The Changing Approach to Marketing

As we move into 2011, there are several areas of BtoB marketing where rapid changes are turning into opportunities for more effective marketing. Technology has transformed what we know as the sales lifecycle to be far more measurable than in the past. This calls for new tactics, enhanced by the emergence of a true revenue funnel.

New Buyer Behavior

Thanks to technology, buyers have changed the way they buy. More often than not, prospects have researched your solution online before even thinking about interacting with a salesperson. But what has also become available is far more sophisticated technology to track and measure prospect behavior.  With this in mind, campaigns can be designed based on an increasing quantity of far more accurate information throughout the sales lifecycle.

Content Is King

In order for your content to be effective in the mix you have chosen from website, email, online campaigns, etc., your content should offer:

• Added value to your message
  
  Each content asset should contain an essential idea that the prospect takes away from the piece. This is the compelling idea that helps them visualize the information as applied to their specific situation. You want to give them targeted content that is relevant and specific to their concerns.

• A progressive call to action

This is not a request for a sales rep to call them, but an offer of extended information that the prospect will find valuable given the content they’ve just seen. When each content asset is assigned with a takeaway and a progressive call to action, you have the ability to use marketing automation to monitor the results from each piece and refine as needed to create the momentum necessary to turn prospects into buyers.

Without both, your prospects will have to expend a lot of effort to determine what to do next. Based on today’s short attention spans, and the many choices that buyers have at their fingertips, you want to make it easy for your prospect to take the next step. In other words, make ‘Yes’ the easy answer!

The Relationship Building Approach

Lead ‘nurturing’ programs are working to keep prospects engaged. And as technology continues to facilitate buyer behavior, the value to relationship building grows as well.

Put simply, it’s a relationship building multi-media approach: A strategy that involves continually reaching out to prospects with relevant, high value content, often using automated marketing software alongside a CRM database. 

With an effective program in place, organizations are more likely to improve relationships, maintain front-of-mind awareness, limit the loss of potential customers and accelerate sales conversions.