Marketing has always been about content. Marketing departments are used to talking about their businesses and their services. However they are less familiar with talking the language of their customers. If we're moving towards demonstrating value to customers then is their a gap in marketings' skills?

1. Marketing Bites
The Content Gap

2. Why it’s harder to get in front of customers?
57%
Buying Decision Timeline
The Old World: Customers wanted to see you to find out what products
and services were available, and when you saw them they had budgets
they were empowered to and comfortable with spending.
The New World: Now, they do their research online, only see you to
haggle over price and have to get the numerous other ‘stakeholders’ to
buy into the decision before signing off on.
A study of more than 1,400 B2B customers revealed that 57% of a
typical purchase decision is made before a customer even talks
to a supplier.
Harvard Business Review July/Aug 2012

3. The Impact
• Sales find it harder to get in front of customers
• Marketing in a ‘promotional’ manner i.e. promoting your
products /services, is less effective
• Sales involvement comes too late in the buying process to
really add value and influence the solution required
• Without having been able to influence the specification or
add value the sales role is reduced to price negotiation
Sales figures suffer as deals are scarcer,
harder won and margins are reduced

4. REGAINING A VALUE POSITION
REQUIRES MARKETING THAT SUPPORTS THE SALES
PROCESS
AND TAKES OWNERSHIP FURTHER INTO THE FUNNEL

5. Rethinking the Roles of
Sales and Marketing
Move Prospects through the Sales Cycle
Awareness Education Consideration Preference Action Loyalty
Marketing
Sales &
Sales Mkt
Marketing take ownership further into the sales cycle
Sales need to redefine the value they add, not expect to turn up and take an order

6. But: Only if they are providing valuable
insights (i.e. shouting ‘buy from us’ won’t
do!)
• Companies that blog build up to 88% more leads
Marketing is traditionally a creative department,
product provide technical info. Who is producing the
valuable, customer-relevant content?
• Business that nurture leads with relevant content generate
up to 20% more leads
Better question: What have you got to
say that will interest your customers?
• Asking, ‘Shall we do a video or eshot or whitepaper is the
wrong question! Hint : They are interested in their
business – not yours
• 80% of sales collateral ends up in the bin

7. Awareness Education Consideration Preference Action Loyalty
Marketing
content Content
Sales
focussed on depth
intervention
commercial increases
must be Sales and
insights with
Mkt credible,& technical
should
lead based on
Nurturing
more Infiltrate Sell
assisted documen
market product
with sales tation
knowledge, /technical
enablement
& social content
tools
listening needed
Marketing have they skills to drive
the process with integrated
Content Requirement campaigns
BUT need the content to feed it

8. How complete is your marketing function?
Content Content Distribution
Creation (Marcomms Activity
Plan)
Prospects move through the Sales Cycle
Many businesses’
Marketing is creative and
not equipped to generate
such content
Who manages Content
Creation in your business?

9. PLUG YOUR CONTENT GAP
Maria @ marketingbites.biz or 0779501951