The Content Pinch Point

Presented by Billy Hamilton-Stent, Director, Octopus Group

http://bit.ly/TechHeads15

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Running order

• Research overview

• Key insights

• Learnings since ‘the pinch’

• Case study

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Research overview

402 key decision makers

responsible for choosing and

purchasing products and services

for their company completed a

survey during

Q4 2015

Conducted by Loudhouse Research

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The Content Pinch Point

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Have we reached 'peak' time?

Time spent each week information gathering

Following reading

industry news &

developments

Researching specific

products / services /

suppliers

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Almost half of buyers say they’re taking longer to make purchase decisions and on-board new

suppliers / services than 2014

Extended decision cycles

We take less time to make

decisions and on-board new

products/services/partners

We take longer to make

decisions and on-board new

products/services/partners

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Information gathering

influences supplier

shortlisting / selection for

93% of buyers

57% rely more

on content to inform

purchase decisions

than a year ago

Increased appetite for content

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The purchase pinch point

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Audience differentiators

15 wks

Those with increased

budgets in 201662%

So what?

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A pinch is a wake-up call

• Under the new rules emerging from the Pinch Point

research, you have to be more ‘relevant’ than ever

• To do inbound marketing REALLY well, you have to

re-think your strategy

• Great content is a magnet, a differentiator and a relationship

• Relevance is mostly about insight, simplicity and timing

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Three content questions, post ‘pinch’

Process

How difficult do we

want to make this?

Buyer

When do we build

the time machine?

Audience

When does a browser

become a buyer?

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When is a browser a buyer?

• Open-minded, undecided

• 80%+ of your traffic

• Easily taken away or distracted

• 6-9 months from purchase

• More open to brand influence

• More likely to share, refer to other

browsers

“I have a

business

problem”

“I need new

accountancy

software”

• Direct, mind made-up

• Ready to approach

• (-)20% of your traffic

• Competitor literate

• Seeking assurance, proof

• More open to direct approach

• In a hurry

Even the most enlightened

B2B content campaigns

tend to invest most of their

time on Barry…even

though they THINK they

are targeting Brenda

We like sure things!

IT Browser Brenda IT Buyer Barry

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How difficult do we want to make this?

• Death of a thousand variables

• Content marketing has a default switch

set to ‘complicated’

• Software can make ‘gods’ of very normal marketers

• Businesses tend to start complicated and fail

• Start simple and build complexity into a

campaign over time

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When do we build the time machine?

• Most organisations want a time machine

• Great lead gen is the result of long-term investment

• Patience is not a common commodity in sales or marketing

• But you can distort time with the right tools:

• Themes that have a long shelf life

• Content that can be slow-burn and ‘snackable’

• Proactive touchpoints with sales / education

• ‘Vitamin shots’ to show early wins

• Always aligning to strategic sales goals

Case Study

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Case study: A post-pinch punch!

• Tech service provider

• 500 employees

• Recent IPO

• Growing ahead of industry rate

• Disruptive technology in the sector

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All the tools in place…but

Underperforming on pipeline. Marketing out

of step with salesKPIs / ROI

Hubspot / Salesforce integration, lead scoring

MQL / SQLAUTOMATION

High cadence schedule of ToFU / MoFU /

BoFU content and social amplificationCONTENT

Segmentation by company size, names,

profiles and needsPERSONAS

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A change in direction needed

15% increase in traffic volume. 30% increase in MQLs. 45% increase in

SQLs. Over six months. No increase in content expenditure. KPIs / ROI

Simplification of automation processes to reflect persona and content

changes. Fastflow / slowflow workflows.AUTOMATION

Clearer messaging, stronger thematic consistency. Persona-first.

Browser-led. Less volume, more quality. CONTENT

Insight-led development of sales personas. ‘Needs-based segmentation’.

More detail, less people.PERSONAS

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Looking ahead

• Introducing more personas, more sophistication

• Marketing investment aligned to personas

• Sales buy-in to inbound processes

• More to do on Enterprise

• More communication on timings, expectations

and alignment

The Content Pinch PointThe Content Pinch Point

http://bit.ly/TechHeads15