagement need consistent content release. A thoughtfully structured calendar helps achieve this consistency even with limited resources.
Step 5: Optimise, Promote, and Scale
Your content strategy implementation marks just the start. Success in the long run depends on how well you refine and promote your content after publication.
Test headlines, visuals, and CTAs
Performance optimisation is vital to get the most from your content. A/B testing headlines helps improve click-through rates. Power words in title tags boost your visibility. On top of that, it helps to add visuals or videos that break up text. Jump links make navigation easier. Keep page titles catchy but brief to avoid search result truncation. Your CTAs need testing across different spots, with varied copy and form lengths to find what brings the most conversions.
Use automation for email and retargeting
Content needs have nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024, making automation tools vital. Companies that use automation see 29% more revenue from content marketing. They’re also 24% more likely to meet their content needs compared to others. Subject lines and send times need testing while you take segmented approaches based on user behaviour. Triggered messages work better than regular newsletters consistently.
Measure ROI and adjust based on results
Only 39% of businesses can track their content marketing ROI successfully. Here’s the ROI formula: (Gains from content – cost of content marketing)/cost of content marketing. Your organic search traffic, keyword rankings, and user engagement reveal trends that help refine your strategy. Note that content marketing ROI usually takes 9-18 months to break even. Still, 62.8% of content marketers saw their traffic grow year over year.
Conclusion
A strong content strategy is vital for IT firms to succeed in today’s digital world. This piece shows you how to turn complex technical information into compelling content that strikes a chord with your target audience.
Your success starts with clear business objectives and SMART goals that match your company’s strategy. A full content audit helps you make the most of existing assets and spots key gaps you need to address. Your audience should drive all decisions, with content crafted for specific roles, pain points, and stages of the buyer’s experience.
The right mix of content types and channels will help you reach and connect with technical decision-makers effectively. Blogs, whitepapers, case studies, and webinars each play unique roles in your strategy. Your approach needs continuous improvement – test headlines, use automation, and measure ROI to enhance your results. Creating great content marketing takes dedication and expertise. The ASK Network can help craft a winning content strategy for your IT firm if you don’t get the results you want. Book Your Strategy Session Now.
A well-laid-out content strategy establishes your IT firm as an authority and generates qualified leads while nurturing prospects throughout their experience. Companies that focus on thoughtful, audience-centred content marketing definitely gain a competitive edge in the technology marketplace. Start these steps today, track your results, and adjust your approach based on data to achieve lasting content marketing success.
FAQs
Q1. How long does it typically take to see results from a content marketing strategy for IT firms? Content marketing for IT firms usually takes 9-18 months to break even and show significant results. However, many marketers report year-over-year traffic growth within the first year of implementing a consistent strategy.
Q2. What are the most effective content types for IT companies? The most effective content types for IT companies include blogs, whitepapers, case studies, and webinars. Blogs establish authority and improve search visibility, whitepapers offer in-depth analysis, case studies showcase real-world solutions, and webinars provide interactive demonstrations of complex products.
Q3. How can IT firms measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts? IT firms can measure content marketing ROI by using the formula: (Gains from content – cost of content marketing) / cost of content marketing. Key metrics to track include organic search traffic, keyword rankings, user engagement, and conversion rates.
Q4. What are some common challenges in creating content for IT firms? Common challenges in creating content for IT firms include explaining complex solutions to diverse audiences, appealing to multiple decision-making roles, and addressing technical topics in an accessible manner. Additionally, many tech content marketers struggle with creating content that resonates across different stages of the buyer journey.
Q5. How important is audience segmentation in content strategy for IT companies? Audience segmentation is crucial for IT companies’ content strategy. It allows firms to tailor content to specific decision-making roles, industry-specific challenges, and stages of the buyer journey. This targeted approach helps address the unique needs of technical evaluators, financial approvers, and end-users, leading to more effective content and better engagement.