Success in Content Marketing campaigns boils do
wn to 4 keys. That’s it. Just 4. Do each of these on a consistent basis and you will get a steady stream of prospects. You also will convert them to hot prospects and buyers.
Focus on the Pain
The first is to focus on the pain your prospects have that your product or service will eliminate. This is not the problem you and your executive staff think they have.
It’s the problem which actually exists. The one preventing their company from achieving the success they desire. The one causing their management to lose sleep at night.
How do you find this problem? You don’t do it by assuming it is a problem for them because this is the one most probably your product or service would correct. You also don’t rely on what your competitors are saying. You have to do your own research.
You start by talking to your best customers. Find out the problem they had which led them to your product or service.
Next get help from your sales reps. Ask them what the prospects in their pipelines are saying their most pressing problems are now. If they don’t know, ask them to do an informal survey of the companies they’d like to sell and find out what these are.
Ask your reps who attend Trade Shows for help. Have them survey those interested people who approach your company’s booth. What pressing problems do their companies have with which they need help?
Also use industry dinners or events to gather information. Ask your people who attend these to survey people they talk to about their most pressing problems right now.
Articles in industry magazines or on the internet, webinars and other sources may also reveal the most pressing problems your prospects face.
Once you have information from all of these sources, take enough time to review it with your key people. Lay out how you are going to focus on the most pressing problems your prospects have. Then add in how your product or service can help them correct these quickly. Finally, develop a plan to show how your company is the best one to resolve this for your prospects.
Your Product or Service is the Best Solution
The second key is you need to show how your problem or service is the best one to eliminate this problem quickly. It would be foolish for them not to get it right now.
Here again – get the input from your best customers as well as people in your own company.
Boring Marketing Costs You Business
Third, your marketing pieces (White Papers, Case Studies, Articles, Emails, Webinars and so on) have to grab and hold your prospects’ attention. You may know the main problem keeping your prospects up at night. Your product or service may truly be the best one to resolve it. If your prospects fail to learn this because they don’t read the information you put out on it, you may lose them. They may buy from one from your competitors.
Focus on Those Companies
with These Problems
The last key is just as critical as the other 3. Identify those companies who have the problems your product or service eliminates. Target them specifically with your Content Marketing campaign. You can add cold prospects to a campaign. However, 50 to 75% of the companies you target should be those that need what you offer right now.
Put each of these in place right now. Start to get the business and make the sales you know your company can make.
