HOW CONTENT MARKETING FILLS THE SALES FUNNEL Are you driving enough prospects into your sales funnel? Are you qualifying enough prospects as sales leads? Are you converting qualified leads into customers?
Contents Demand Generation Standing Out In A Crowd Content Marketing Strategy Inbound Marketing Automation Conclusion 3 4 5 7 8 2
Demand Generation With the Internet, there s good news and bad news about sales lead generation. There s never been a more powerful tool and there s never been a more complex tool to manage. Marketing and sales teams today live in a multi-layer, overlapping digital world when it comes to attracting the attention of potential customers. Let s start with Paid Media, which everyone understands as a form of advertising based on paid exposure that is similar to the pre-digital media Now let s look at Owned Media, which includes your web site, blogs and social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.). Last, there is Earned Media, which is akin to free publicity with some major differences in terms of sources, credibility and true costs. They all, however, rely on the creation of interesting, credible and helpful content that causes prospective customers to take action. 3
Standing Out In A Crowd It seems that all the answers to every problem are online many of them branded with the competition s logo. So, how does any business stand out in the digital marketplace? As marketing and sales people, we basically know why customers need our products or services. Our problem in the digital economy is getting the customer s attention quickly in a crowded and competitive digital marketplace that is full of distractions. The answer comes in three parts: First we need a deep understanding of what drives customer purchase decision-making as they solve problems. Second, how does our product or service provide a unique or better solution that is some combination of easier, smarter, faster, more reliable, low maintenance, lasts longer or is less expensive? Third, we have to know how to deliver that message online to customers. 4
Content Marketing Strategy What Is Content Marketing? Content marketing is the term for something that you are likely already doing in one form or another. Content marketing anticipates and answers customer questions on their purchase journey It s a strategy for attracting and retaining customers by creating helpful materials, such as tech articles, case studies, e-books, videos, infographics and more to solve specific customer problems with your product. Content marketing is the third part of the answer to getting the customer s attention in the online world of marketing and sales. Once we understand what is important in our customer s purchase decision-making process, then we need to craft our sales problem-solution stories. Content marketing helps build supplier credibility and trust: Repeated exposure to relevant new content not only educates the customer, but it is also branding with a purpose: It s communication that engages the customer while differentiating your company from the competition as a leading, well qualified supplier. 5
How to put content marketing to work One facet of content marketing that distinguishes it from other promotional tactics is the systematic way that longer stories can broken down into easily digestible chunks of web content. These fast-read chunks are then distributed through inbound and outbound web marketing channels: blogs, social media, portals, e-blasts, web pages, and also newsletters.. No longer can we expect customers to have enough time always to read a full case study or tech article, etc. Our customer probably has one job title that encompasses three real jobs. We re going to have to get the message out creatively in small chunks, which are attention-getting, quick to read and easy to understand with impact. Our goal is to grab the customer s attention with a nugget of problem-solution detail, and we want to deliver that juicy tidbit through the right online media The objective is to whet the customer s appetite in order to generate a click-through to the full story on our web site, which offers all the facts to initiate interest in a purchase decision. 6 6
Inbound Marketing Automation The buying process can be complex, and it usually is exactly that the more expensive the product or service that you are selling. The customer must have a budget, authority to purchase, a specific need and a timeline to buy. The purchase cycle can be a long, slow series of dances to reach the request for quote (RFQ) stage that eventually leads to an actual sale, which often goes to the supplier with the most trusted brand (best content). Marketing Automation Systems As content marketing delivers more and more new prospective customers into the sales funnel, who are at various stages of readiness to purchase, the efficient handling and tracking of sales leads becomes essential. Marketing automation systems not only organize the sales lead delivery, follow-up and management process, but they also provide detailed records of customer interactions during the buying process.. Marketing automation systems such as Hubspot and others help us drive customers through the sales funnel and identify them at the point where contact with the salesforce is most efficient. We also can learn which tactics are the most productive by identifying the lead sources and campaign creative for marketing return on investment (ROI) tracking. 7
RB Marketing Communications The Content Marketing Experts We help our clients connect with customers online to solve their relevant day-to-day work problems through useful content inbound marketing campaigns that build brand awareness. These content marketing campaigns help our clients meet real customer needs while selling their products and satisfying customers at the same time to achieve brand preference. Our accomplishments over the past 20 years include: Earned media exposures valued at $2 million+ Generating 100,000+ sales leads 2-4X business growth for long term clients Let us show you how content marketing campaigns can get the attention of your customers online to drive business growth. RB Marketing Communications Web: www.rbmarketing.com Phone: 909-335-1941 8