In terms of type of content marketers and content management tools, enterprise B2B content is highly fragmented. While some popular enterprise content management systems, like Content Management System Xhaka (perhaps because it’s hosted by a relatively unknown company), are built for specific enterprise companies, there are also many enterprise content-focused, B2B content-enabled CRM tools that cater to small- to mid-sized companies.

Why such a wide variety of enterprise content management and content-enabled CRM tools? It’s hard to say. It likely boils down to two main factors:

1. The rather large chasm between the B2B customer vs. B2C customer

2. The somewhat tight-lipped nature of B2B customers

Enterprise B2B content marketing – especially as shared content is proliferated – raises a great deal of questions. How can you make it easier for B2B customers to share content, while still protecting brand reputation? How can you meet your small- to mid-sized audience with the right message, while at the same time reducing share price risk through an easy-to-use SaaS tool?

CRM systems and enterprise content management are complementary tools, but they differ from a branding and messaging perspective. It’s unclear how that overlap between the two can be mitigated.

The best solution for most B2B companies will be to employ both enterprise content management and enterprise CRM tools. Both provide an easy interface that allows you to build your company’s corporate personality and set of rules for internal communications. Enterprise content marketing requires its own set of rules, allowing companies to define the most appropriate or structured content for a specific audience.

With enterprise content marketing in particular, because companies don’t have unlimited resources to develop new content, the fact that content is shared digitally makes for a high barrier to entry. Companies may want to try some enterprise content marketing solutions and discover what each has to offer before deciding whether or not to implement a full enterprise content solution.

However, not every enterprise content solution gives you the perfect backend for advertising your company’s corporate persona.

Enterprise content marketing will always have to deal with the fact that only companies have the resources to create the necessary content for external audiences, with companies like Salesforce having far more resources than smaller competitors. The big player still has the upper hand, but B2B content marketers have to find a way to make the supply chain between your company and your target market more efficient.