It's been proven that B2B content marketing, when done effectively, drives conversion and revenue. It engages prospects and moves them along the B2B buying journey. However, effective content marketing relies on close collaboration between B2B marcom and sales in order to produce relevant content that's conducive to buyer persona and buy cycle phase.
This presentation explores how to leverage content marketing along the buying journey to drive revenue. Key points to consider:
--57% of the B2B buyer journey is complete before a vendor is contacted
--B2B content marketers are more likely to convert more prospects than their non-practicing B2B marcom counterparts.
The B2B buy cycle is a journey that’s not a strait path. It winds and twists, moves forward and backward and involves more than one passenger until it reaches a decision.
Early in the B2B buying journey, content is short form and designed to spark awareness and grab attention. It’s less personal.As you move into the consideration, content may become longer in form and more personal.There’s more direct contact via sales and less content. Then, as the cycle moves into retention phase the content ramps up again to keep the brand top of mind and for up sell/cross sell opportunities.
According to a joint Corporate Executive Board and Google study, 57% of the buying journey is complete before a vendor is contacted, making content marketing more critical than ever before. http://www.executiveboard.com/exbd-resources/content/digital-evolution/content-marketing/index.html
Short blog posts, banner ads, tweets, G+ posts, etc. all designed to grab attention.
Early in the B2B buying journey, content is short form and designed to spark awareness and grab attention. It’s less personal and there’s less engagement.
White papers, case studies, product comparisons, personalized to the buyer’s persona and areas of interest. Content is aimed at driving a Qualified Sales Opportunity (QSO)
In the consideration phase, content may become longer in form and more personal.There’s more direct contact via sales and less content. However the content must support the sales needs at this point in the journey.
The point at which the lead moves further into consideration, requiring more personal attention, it becomes a Qualified Sales Opportunity (QSO)Identifying a QSO at the right moment is critical to ensuring a closed deal. Otherwise, your ROI is reduced.
Email offers, price comparisons, testimonials, personalized to the buyer’s persona and areas of interest. Content is aimed at closing deals.
There’s more direct contact via sales and less content, but the content is more personal and aimed at supporting the sales team in closing the deal.. Then, as the cycle moves into retention phase the content ramps up again to keep the brand top of mind and for up sell/cross sell opportunities.
The point at which the lead moves further into consideration, requiring more personal attention, it becomes a Qualified Sales Opportunity (QSO)Identifying a QSO at the right moment is critical to ensuring a closed deal. Otherwise, your ROI is reduced.