How to Jump Start Sales Productivity with Content Marketing
Challenges: New Buyer Cycle
Marketing Sales
Source: Sales Benchmark Institute
Challenges: Sales Content
• 40% time spent looking/creating content
• 1 hr/week = $300k more per year
• Inconsistency of message
Sources: CMO Council, IDC
Content Marketing: Beyond SEO & Awareness
Sales Training
Prepare and Train
Positioning for target audiences
Benefit statements
Testimonials and case studies
Source: Marketo
88This presentation contains confidential information of Salary.com
Profile: • Organization size: Over 750 FTE’s
• Sales buying role: Decision maker or heavy Influencer, user
• Title: Comp Analyst
• Reports to: VP HR (smaller firm) or VP/Dir Comp (1000 FTE+ sized firm)
• Characteristics/motivation/personality: – HR person who is analytical, proactive, provides analysis and not just data.
– Has a stronger relationship with finance than with the person being paid.
– In a smaller organization, he’s a comp program planner, designer, developer, implementer, provides program support. In larger organization, focused on data/analysis only and his boss will be the program planner, designer, etc.
– Has peers but few reports, if any. Peers are comp analysts who focus on a unit or group (exempt/non exempt, sales/execs, international) or region.
• Where they gather, what they read: He looks for opportunities to self-educate, WorldAtWork. Gathers best practices and does not want to reinvent the wheel
Persona: Andy Analyzer
99This presentation contains confidential information of Salary.com
Persona: Andy Analyzer
Salary.com Impact• Perception of Salary.com: Questions the validity of the data and
the methodology, the sources. Asks the RIGHT questions
• Data sources : Various surveys
• Which solutions to propose: – CAMD
– CompAnalyst Full Suite
• How they use our solution: Will use all features including creating salary structures.
• Our value add: We meet/exceed their need for real reporting and for making comparisons/modeling.
• Key Messages:– Highly reliable, updated data combined with software to make it easy to
market price, stay competitive and not overpay
– Time saving, modeling and analysis tools designed by certified compensation professionals using comp best practices. Ensures accuracy, internal pay equity. Helps you model costs and scenarios so you can make smarter decisions, back up your proposals with data and reports.
– Low implementation time/costs compared to consulting firms. More analysis and time saving features than lower tier competitors.
Sykes – Sales Training
Success Tips
Get buy-in from sales managementGet Sales involvedRun training sessionsSales methodology
Sales Content for Great Sales Conversations
Prospecting and Social Selling
Sales Communications Later in the Cycle
5 Characteristics of Sales Content Effectiveness
Sales Content Effectiveness: Actionable
Captures attentionA new idea or insight
Shows subject matter expertise
Easy to consume and share
Has a call to action
Sales Content Effectiveness: Reusable
• Can it be used for internal sales teams and channels?
• Viewed and shared across any device?• Can it be personalized by sales reps?• Can it be easily updated?
Sales Content Effectiveness: Targetable
• Map to personas
• Provide for every stage of the sales cycle
• Tag to identify when to use
Sales Content Effectiveness: Findable
• Organized in one repository• Catalogued, searchable• Versioned
Sales Content Effectiveness: Trackable
• Is the content being used?• By whom?• When?• How much?• Alerts
• Is it engaging?• Is it converting?
Also track training content
3 Ways to Maximize Your Sales Content
Reengineer Your Content Production Process
Put someone in charge
Reengineer so it’s actionable and reusable.
Reorganize Your Sales Content
Target to personas and stages in sales cycle
Architect it so it works across programs, channels, devices
gCreate an editorial calendar
Systemize content targeting, delivery and measurement
Consolidate, catalog, target, update, approve, and manage your content assets
Implement tracking to measure usage, conversion, and training
Thank You!
Resources:
http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com/ Sign up and get the research
Whitepapers, videos and more http://www.brainshark.com/campaigns/sales-communications-resourc
es.aspx
Thought Leadership Selling blog http://www.thoughtleadershipselling.com/
Brainshark blog http://www.brainshark.com/ideas-blog.aspx
@pcrerar