Salesperson Brandon started a new job at a cybersecurity start-up called Bait, protecting organizations from ransomware. Two months into the job and he is struggling to close deals.
“I don’t know what to do when they voice concerns,” Brandon explains. “It’s like I have nothing to say.”
Brandon’s boss is confused. “Just answer their questions.”
That isn’t enough..
Topics: Content, Sales, Sales enablement content
Practically all B2B marketers agree that content marketing works, but not everyone is clear on how exactly to calculate the ROI and business value of a company’s content marketing investment. Assessing the quality of content - Is the content original and audience-appropriate? Does it tell a story or add value to the site? Is the tone, spelling, and grammar pitch-perfect? - is one thing. But determining the bottom- line impact or business benefit of each blog post, article, email, e-book, case study, podcast, infographic, or social campaign is quite another - and one of the trickier challenges facing marketers today.
You can use a number of metrics to measure content performance, depending on your business goals and what you intended for your content marketing program to achieve. Was your content written to acquire customers or increase revenue and profit? Position your brand or tell your product story? Enhance customer engagement? Acquire better-quality leads? Among the most obvious measurements of content marketing success would be ROI (the revenue gained from content marketing compared to the amount spent on creating and distributing content), number of qualified leads, and percentage of lead conversions to closed sales generated by the content. Other important indicators of content effectiveness include:
Topics: Content marketing, Content, Metrics, Bounce rate, Exit rate
Who’s in charge? Sales or Product? That’s one of the key factors in shaping your organization’s sales and marketing infrastructure.
Sales-led growth has been the “way it’s always been done.” The sales and marketing teams identify, nurture, engage, and convert potential customers into clients. Product-led growth focuses on having the product “sell itself.”
Social media always needs to be in complete synch with inbound and content marketing, PR, and customer communications. This is especially critical when it comes to the PESOTM model (created by Gini Dietrich), which drives brand awareness, reputation, and sales by integrating Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media, maximizing content.
Topics: Content marketing, Content, Customer communications, Corporate communications, SEO, PESO, Paid media, Earned media, Shared media, Owned media
Your sales teams can exceed expectations if you have the right materials at the right time for the right customer – we’re talking about bringing “What’s in it for me” to whole new levels.
Topics: Content marketing, Content, Message, Sales, USP, Sales funnel, Sales enablement content, UVP
The PESO model is an integrated approach that strengthens your ability to leverage your thought leadership content, building trust and credibility with audiences across multiple channels.
Topics: Content marketing, Content, Customer communications, Corporate communications, SEO, PESO, Paid media, Earned media, Shared media, Owned media
Public relations isn’t just media relations anymore
Public relations and advertising used to live in two different realms, with a solid wall separating paid media -- paid placements like advertising -- and earned media -- publicity gained through valuable content contributions, company mentions, or interviews with journalists.
Topics: Journalist, Press coverage, Content marketing, Audience, Award, Corporate communications, Client relations
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
Why it’s time to create a winning analyst relations program
Open your marketing toolbox, and you’ll see a whole range of weaponry with which to conquer your market. From advertising and public relations to sales promotions and sponsorships, these tools are tried-and-proven elements of every selling effort.
Topics: Analyst, Analyst relations, Brand
Topics: Insider, Public relations, Marketing, Analyst, Analyst relations, Market research
7 Questions to Ask Before Trying DIY Analyst Relations
Analyst relations is simply too critical to simply do yourself or leave in inexperienced hands. Analyst relations could make or break marketing efforts for your technology products. Their objective and expert insights greatly influence technology buyers’ decisions, and your ability to influence these influencers could mean the difference between analyst coverage/ recommendation of your product and...well, the absence of it. Before you say, “How hard can it be?” ask yourself these questions:
Topics: Analyst, Analyst relations, Objective, Message, Technology