the content pinch point in b2b marketing
TRANSCRIPT
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The Content Pinch Point
Presented by Billy Hamilton-Stent, Director, Octopus Group
http://bit.ly/TechHeads15
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Running order
• Research overview
• Key insights
• Learnings since ‘the pinch’
• Case study
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Research overview
402 key decision makers
responsible for choosing and
purchasing products and services
for their company completed a
survey during
Q4 2015
Conducted by Loudhouse Research
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The Content Pinch Point
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Have we reached 'peak' time?
Time spent each week information gathering
Following reading
industry news &
developments
Researching specific
products / services /
suppliers
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Almost half of buyers say they’re taking longer to make purchase decisions and on-board new
suppliers / services than 2014
Extended decision cycles
We take less time to make
decisions and on-board new
products/services/partners
We take longer to make
decisions and on-board new
products/services/partners
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Information gathering
influences supplier
shortlisting / selection for
93% of buyers
57% rely more
on content to inform
purchase decisions
than a year ago
Increased appetite for content
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The purchase pinch point
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Audience differentiators
15 wks
Those with increased
budgets in 201662%
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So what?
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A pinch is a wake-up call
• Under the new rules emerging from the Pinch Point
research, you have to be more ‘relevant’ than ever
• To do inbound marketing REALLY well, you have to
re-think your strategy
• Great content is a magnet, a differentiator and a relationship
• Relevance is mostly about insight, simplicity and timing
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Three content questions, post ‘pinch’
Process
How difficult do we
want to make this?
Buyer
When do we build
the time machine?
Audience
When does a browser
become a buyer?
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When is a browser a buyer?
• Open-minded, undecided
• 80%+ of your traffic
• Easily taken away or distracted
• 6-9 months from purchase
• More open to brand influence
• More likely to share, refer to other
browsers
“I have a
business
problem”
“I need new
accountancy
software”
• Direct, mind made-up
• Ready to approach
• (-)20% of your traffic
• Competitor literate
• Seeking assurance, proof
• More open to direct approach
• In a hurry
Even the most enlightened
B2B content campaigns
tend to invest most of their
time on Barry…even
though they THINK they
are targeting Brenda
We like sure things!
IT Browser Brenda IT Buyer Barry
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How difficult do we want to make this?
• Death of a thousand variables
• Content marketing has a default switch
set to ‘complicated’
• Software can make ‘gods’ of very normal marketers
• Businesses tend to start complicated and fail
• Start simple and build complexity into a
campaign over time
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When do we build the time machine?
• Most organisations want a time machine
• Great lead gen is the result of long-term investment
• Patience is not a common commodity in sales or marketing
• But you can distort time with the right tools:
• Themes that have a long shelf life
• Content that can be slow-burn and ‘snackable’
• Proactive touchpoints with sales / education
• ‘Vitamin shots’ to show early wins
• Always aligning to strategic sales goals
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Case Study
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Case study: A post-pinch punch!
• Tech service provider
• 500 employees
• Recent IPO
• Growing ahead of industry rate
• Disruptive technology in the sector
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All the tools in place…but
Underperforming on pipeline. Marketing out
of step with salesKPIs / ROI
Hubspot / Salesforce integration, lead scoring
MQL / SQLAUTOMATION
High cadence schedule of ToFU / MoFU /
BoFU content and social amplificationCONTENT
Segmentation by company size, names,
profiles and needsPERSONAS
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A change in direction needed
15% increase in traffic volume. 30% increase in MQLs. 45% increase in
SQLs. Over six months. No increase in content expenditure. KPIs / ROI
Simplification of automation processes to reflect persona and content
changes. Fastflow / slowflow workflows.AUTOMATION
Clearer messaging, stronger thematic consistency. Persona-first.
Browser-led. Less volume, more quality. CONTENT
Insight-led development of sales personas. ‘Needs-based segmentation’.
More detail, less people.PERSONAS
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Looking ahead
• Introducing more personas, more sophistication
• Marketing investment aligned to personas
• Sales buy-in to inbound processes
• More to do on Enterprise
• More communication on timings, expectations
and alignment
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The Content Pinch PointThe Content Pinch Point
http://bit.ly/TechHeads15