You've read it. You get it. You may have even done it! It is creating engaging content for your website to attract qualified prospects. What if It isn't working for you? What if you're engaging, educating content isn't leading to a larger throng of happy customers? Blogger and author Mitch Joel (@mitchjoel), recently argued in a blog, Welcome to "Less Is More" Marketing, that marketers should consider spending less time on amazing content, and more time working to simplify the buying process for their prospects.
Marketers v. Consumers
A recent study from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) was the motivation behind Mitch's question about the relative value of content in converting prospects into paying customers. Based on surveys of 7,000 consumers and interviews with 200 marketers, the CEB found a startling disconnect between the objectives of marketing and the objectives of those we're marketing to - the consumer:
- Marketers focus on driving brand engagement and relationships
- Consumers simply want an easy path to purchase
The take away - consumers don't want engagement; they just want to buy something as easily as possible. And the corollary - if it's not simple to buy from you, your prospects will go to a competitor-no matter how engaging your content is or how increadible your Facebook page looks. Mitch even quantifies this with a citation from Google's Digital Marketing Evangelist Avinash Kaushik who claims that for each second a prospect waits for your page to load, conversion potential drops 7%. Ouch!
Mitch brings the discussion into focus with this simple question:
"Take a look at your marketing teams and ask this simple question: who amongst us is responsible for ensuring that our consumers can get in, find what they need, and convert as quickly and efficiently as possible?"
In other words... you probably have someone in charge of a content strategy but do you have someone in charge of a buying strategy? Makes sense.
So there's a relationship between a content strategy and a buying strategy or process. As Mitch alludes in his post, content and a simple buying process don't have to be mutually exclusive. This is particularly true in effective B2B content marketing.
The Best B2B Marketers Use Content To Guide Prospects Through The Purchase Process.
When we look at content as a conversation, we can develop resources-tailored to each buyer persona-that answer a prospect's questions throughout the buying process.
With marketing software like Hubspot, you can map content and the buying process into lead nurturing or marketing automation campaigns, encouraging otherwise passive prospects to continue the decision making process.
By creating engaging content that is relevant to your prospects at the beginning, middle and end of your sales funnel, you can digitally walk them through your purchase process. For example:
- A blog post optimized for relevant keywords helps someone find you when researching potential solutions to a problem
- After reading, she downloads a whitepaper that covers more detailed information-and provides you with her contact info
- She later receives a lead-nurturing email that links to your company's return on investment calculator, which helps her make the case for your service to her boss
- When she returns to your site, she receives a case study and testimonial to allay the fear that hers may be the first company you've done business with
Rather than distracting from the sale, as the CEB report suggested that too much content may do, well-thought-out content mapped into an efficient sales process can make a long or complex buying cycle simpler for B2B prospects. How does your company use content? Do you coordinate content with your buying process?