Content Marketing delivery
Now that we’ve established the importance of content marketing, what methods will we use to deliver our messaging to the prospect base? There are certainly many different delivery methods available, with the absolute most important one being your company’s website.
However, we need to divide up the content delivery into different content types as well, taking into account the stage of the “customer journey”:
Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/what-is-the-buyers-journey
As previously discussed, the customer journey usually starts with statement of a problem to be solved, and possibly no knowledge of your company or potential solution. So, in the “awareness stage” of the journey, the mission is to get the prospect to find you and engage with you. This is why I always emphasize the importance of the web site, as it is almost always going to be that first contact. This is also why organic SEO is so important for capturing that prospect based on their first query into a search engine!
Introducing the content marketing matrix
So, let’s assume that your prospect has found your web site; now, how are you going to help them? This is where the content marketing matrix comes in, as it outlines the different forms of content you can offer, and what their effect might be. First, let’s look at how the different types of content map into the customer journey:
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sales-marketing-funnel-content-part-7-long-journey-gilbért-m-sc-/
A different way of looking at this is as a quad plot, where the X-axis goes from awareness to purchase, and the Y-axis goes from rational to emotional. Smart Insights is credited with the original publication of this matrix, and there have been many alternate versions created over the years! I am particularly fond of the following version, which is more pertinent to B2B Technology markets:
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/content-marketing-matrix-b2b-tech-companies-john-farkas/
Change of appropriate content type over time
The X-axis is really indicative of time, where awareness moves to purchase. At the beginning, you need to start with “lighter” reading that is easy to digest, and is designed merely to pique one’s interest to investigate the vendor further. Long form content (such as white papers or lengthy videos) is inappropriate at the first contact. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen web sites that expect someone to watch a 15 minute product video on first visit! Be respectful of your prospect’s time, and treat it as valuable (it is!): give them small bites to start.
If your initial offerings prove valuable to the prospect, they will come back for more. At that point you can begin to move along the education phase into convincing. This is where the white papers, product demo videos, etc. come in. Remember to keep in mind that in the B2B world (especially technology markets), education is the most critical attribute of your content, not selling!
The prospect starts with a pain point, or a problem to solve. Their initial search is for information that will help them to better understand the problem and potential solutions. If your content helps them quickly and easily learn about their subject, without being “salesy”, then you are on your way to building brand authority.
In the technology B2B world, the items on the matrix in the upper half (more “emotional”) are less likely to be important versus in the B2C world. Don’t spend a lot of effort trying to make a viral video, for instance! Viral videos can work in the B2C market, but in the B2B world, a viral video is most likely going to give you a lot of traffic from people who could care less about your product (i.e. not prospects).
Recycle/reuse content
When thinking about content you are creating, always think in terms of how it can be reused! I often like to start with a white paper, and then reuse subsets of that content for product flyers, technical notes, short videos, etc. Writing a white paper about your technology and why it is useful is a great way to start. Besides being a fundamental piece of information, it also forces you to sit down and really think about how to present your technology and how it differentiates you from the competition. By doing this exercise early on, you are forced to understand and communicate your positioning. Start by defining the “elevator pitch”, and then expand from there.
While it may sound a bit backward to start with the long form content (e.g. white paper), it has many benefits. As stated above, it forces you to really hone in one your differentiation and messaging. If you then reuse parts of the white paper content in other, shorter, pieces that are used for the earliest interactions, you insure the consistency of your message over the customer journey, which is also critical.
Cost and ROI considerations of different content types
Finally, when looking at the content marketing matrix, it is important to consider the cost and potential ROI for each type of content. Obviously, something like a trade show or professionally produced video represent a much more significant cost than producing a short product flyer. However, each is important when mapped to the customer journey. The product flyer falls into the early stages of the journey, while the trade show falls later in the “convincing” phase (trade shows will be a separate topic later).
The actual cost of a white paper is really just limited to your time. Since it is an important early piece (whose content will be reused per above), I highly recommend investing a significant amount of time to do these thoroughly, though. Then reuse the content for shorter pieces.
Video content has become significantly more important in recent years, and it may be tempting to invest heavily in expensive video production. The good news is that the tools available at the consumer level are now so sophisticated and easy to use that you can produce your own videos at minimal cost. Forget about snazzy 3D generated flying logos, renderings and professional production to start with. Make short videos, using tools like screen capture software and voice overs. A 3 minute recording of how your software works, for instance, can have enormous impact early on in the customer journey.
Mix it up to have broader appeal
As content consumers, we all have preferences about how content is delivered to us. Some prefer videos, some want the deep detail offered by ebooks or white papers. To make sure that you have the best chance of capturing interest early on in the awareness stage of the customer journey, have all of the different content types and delivery methods available right from the beginning.
A deeper knowledge of the buyer persona will strongly aid you in deciding on appropriate content types and delivery methods. Always keep in mind that your primary job is to educate with your content, not to sell. Your prospects will appreciate your company if you can quickly help them understand potential solutions to the problem they are trying to solve (pain points), and give them knowledge to make an educated decision. Even if your potential solution is not a good fit, they will remember that you gave them the information needed to make that decision quickly, and did not thereby waste their time!
Play the long game, and people will remember you, and that you were helpful to them. They will come back to you over time. Personally, I have lots of bookmarked websites that I revisit frequently when I need information about a particular topic. These sites have brand authority, and that is something you should always be striving for in your content marketing implementation!
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