The Context Relational Content in selling and marketing
The relational versus the attention process
Selling is a relational process.
Marketing is a getting attention process in the hope to obtain a relation afterwards.
A relation begins with a communication and become a conversation that can end up even in collaboration.
Attention begins with a communication that hopefully gets attention from the target market.
Context content for the potential buyers
Selling involves a communication from person to person with immediate response or feedback, whereas marketing is mainly a communication from one to many with no direct response, feedback or involvement from the addressed persons.
Thus marketing can miss completely their intended goal and has no chance to adjust their message during their communication. Sales people have the advantage of being in immediate communication exchange that is supported by other signs of interest like body language, facial expression or the tone of the voice.
The question for marketing is how to create a marketing communication or message consisting of content that has context for the potential buyers as relations can only be formed by an affinity to “content”.
Relational content
Only in case the content creates a relation it has any value for both the receivers and the company paying for the marketing.
Relational content creates value the receivers:
- Any sales conversation should create value for the potential customer
- Any marketing communication should create value for the target audience
Relational content creates value for the broadcaster:
- The value is in the interest gathered from the potential customers.
Reaching the potential buyers
Even if there is an affinity to the “content” communicated, it can reach the wrong audience or interest the wrong audience.
In the case of a sales process a potential customer is clearly identified and qualified thus less error will occur.
Hence marketing needs to measure in order to prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the content broadcasted.
Sales has only a few communication channels: email, telephone and meetings, whereas marketing has many channels to choose from: advertising (print – online – television – radio), press releases, direct mail, email, letters, post cards, leaflets, billboards, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and social media.
The more channels there are being used the more difficult to control the communication process and the more difficult to measure the efficiency of each channel.
Still all marketing channels have one thing in common: they all refer to the company website.
Currently in Business to Business it is very likely potential buyers will first visit the company website before any other action, communication, internal sales or decision.
Measuring marketing
Sales can prove their existence by just showing the revenue generated or the funnel value.
Marketing needs to measure everything as that is their only way to prove their existence.
In B2B if marketing could measure the number of really interested potential buyers that are visitors from companies of their target market, marketing would know and would be able to prove their efforts and spending. Additionally they could adjust their message real fast if fewer visitors should show up on the website.
It is important to segregate the company visitors from the residential Internet visitors as the latter are unlikely to buy from a company in the B2B market.
In order to measure marketing in B2B, all marketing needs to know is the names of the companies visiting and their level of interest (at least exclude the bouncers).
Measuring is the only way to know if your content is in context and bring relational value.
How does your Marketing dept. measure their marketing efforts?
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I recognize that any definition, such as your definitions for sales and marketing, creates a simplified idea that helps capture the essence of the word, at the expense of more subtle exceptions. In this case, the exception is trade shows.
Your blog post related the greater media choices that marketing has, and the limited choices sales has. However, trade shows, which you did not include, are a hybrid mix between sales and marketing. It’s worth including trade shows, because at 20% of b2b marketer’s budget, it’s the single largest budget item they invest in.
At a trade show a company’s marketing department can design an exhibit with non-customized content on its graphics, but once the dialog starts with a trade show attendee, the booth staffer can customize their dialog to the content most relevant to their visitor.
Trade shows are also a hybrid blend of your sales and marketing definitions in terms of relationships. One of the main goals of many exhibitors is to build relationships at trade shows. It’s during the show itself those relationships get strengthened, when buyers find a seller who offers the products and expertise they need to solve their challenges.