Hoarding expertise and information is history

All the information and expertise of a salesman that allowed getting an appointment is now available on the Internet. This can be provided by your competitors or by peers on social media (forums, LinkedIn, Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc).

If you keep your expertise and information to yourself then your potential customers will find it on the Internet from another source. Thus bypassing you completely. This could make your company and its’ products obsolete as people won’t find you on the Internet.
Not getting found increases missing sales deals. Hence hoarding information and expertise is history.

Share your expertise, knowledge and information

Instead you should share your expertise, knowledge and information in order to keep up with competitors and make sure you are being considered for all the possible shortlists. It is not solely your products, the feature and functions of your products, the quality of products and after service and the brand name that will get you on the short list as your company and products might get overlooked or simply net found during the research phase of the purchase cycle.

Not gating for content

In most cases influencers and decision takers will not contact you before they have made up their short list. In order to get on the short list it is better to provide information and expertise without gating for this content as this is part of the sales cycle. Asking for contact details is a hurdle in your sales process and won’t help sales.

Instead of waiting and hoping getting invited to present all of your knowledge, expertise and information during a sales meeting, you need to publish this as it will:
- Bring traffic of interested parties
- Build your authority in the business
- Get you on the short list
Only when on the short list you will be contacted for information about your solution and price negotiations. This kills the concept of opportunities moving through the funnel as it has become ultra short.

Are you still hoarding your expertise ?

Content marketing

As people are fed up with interruption marketing (ads, emails) it seems that content marketing is the way to go as people prefer to search online for solutions and products.
Content marketing will drive your inbound marketing for the complex sale in B2B.

Having just a few text documents, presentations or video’s might be sufficient for starting the process of generating interest, however you need to cover the entire purchase cycle and address to all of the people involved in the purchase decision. Your content needs to support the purchase process just like a salesman would do.

Purchase process and buyer persona

Hence you will need to identify:
- The different steps in the purchase process
- The different people that get involved
You need to identify the buyer persona’s. The different steps in the purchase process need to be supported by appropriate content for each of the people involved. Even if in one step different people get involved then different content needs to be created as a user-employee has different takes and views than a manager and again different than a CxO or VP:
- Functions will interest users
- Features will interest managers
- Benefits will interest CxOs

Content inventory

For each of the process step and for each of the people involved you will need to create a piece of content in your content inventory.
In order to do so make a spreadsheet having on the left the steps in the purchase process and the top the buyers persona. Then indicate who is involved in each step. Then define the content that is required for each cell in your spreadsheet that you indicated. Then start creating texts, presentations or video’s.
This will make sure you have no gaps in your content marketing.

What’s the status of your content marketing ?

Marketers as publishers instead of pushers

Marketing execs have always had the mindset of selling products or services using mainly interruption marketing with advertising, commercial messages through multiple channels. The more money spend the more likelihood of getting attention and promoting the brand or product. The more they pushed the more chance of success.

The challenge of content marketing for marketers is that they need to start thinking as publishers providing interesting and valuable content.
As content has become the currency instead of money, this is quite a change for most marketers: the shift from outbound marketing to inbound marketing.

Findable targeted content

Instead of pushing advertising, commercial messages or any other interruption marketing to potential customers, the roles are now reversed as the potential customer is now in the drivers’ seat:
- The headline and short introduction need to be enough teasing, compelling in order to attract an audience
- The content and information provided should be valuable and interesting enough to keep the interest and attention.

Making the content findable is another challenge besides creating interesting and valuable content, as you can have the best and most interesting content in the world, but if nobody can find it then all the effort and time is wasted.

Marketing the content

Just like advertisements and commercial messages were targeting specific market segments, different pieces of content need to be created in order to target each of the market groups.
Instead of pushing the marketing message to the potential customer, now the potential customer needs to find the specific content and take the time to read or view the content. The created content needs to be marketed !

Are you as marketer ready for content marketing ?

Content marketing seems the last resort as all other marketing methods seem to be in decline.
The idea of content marketing is simple: providing interesting content for free that will attract potential customers who could get interested in your products. The content is used as marketing currency.
All that seems great as content doesn’t cost out of the pocket money.

However content marketing has four hurdles:

1. Creativity

It requires creativity and imagination for generating content.
This is not a widely spread skill. Some people have it – some don’t.
Moreover it is hard or almost impossible to learn it.

2. Time

Creating,editing and publishing content requires an investment in time.
As you need large quantities of content in order to handle all aspects in relation to your solutions or products, a lot of time will be invested in generating your content.
Time is costly as it consumes your capacity of doing something else beneficial for your company.

3. Entertaining content

You content needs to be entertaining as boring content won’t get read or viewed and easily forgotten. Even worse: hardly anybody will talk about it so you will miss out the word of mouth promotion.

4. Publishing for exposure

You can publish all of your interesting content on your website and just hope people will find it.
You can publish your content on article websites and hope people will find it and click on the link to your website.
So you are somewhat limited in the publishing of your content.
If other websites, like blogs, would re-publish your content, this will likely increase the exposure and the findability.

5. Marketing the content

If your content marketing wants to be successful you need market your content in order to give it enough exposure and getting found on the Internet.

