Content Marketing – What does it do? Reinforces brand leadership.

Content Marketing – Who can benefit? Your sales team, your brand, website optimization and competitive leadership – to mention a few!

Content Marketing – How does it help your salespeople? With proof of brand leadership and thereby, closing more deals and shortening the sales cycle.

Even before a prospective client begins the sales conversation with you, they need to feel confident that you can do the job. So that’s probably the primary role for content marketing – building confidence for your brand.

It’s probably why content marketing is getting press; it is the darling of marketing tactics. Moreover, why not? A well-written case study can generate qualified leads, build leadership and even close the sale.

Planning Your Content Marketing

Most of you know a landing page by its short, concise and to the point content, happy faces, and a single message. However, before designing a landing page, do check on current styles, some are short while others offer lots of ‘sales text’ to get your email address. Ever before you start your content marketing program, step back and review the sales process. If your sales process is consultative, but you plan on implementing an aggressive, content marketing program, your prospective leads will get confused by the different styles.

Before you begin the any content marketing campaign, make sure all marketing tactics align with each other, on and offline. Also, attach a goal to the campaign.

Quality, Exclusive Content

When the current conversation in the marketing world is questioning the value of providing free content., you may be thinking that content marketing has reached its limit. After all, can free content be part of a successful business model? Is providing valuable, free content good for business?

Yes!
‘
Quality and freely available content is a great place to start to build your brand’s notoriety. As I’ve said before, content marketing provides the ability to develop your leadership and make the kind of brand image you want. It is yours, and no one owns it, which is an excellent reason to have your blog and not depend on Facebook’s other social media platforms.

The Process of Content Marketing

When designing Content Marketing specifically to build brand leadership, it usually looks like this:

1. Keywords: Search & Assign
2. Search for popular FAQ questions online
3. List Influencers, media and industry leaders who need to engage with your content
4. Assign whether there will be a visible thought-leader from your company – develop specific content just for thought-leadership
5. Develop different pieces of content, such as a series of blog posts, videos, and templates
6. Add an FAQ section on your site
7. Write Gated Content based on the buyer’s buying process. This will include case studies, white papers and resources. Content designed to improve brand awareness, educate on products and services. Content that answers why you and why not the competition. And, content that is targeted for the decision phase.
8. Develop Landing Pages, based on the number of gated content documents.
9. Implement SEO best practices and Optimize web pages
10. Marketing Automation / Sales Funnel
11. Promote the content

Most people get stuck in content creation. But developing quality content is most likely in front of you. Ask your sales team what the major objections they receive, account managers which features are super sellers and trade associations on what’s trending in your industry are.

Gated Content, The Sales Funnel

Now that you’ve got an essential roadmap to develop your company’s brand leadership, you now need to set-up the back-end of the sales funnel. The back-end is as important as the content, so bring in the right people. Selecting the right email marketing platform, CRM and segmenting based on actions takes an expert – so hire one!

Case studies and annual reports are usually gated because they are reliable ways to claim brand proof and proof of sale. Written clearly, informative and centred around critical brand messages so that each marketing material can stand alone and support your marketing objectives.

A well-written, thought-out, researched-supported business case study offers you the power to build your brand by showcasing how you work, the processes and solutions involved as well as key brand differentiators.

Example of a Business Case Study

You, along with a substantial client, worked together to develop a new feature in your software. This new feature improved data implementation and faster acceptance of software.

Before you begin to write, set clear expectations on what you want to accomplish in writing this case study. You can use a questionnaire to conduct a successful interview with your client, and pinpoint the “money shot” for the Business Case Study and write it into a compelling story.

All that is left to do is promote your Business Case Study, proof of brand, the value-add document for your sales team.

What can a Business Case Study Do For Your Sales Process?

1. Builds Brand Proof, Credibility Quickly
2. Shorten Sales Cycle
3. Advantage Over Competitors
4. Establish Brand Positioning
5. Effective Marketing and Sales Tools

Our Process In Developing The Content Marketing Program For Brand Leadership

• Client briefing, Goal Setting, Timeline
• Research or review background material, the purpose of the study
• Interview Case Study Participant and Client
• Outline, Draft and Write the case study, from 1K to 1.5K copy
• Work with graphic artists and other specialized partners, if applicable
• Create a campaign to promote your Business Case Studypplicable

Cecilia