For a better return on your marketing investment, put your content plans into a strategic context.
Business Imperative
IDC research warns that “over 40% of marketing assets are not in use.”
Content goes unused by our customers and sales channels, due either to lack of relevancy, asset credibility, or an inability for users to find these assets.… The lack of a cohesive [content] management strategy has resulted in ill-spent resources and a significant loss of marketing’s credibility…
— IDC, CMO Advisory Best Practices Series, Sales Enablement:
Marketing Content and Asset Management, 2009
To make matters worse, marketers dedicate at least 30% of their budgets to create and produce content, yet almost half of those efforts lead to disappointing results (IDC).
We believe these problems are related to the common practice of developing content as one-off tactics, or developing marketing campaigns as a “silo” disconnected from the larger picture. Chaotic processes, no systems for managing content, and fragmented budgets are also contributing factors. It’s time for marketers to step up to the challenge of managing content as high-value assets.
Build a Strategic Framework for Content
To ensure a better ROI on marketing investments, we recommend that marketers develop their content strategy in the context of larger organizational goals and strategies — including the needs of sales enablement for B2B firms. We offer services to help clients develop this big picture framework, starting with an assessment of organizational maturity when it comes to content strategy.
Content Services
Leveraging our expertise in strategic marketing, we can help you develop a more coherent content strategy. You might consider help with:
- Audience analysis: define the needs and preferences of the people you want to engage — buyers, customers, partners, etc.
- Buying cycle: explore how customers research potential purchases, who plays a role in the decision making, and the implications for content requirements
- Buyer persona analysis: understand the needs, characteristics and motivations of the key buying roles you need to influence
- Stakeholder interviews
- Messaging hierarchy: develop a matrix to show how you want to engage your various audiences and how you will address their questions or key issues
In parallel you’ll want to conduct a content audit to see what’s working and what’s under-utilized, or no longer relevant.
These findings can help you set a more strategic context for the classic content marketing plans: the editorial calendars, editorial or visual style guidelines, content briefs, and so on.
