Customers:<\/strong>\r\nImplementation<\/p>\r\n
Driving adoption<\/p>\r\n
Realizing continuous value<\/p>\r\n
Account expansion<\/p>\r\n
Advocacy<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n
Let\u2019s look at how shifts in context build the story of change for your buyers.<\/p>\r\n
Marketing Content:<\/strong> Educational content that primes buyers to recognize the problem; the value of solving it; and what that might look like for them. (not just anyone \u2013 the audience you\u2019re engaging)<\/p>\r\n\r\n- What to change \u2013<\/strong> content that defines the problem and helping folks recognize it\u2019s a problem<\/li>\r\n
- Why to change \u2013<\/strong> the value of solving the problem that they can\u2019t get without solving it and the cost of not solving it. Why change content sets up the future vision. This is also a great format for thought leadership content from your company.<\/li>\r\n
- How to change \u2013<\/strong> options for solving the problem that help your buyers see a clear path to getting the outcome you\/your solutions promise \u2013 with as little risk as possible. You also must help them see that they cannot fix the problem internally, or they\u2019ll not move forward.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Sales Content:<\/strong> Evidence content that supports sales conversations to help buyers act, get everyone on board and mitigate risk of disruption with making the change. Sales content must support and enable change management and help sales reps have better, more relevant conversations that add value for buyers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n- Challenges to overcome \u2013<\/strong> content that helps buyers overcome obstacles and pushback \u2013 their own, or that from others, or legacy systems and fears of disruption.<\/li>\r\n
- Future vision \u2013<\/strong> content that builds off the vision marketing helped establish \u2013 continuity content that reinforces the value they\u2019ll realize with the problem solved. Content that reinforces the purpose story of your company and solution and elevates your brand beyond \u201cvendor\u201d status. Thought leadership content also plays here.<\/li>\r\n
- Mitigating risk \u2013<\/strong> an extension of challenges content that exposes the cons your buyers could encounter and proves that you\u2019ve got their back, have been there, done that and can help them come through unscathed. Case studies, use cases, implementation stories, references, reviews all contribute to mitigating risk and help your sales reps have those difficult conversations.<\/li>\r\n
- Gaining consensus \u2013<\/strong> often this is content for those stakeholders that you won\u2019t have direct access to, or who only show up for the demo or vendor presentation. This is content sales reps can provide to buyers they can pass along to their boss or others to build awareness, trust and reduce skepticism when it comes time for them to weigh in on the decision. Done well, it can also be used help to deconflict the various information brought back by the buying committee that stalls deals\u2014sometimes permanently.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Customer Content \u2013<\/strong> transformational content that facilitates implementation, adoption, original use, unanticipated use, and continuous value realization. This content must be empathetic and in support of not only your end users (quite often different than buyers in a complex B2B sale) but the champions who will help ensure renewal and account expansion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n- Implementation \u2013<\/strong> this content must not only set the path forward to using your solution but set reasonable expectations for the process, including obstacles that could arise and how to avoid them. It should also show them how to best prepare for the implementation to accelerate time to value.<\/li>\r\n
- Driving adoption \u2013<\/strong> content and programs that help all involved get with the new program. This content must establish value for end users and beneficiaries of the solution (whether hands-on users or those affected by the change). This is when train the trainer programs come into play, microlearning courses for quick wins, sharing user triumphs to encourage change, and more.<\/li>\r\n
- Realizing continuous value \u2013<\/strong> content, outreach and programs that ensure your solution becomes a habit and delivers what was promised. Help to drive feature and function adoption and continuously provide tips, tricks, training and support to ensure it becomes a relied upon tool in your customers\u2019 arsenal for the way business gets done.<\/li>\r\n
- Account expansion \u2013<\/strong> this content is all about exposing your customers to new use cases and additional value that\u2019s now possible because their original problem (the reason they became customers in the first place) is solved). The idea for additional value shouldn\u2019t come out of the woodwork because your company decides it needs an additional revenue stream, it should be a matter of course that strengthens relationships, not feels like it\u2019s all about what you want.<\/li>\r\n
- Advocacy \u2013<\/strong> content that builds community and inspires your customers to speak out on your behalf in the form of reviews, referrals, testimonials, case studies, speaking at company events, participating in advisory councils, and telling their networks about why you\u2019re the best choice for solving the problem. Creating advocacy is the best way to ensure your customers have a stake in the ground in the success of your company.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
If you look over this list from top to bottom, you can see how context shifts to build a continuous story over time that is all about your customers. The true value of this is that because it\u2019s about your customers and not you, you\u2019ll see higher success. Content can truly play an active role in facilitating the customer lifecycle from beginning to end.<\/p>\r\n
Marketing is in the best position to enable this end-to-end story and build alignment across product, sales, and service teams to create the consistency and reinforcement to share a story that continues to engage based on the context of the people involved\u2014every step of the way.<\/p>\r\n
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