By Whitney Satin

B2B marketers spend a lot of time churning out content—white papers, collateral, podcasts, online tutorials, etc.—but production is only half of the equation.  Marketing also needs to consider how customers actually consume the content it generates.  The goal isn’t to just provide product information; it’s really a balancing act between this and setting the buying cycle in motion.  Sequencing becomes critical in that the consumption of materials needs to gradually lead customers closer to the point of sale.

We typically see three modes of content delivery:

1) Self-Directed –Customers spend significant time absorbing content online or connecting with peers before they ever contact the company directly.  This heightens the importance of deliberately designing interactions that make it easy for customers to digest insight and want to deepen the commercial relationship without someone physically present to make these connections explicit.   Downloading a white paper is too passive – it too easily turns into a one-off interaction where a customer absorbs content but feels no pull to move forward in the buying process.  Marketing needs to engineer self-directed insight consumption with an eye towards progressing customers along the purchase funnel.

2) Automated – Customers are clearly doing a lot of information gathering their own, but there’s still a role to play as far as what content you push through online promotions, newsletters, etc.  The problem is that most B2B marketers send the same content to everyone, but buyers now expect to get personalized offers that correspond to where they are in the buying process in real time.  The net result: a lot of clutter.   Fortunately, the rise of marketing automation technologies have made it a lot easier for suppliers to sequence content such that they hit the right people with the right content at the right time.  Content should take into account the groups you need to influence within the buying center and the stages they go through in the buying process, mapping content accordingly.

3) In-Person– One of the most potent ways to deliver teaching is in a face-to-face interaction, but it’s also the most “expensive” of the consumption options given limited time and resources from both the customer and sales rep perspectives .  There’s a very deliberate sequence to how a sales conversation should unfold to make the most of whatever face time reps manage to get.  It begins by provoking the customer, either by reframing initial assumptions or exposing areas of underappreciated risk. Then, break down the underlying problems behind this previously unknown or underappreciated issue.  Finally, build back the customer’s confidence with an eye to how your products and services solve the exposed issue.  Creating this emotional progression helps reps “choreograph” a conversation that delivers insight with greatest impact.

MLC members, learn more about engaging customers with marketing content at one of our upcoming executive networking sessions.

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2. Moving Beyond Advocate Enablement
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4. Marketing’s Role in Support of Successful Rep Activities
5. Sales and Marketing: Moving Beyond “Managed Dissatisfaction”