Webinar Make Sure Your Marketing Content Is Also Conversation In The 21st-Century Sales System

1. WebinarMake Sure Your Marketing Content Is Also Conversation In The 21st-Century Sales System Peter O’Neill, Vice President, Principal Analyst August 1, 2013. Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

2. We’re all creating useful content, aren’t we?

3. Or does this happen? Collateral just sits there and ages. Landing pages are unvisited. Few people read our blogs. Communities are not joined.

4. I feel as if I am holding a party that nobody wants to come to!

5. Agenda • Buyers say that they find 70% of their influencing content themselves — explain. • Aligning content to buyer journeys • From customer to context, then to content, and then on to conversation • Planning and tracking content consumption is a critical sales enablement tool.

6. This is what B2B buyers perceive 70% of the content that supports a buying decision is discovered by the buyers themselves, they say. Source: Forrester Tech Marketing Navigator, Q1 2012

7. Buyers are fishing for your content • B2B marketers need their content to be found: • By each buyer in their context, • When they are looking. Create content that accelerates the buyers along their journey and leaves behind your “brand scent.” Base: 418 executive-level buyers at global companies of 100 or more employees; Source: Forrester’s Q4 2012 Global Executive Buyer Insight Online Survey

8. Agenda • Buyers say that they find 70% of their influencing content themselves — explain. • Aligning content to buyer journeys • From customer to context, then to content, and then on to conversation • Planning and tracking content consumption is a critical sales enablement tool.

9. Market to the customer life cycle Source: February 21, 2013, “Rethink Marketing In The Buyer’s Context” and February 6, 2013, “The Skills And Structures For L2R Success” Forrester reports

10. Buyers’ needs vary through the life cycle Source: February 21, 2013, “Rethink Marketing In The Buyer’s Context” Forrester report

11. Buyer journey mapping ? Questions When? Who? What? Discover Explore Content Evaluate Buy Packaging

12. Content research for the discover phase

13. What: content for the discover phase Source: February 6, 2013, “The Skills And Structures For L2R Success” Forrester report

14. Agenda • Buyers say that they find 70% of their influencing content themselves — explain. • Aligning content to buyer journeys • From customer to context, then to content, and then on to conversation • Planning and tracking content consumption is a critical sales enablement tool.

15. And multitude content vehicles . . . White paper Podcasts, webinars, and video Entry in industry catalog Direct mail Email newsletter/campaign Press article Blog Printed brochure Data/specifications sheet Customer reference story Advocates Word of mouth Sales executives Services staff You have multiple content creators . . . Employees Agencies Contracted writers Even customers Word of mouth Sales executives Services staff

16. Content and conversations vary by value perception Describing the product portfolio Arguing for business transformation Portfolio of technology, services, and expertise Scope of offerings Listing the product functions Showing potential business improvement Single product line High intrinsic value Low knowledge transfer Low intrinsic value High knowledge transfer Complexity of buying process

17. Content maps to solution complexity • Describing the product portfolio • Content about • Company brand values • Portfolio benefits and functionality • Product functions content • for • Procurers and managers • Multiple content consumers • Arguing for business transformation • Content about • Company brand values • Thought leadership on transformation • Case studies • Business improvement • Portfolio benefits and functionality content • Product functions • for • Business executives • Many content consumers Portfolio of technology, services, and expertise Scope of offerings • Listing the product functions • Content about • Business benefits and functionality • for • Procurers • Few content consumers • Showing potential business improvement • Content about • Thought leadership on improvement • Technology impacts process and organization • Product functions content • for • Business managers and IT buyers • Business and tech content buyers Single product line High intrinsic value Low knowledge transfer Low intrinsic value High knowledge transfer Complexity of buying process

18. The content-conversation mix varies Product functions Product portfolio Business improvement Business transformation Conversation Conversation Conversation Conversation Content Content Content Content

19. B2B content is part of a selling system Message Messenger Audience +

20. Forrester’s approach to segment accounts and markets Message Messenger Audience Combination Outcome Consolidator Conductor Manager Executive Expediter Description Recipe Specialist Procurer Leader • Role map and wallets • Agreement network • Segments and patterns • Offers and messages • Content • Processes • Sales types • Skills and model • Objectives

21. Agenda • Buyers say that they find 70% of their influencing content themselves — explain. • Aligning content to buyer journeys • From customer to context, then to content, and then on to conversation • Planning and tracking content consumption is a critical sales enablement tool.

22. Use the four C’s of a successful content management strategy Customer life cycle From prospect to buyer, then to customer, ideally, then to advocate (content creator), and even better, then to a buyer again. Plan content for all stages of this customer life cycle. Context is king Your research will identify your buyer-role profiles and their content needs. Your outside-in content must align to these needs.

23. Use the four C’s of a successful content management strategy (cont.) Content creation Your content will never be outside-in if it is only written by in-house resources. Open up your content creation processes and management to include external resources. Great conversation based upon great content At the very least, you need to ensure that sales know your content, so they can leverage it in their customer dialogue. Sales account managers are now often in the role of “content concierge” — pointing out useful content to their contacts proactively and inventing their own “call-to-action.”

24. Help sales to help make your content successful Sales can inform your content plans. Sales can review your topics and even language for customer centricity. Sales has ideas for thought leadership content. Sales can provide contacts for deeper buyer research. Create content about content. Every content asset should be “tagged”: target audience, sales stage, intended next step. Provide sales guides/battlecards around content programs. Thought leadership: what thought? Who? Why? What? Forrester Wave™ reprint: Where are we good/not so good — why, what do we say about it?

25. Not only your content Listening platform output specific to entity/customer What has he/she said in LinkedIn-Xing-Facebook-Twitter recently (about us, their business issues, the outcome they seek, etc.)? Have they said something about the competition? Does customer have friends/contacts that are potentially useful (advocate for us)?

26. Content marketing can accelerate revenues Content asset system knows which content is most successful. Content asset system logs all content consumption into the CRM system — so sales can check before meeting the customer. L2RM system informs sales about useful content to deploy for each sales-qualified lead (SQL). Attribution analysis shows which content piece increases success probability.

27. Peter O’Neill poneill@forrester.com blogs.forrester.com/peter_oneill Twitter: @poneillforr