More Truths About Using Content Marketing For Customer Engagement

More Truths About Using

Content Marketing For

Customer Engagement

Ryan Skinner, Senior Analyst

April 24, 2014

@rskin11

Agenda

› Introduction: Challenges To B2B Marketing

› Content Marketing Answers The Challenge

› Introducing A Framework For Content Positioning

› Applying The Framework To Create Awareness

› Applying The Framework To Promote Consideration

› Parting Recommendations

Agenda

Buyers’ relationship with information changed: They now seek out certain kinds of content

Our communications carry a big burden

Buyer’s information gathering

Sales contact

Marketing’s been disrupted

› Content and communications carry a greater share of

the B2B marketing and sales burden than ever before.

› Storylines are decreasingly controlled by the business

and increasingly created between business and the

customer.

› Messages have to work their magic in a maddeningly

growing universe of user-driven contexts.

› Branded messages are no longer permanent; they are

very, very ephemeral.

How does content marketing address these disruptions?

› Reciprocation: By creating value, we earn the right to

influence schedules and reach across channels.

› Grooming prospects: By forming prospects in our

image, we get more customer-shaped objects to the

› Message liquidity: Valuable branded content can be

repackaged and redelivered at zero/low cost.

› Proxy salespeople: Earned media turns anyone into a

star salesman for our business, at no cost.

Create the foundations for the relationship

Customer

Different content for different objectives

Engagement content

Nurture content

Customer

Agenda

Value in content as common denominator

Relevant: Up-to-date, outcome-oriented, and a clear

point of view

Useful/applicable: Something people can use

immediately

Generous: Give away insights and resources

Empathetic: Centered on the experience of the

customers and their reality

Obsessing over customer desires

Interviews

Listening

Research

The struggle to earn attention

Engagement content

Nurture content

Objectives

• Awareness

• Inspiration

• Commitment

Customer

The struggle to earn attention

Engagement content

Nurture content

Objectives

• Awareness/noise (“I can’t hear you or see you.”)

• Inspiration/credibility (“I don’t believe you.”)

• Commitment/timing (“OK, but not now.”)

Customer

We have to earn our way up the value chain

Dir. Dir. Dir.

Empower customers to tell your story

Brainshark set up an

advocacy program

with Influitive to

encourage its best

customers to share its

content.

Result: 2x activity in

social channels and

4x customers acting

as references.

Reach out to influencers and cooperate

• What are the most interesting topics to you?

• What do you think about X?

• Recruitment for blog posts, webinars, and more

Deliver truthful (if uncomfortable) observations

This presentation is at

200,000 views and

climbing on

Slideshare.

Confrontation and

revelation earn

credibility.

Look for low competition areas or high-value resources/angles

Topic A Topic B Topic C Topic D Topic E Topic F Topic G Topic H

Expert

EXTERNAL CONTENT AUDIT

INTERNAL CONTENT AUDIT

Originality in terms of format and voice will give critical impact

Deliver value directly in the channel where you meet audience

Link + intro Landing page Form fill Value

Build awareness in the space based on context and psychographics

More a call-to-action

based on how

marketers feel than a

clear approach to a

persona.

Invest in distribution for proven engagement successes

Find the right balance between frequency and depth

SPEED x RELEVANCE

Take risks. Measure outcomes. Adjust as necessary.

Failures Failures >

Agenda

Turn a known audience quantity into leads and sales

Engagement content

Nurture content

Objectives

1. Consideration

2. Referral

3. Registration

Customer

Turn a known audience quantity into leads and sales

Engagement content

Nurture content

Objectives

1. Consideration/competition (“These other guys . . .”)

2. Referral/doubt (“But am I exposing myself?”)

3. Registration/hesitancy (“There’s no hurry.”)

Customer

Create tools that push customers forward on their journey

Build thought leadership to frame discussions

Provide a rigorously

researched, executive-

friendly argument for

change.

Build thought leadership to frame discussions

Gather raw data and

analyze it to help

prospects make data-

driven decisions.

Use personalization and retargeting technologies to push interactions intelligently

content

retargeting

B2B content

personalization

Capturing leads is the wrong metaphor for leading an opt-in relationship

Give us your email

address, then we can talk. you@junk-email.com

Liked that? We’ll let you

know when the next

comes.

you@email.com

Agenda

Parting recommendations

1. Start any content marketing strategy with customer

research.

2. Lean in to the customers’ scepticism (i.e., their BS

detectors).

3. Help other people tell your story.

4. Maintain pace and relevance to remain on top of the

agenda.

Remember: the foundation of the proxy relationship

Forrester Content Marketing Resources

› View part 1 of this webinar series

› Watch the video webinar of this content

› Look through Forrester’s B2B content marketing

solutions

Thank you

Ryan Skinner

+44 207.323.7717

@rskin11

rskinner@forrester.com

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