webcast: optimize your content marketing to facilitate the buyer's journey

Optimize Your Content

Marketing to Facilitate

the Buyer's Journey

Tom Pisello, The ROI Guy

Chairman & Founder, Alinean

September 20, 2011

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 2

Our Speakers

Tom Pisello: The ROI Guy

– A 25-year career helping companies to get more business value from their IT and business investments

– Serial Entrepreneur

– Pundit & Blogger

– Chairman and Founder

• Alinean – Content Optimization w/ Interactive Smart Content and Value-Based Sales Enablement Tools

• Akonna – Social Media Marketing Competitive Benchmarking

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Agenda

1. The Significance of Content for Marketing & Sales Enablement

2. Top Content Challenges

3. New Content Optimization Strategies & Tactics

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The Significance of Content for Marketing & Sales Enablement

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 5

51% increasing budget

over next 12 months

Content Spending and Tactics

Junta42 and MarketingProfs, 2010 Content Marketing Benchmark Survey

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 6

Top Content Marketing Challenges

Junta42 and MarketingProfs, 2010 Content Marketing Benchmark Survey

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 7

Crisis in Confidence?

Only 41% indicate

that their content

marketing efforts

are effective.

Junta42 and MarketingProfs, 2010 Content Marketing Benchmark Survey

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 8

Why The Content Marketing Crisis in Confidence?

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Buyers Have Fundamentally and Permanently

Changed

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Longer Sales Cycles

Reduced Deal Size More Leads to Close Same

Amount of Business

Stalled Deals

Increased Competition More Stakeholders

Executive Scrutiny

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Quantifiable benefits

are mandatory

On average 90% of corporations surveyed require

quantifiable proof of bottom-line benefits on most

projects.

Quantifying value is

difficult for buyers

Two-thirds (65%) of buyers indicate that they do not

have the knowledge or tools needed to do business

value assessments and calculations.

Third party validation is

essential

Most trusted sources are: Industry Analysts (31.4%),

and Peers (28.7%).

Vendors lag as a trusted source for only 8.1%.

Buyers turn to vendors

for value proof points

81% of buyers expect vendors to quantify business

value of proposed solutions.

Source: IDC 2010, survey of 200 B2B buyers,

Sirius Decisions 2010 B-to-B Buyer Survey on trusted sources.

Frugalnomics: the new mantra for B2B Buyers

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 11

Describe the budgeting/approval process for most

recent solution purchase?

Determined potential impact throughother adopters and built a business

Budget was taken from another line itemafter need was established/clear

Budget was determined post multiplebids

Budget was allocated as part of a largerline item once need was established

Budget for project was approved andallocated during beginning of the year

26.7%

26.1%

20.6%

15.8%

10.9%

Demand Creation Specialists B2B Buyer Survey - 2011

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How has the buying/decision-making process changed for

the most recent purchases vs. prior decisions?

Relied more on live customerfeedback/recommendations

More internal team members providedtheir input into decision process

Did more detailed analysis of costs/ROI ofsolution before finalizing the process

Utilized a wider variety of sources toresearch options

Took more time to research and considersolutions

48%

36%

34%

30%

21%

Multiple Responses Allowed

Demand Creation Specialists B2B Buyer Survey - 2011

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Which Content is The Most Effective?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Early Middle Late

White papers

Peer referrals

Webinars

Email

User Events

Analyst reports

Case Studies

Most often used to help make purchase decisions

Source: SiriusDecisions 2010

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Content Optimization Strategies & Tactics

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Fight Frugalnomics™ with Value Selling &

Marketing

Value Focus

Discussion:

• Prescriptive & Quantified

• Discover… Is customer

aware of issue?

• Diagnose… How bad is it?

• Quantify … Value of change

• Compare … Value vs. Status

Quo / Competition

Drive: Diagnostic Led: What

is issue & value of change?

Product Focus

Discussion:

• Customer knows issue

• Tie features / functions to needs

• Compares product alternatives

• Feature • Function • Price

Drive: Sales Led: Product

Driven

Solution Focus

Discussion:

• Customer knows issues &

desired outcome

• Questions to discover pain

points

• Recommend solution to

solve pain

Drive: Sales Led: Pain-Point

Driven

Solution

Provider Trusted Advisor Vendor

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Making Content Relevant by Mapping to the

Buyer’s Journey

Buyer’s Journey

Discovery Consideration Decision Purchasing a Solution is a Complex Change Management Process

Need Help in Facilitating the Steps in the Process:

• Easier to Do Nothing than to Change

• More Stakeholders

• Competitive Agendas

• More Economic Scrutiny

Seeking Content that is:

• Consultative, Not a Sales Pitch

• Proactive

• Personalized and Concise: One-to-One

• More Relevant

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Content to Facilitate the Buyer’s Journey

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Facilitating the Buyer’s Journey w/ Interactive

Smart Content & Diagnostic Sales Tools

BUYER’S JOURNEY

Interactive White Papers

Diagnostic Assessment Tools

ROI Analysis Tools TCO Comparison Tools

Create awareness

around a new problem

Align problem with

business issues; drive

urgency

Help buyer

identify needs in solving

the problem

Align solution

with specific sets of

business needs

Make the business case

for change

Validate/ reinforce choice

Prove best value

Loosening of the

status quo

Committing to change

Exploring possible solutions

Committing to a

solution

Justifying the

decision

Making the selection

Content Marketing & Sales Enablement Strategy

DISCOVERY CONSIDERATION DECISION

PROVOCATIVE APPROACH VALUE APPROACH

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 19

Interactive White Papers

• Interactive Profiling to Align Content

• Intelligent Quantitative & Qualitative Personalization

• Concise

• Increased Relevance

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Diagnostic Assessment Tools

• Identify / Prioritize Issues and Recommend Solutions

• Survey to Identify Opportunities

• Peer / Leader Benchmarking

• Intelligent Roadmap Recommendations

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ROI Calculators & TCO Comparison Tools

• Quantify Cost of Doing Nothing

• Justify Solutions

• Differentiate Value

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Are You Ready to Optimize Your Content?

• Buyers Have Changed

– Purchase process is more complex

– More empowered, but overloaded

– More skeptical and frugal / economic focus

– Need help from solution providers

• Content Must be More Relevant to be Effective

– Facilitate the Buyer’s Journey

– Consultative & Concise

– Personalized / One-to-One

• New Content Marketing Needed to Drive Relevancy

– Interactive White Papers

– Diagnostic Assessment Tools

– ROI Calculators

– TCO Comparison Tools

© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 23

Next Steps

Content Optimization Assessment

http://www.alinean.com/COA

Best Practice Resource Center

http://fightfrugalnomics.com

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Questions?