Back where we stared: marketing
So we are back where we started: content marketing requires you to market your content.

Content marketing is not as easy as advertising which mainly just costs money.

Instead of just focusing and pitting all your marketing effort on one channel or one type of marketing will have less effect as multiple touches.

Difficult multiple touches

Once people have seen an ad or marketing campaign on one channel, they seem to be able to filter it out during the next appearances.
Of course if your messages are quite different then multiple touches using one channel can be effective. However what product or brand has enough interesting features or stories to tell in order to have multiple touches ? Even if your product is outstanding, you can only tell once it is outstanding. The next time on the same channel this message will be more or less ignored.

Multiple channels

Hence it is more effective to promote your product or brand using different channels as for first every time of remarking the brand or product on a new channel the interest will be increased.
The more you can make your product or brand be remarked using different channels, even with the same content, the more likely it will stick with your potential customers.

these different channels can be:
- Email marketing
- Direct mailing
- Print advertising
- Online advertising
- Telemarketing
- Social marketing
- Questions or replies on forums and discussion boards
- Press releases

The idea of multiple touches is great, but most products or services are not that interesting in order to generate enough interesting multiple touches.
Instead using more or less the same content or statements on multiple channels will be more effective.

The best would be if you could achieve multiple touches on multiple channels.

Are you using multiple touch or multiple channel or both ?

Content marketing

The idea behind content marketing is that your freely shared informative content is used for converting suspects and prospects into leads and customers.
You trade your content for:
- Thought leadership
- Lead generation
- Direct sales
- Branding
- Customer retention
In general: generating interest in your products or services.

Demand and supply

For all products and services there is a valuation or perceived value by demand and supply. Hence this would also be valid for the content you offer for your content marketing.
The better the value of your content the more likely you will obtain your goal.

However even if there is a demand, the content needs to be found. As there is supply form any possible source and from your competitors it will be a challenge getting your content found on the Internet.
Hence content marketing requires promoting, positioning and marketing your content on the Internet.

Content targeting

All your content is not suited for all of your audience.
The content that is interesting for managers is probably not the same that matters to the CxO level.
- Managers need to know about advantages
- CxO level wants to know about tangible and intangible benefits
Hence you need to market your content to different segments of your audience.

Uniqueness or edge

Content that is generic and conforms to the general opinion will be hard to market. The content needs to be unique or have an edge compared to others.

Stickiness or engaging

For your content marketing there are several results that can be obtained with the content consumer:
- Stickiness of your content: the consumer of your content will remember it long after or compare with all other content he discovers or encounters. Making your content stick out.
- Engagement through your content: the content consumer engages and takes action

This is the trading value of your content:
- Demand and supply
- Segmented targeting of your content for each type of content consumer
- Uniqueness or edge
- Stickiness or engaging

Content marketing hype and problems

Content marketing seems to be the next hype as the shift from outbound to inbound marketing is bound to happen soon although several problems will have to be faced.
As you will trade your content as currency for interest your content should attract the right people and make an impact on them before and during their buying cycle all without gating for content as this will scare off your possible customers.
You content should be valuable, entertaining as else people will zap away like they zap TV commercials.

The 10 Content marketing guidelines

Although content marketing is a bit like gambling as you don’t know upfront what will generate most interest and most leads, still there are guidelines in order not to fail:

1. Attention grabbing title
The title should grab the attention but it should tell what’s on the inside but not sell what’s on the inside.

2. Subtitle hook
The title is the bait whereas the subtitle is the hook for convincing to spend time on this content.

3. Content target
Managers want and need different content than CxO’s.
Managers want to know how, what and advantages.
The CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CMO want to know about tangible and intangible benefits for the company.
Different requirements result in different content.

4. Convenience content
Your content should be easy to understand and digest as people don’t want to think or get the wrong impression and make the wrong conclusions.

5. Avoid sales pitch
Your content shouldn’t be a sales pitch for your products or services as that will not be appreciated as valuable content.
Still the content should sell your solutions in the end by convincing facts or deductions.

6. No industry or technical words or abbreviations
Avoid using specific vocabulary and words related to your industry as in other countries other words might be used or people are not aware of the signification.
In case industry or technical terms or vocabulary are used then they should be explained briefly as even the CEO should be able to understand without the knowledge of the technical terms.

Abbreviations are not done.

7. Take-aways to remember and re-use
Make sure you provide a few (one, two or three) take-aways to remember or re-use in order to give a benefit and satisfaction for the time invested.

8. Content curation
Avoid getting lured by the temping easiness of content curation as people want real fresh original valuable content

9. Grammar and spelling
At least use a spelling checker in order to remove the most fragrant grammar or spelling errors. If possible let a proofreader verify your content.

10. Have patience
Content marketing takes time compared to advertising or email marketing which produce almost immediate responses massively.

In any case don’t use Social Media Marketing Crapola.
Due to Content Marketing the job of the Marketing Manager has changed for good as he needs to organize or create remarkable content which also needs to be entertaining – The Marketer becomes an entertainer ! ?

When will you have a go at your Content Marketing ?

Content marketing is all the hype in inbound marketing.
The problem is how to benefit from the content you have produced?

Registration is a transaction payment

Most websites require to register with your name and email address for download of white papers, presentations or valuable information in order to be able to follow-up afterwards.
This registration is a transaction payment: they have to pay with their identity.
However instead of gathering useful contact information most people will use a bogus web mail addresses in order not to pay with their identity. Their main goal is to deviate the expected marketing stream of emails into this account which they never really check upon. At the same time they also avoid getting interrupting sales calls from your salesmen.

Unfettered access gives deferred lead

On the other hand by allowing unfettered access to your valuable content it might seem you have lost this lead and you have no marketing tools to follow-up.
However it is likely the person will read your content, think it over, keep it in mind. We could call this a deferred lead, still having the potential to become a lead.

Content distribution has more value

If it is valuable and suiting content it is likely he will pass it on to one or more persons. This distribution of your content is very valuable – it has probably more value than having the email address of the person who has downloaded it as your content and brand name are getting exposure.

Customers’ networks

Even your customers have a need for information and updates.
If you gate for the content then they know they will receive a phone call from a salesman trying to get a meeting. If instead the information is free to download your content will flow freely into your customers through a different network of contacts than those reached by your newsletter.

Real leads with real demands

People who do register and have no demand or are not in charge or not influencers, like students, teachers, have also no value for your company. It is a waste of time and effort to contact them afterwards and an overload to manage your CRM system or email data base.

The real leads who have been able to consume, process and re-use your content will come back as:
- They have a real need
- You have made an impact on them with your valuable content
- The ease of getting the content really helped them giving some gratitude
They will act upon and call you.

Safety net

Website visitor identification services – which are like Caller Display of your website – are a safety net as they will provide you with the company names that have visited and downloaded your content. These services will allow you to address these companies using your normal outbound marketing methods.

Do you gate your content?
How many leads does it generate?

Portals, Google, Napster, MySpace, Bookmarking, Youtube

In the early days of the Internet, portals promised to deliver all possible links to information and entertainment you needed.
Soon Google Search took over which brought the decline of the portals. However the clean interface of Google was not entertaining at all.

In order to fill the missing entertainment gap Napster, MySpace and Bittorrent were all the hype.
MySpace was quickly conquered by music groups bringing entertainment to the Internet.

Shortly during the iPod era, Podcasting came and went away again.

As search on Google is cumbersome for most people (what should you look for in order to get entertained ?) bookmarking (Reddit, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg, Mixx, …) became popular as people got direct links to infotainment and the bookmarkers got their ego boosted when scoring high.
The big disruption came from YouTube which brought short entertaining video on demand.
Abruptly MySpace died thanks to Facebook and Youtube.

When Twitter emerged as the massive platform for promoting links in real-time (and without constraints or cheating) the bookmarking era came to an end. However Twitter is not entertainment.

Google+ should aim for entertainment

Now we have Google+ which should challenge Twitter and Facebook – but still it won’t bring entertainment as User Generated Content as well as bookmarking links are not entertainment.
The Hangouts on Google+ could become entertainment places but that can only happen if professional entertainers see their benefit and can make money by creating these Hangouts. making money can only when they get a piece of the (soon expected) advertising revenue on Google+.

The quest for entertainment

Still the real quest is that people need entertainment on the Internet as they want to be entertained.
Currently Facebook, Twitter or Google+ doesn’t solve the quest for entertainment on the Internet.

- YouTube (and Vimeo, Dailymotion)
- Adult websites
- Gossip and Celeb magazines
are still the most entertaining places on the Internet but they bring not the entertainment of a TV show (Oprah, Soap operas).

What shall arise as the first real entertainment platform on the Internet ?
As the Internet is a big place a start-up with a proposition might already be lurking around.
As all marketers will have to become entertainers (even in B2B) the quest for entertainment on the Internet also concerns them.

Business goals

The business of Google is selling advertising on their search engine (Adwords) and aside content which they analyze (Adsense).
In most cases your business is related to getting found on Google. The more people find your website, the more likely to get leads.

These two goals don’t exactly match up.

Online marketing techniques

In order to get found and appear high in the SERP (Search Engine Result Pages) you will use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques, Content marketing, Link building and Social Media Marketing. The better you score:
- The more your business will get found on the Internet
- The lesser you will buy advertising from Google

The power of Google

In order to counter all possible marketing techniques, Google can and will change the parameters of their search engine with the aim of selling more advertising.
Apparently they change it all too frequently in order to change the rules of the game.

Of course Google can change all possible parameters but still the search results need to propose valid and valuable content on websites which limits somewhat their possibilities.

Staying on top of Google

The best online marketing for your business is to excel in all possible aspects of online marketing, which requires;
- Abundant of content in relation to your products, solutions, market, industry segments or verticals
- SEO for each page of content
- Link building for as many pages possible
- Distributing your content beyond your website
- Engaging customers on Social Media in order to get even more content and links

The online marketing battle is not so much against your competitors but obtaining more presence on the Internet than any of your competitors in order to oblige Google to show your content high is as many search engine results.

How well does your company score on Google ?