The future of sales and demand lies in self-service content. Is your content marketing program ready?
Buyers continue to want control over this process long before they connect with a sales rep.
“At least half, perhaps more, of B2B buyers prefer self-directed experiences,” said Ardath Albee, CEO of Interactive Marketing, in a presentation at Content Marketing World in September. “They wanted to do their own research. They don't think they need any help from the seller. ”
But they come to a problem – too much information. Worse, she said, a 2019 Gartner Survey note, only 9% said that the content they encountered from the provider was sufficient.
Content marketers can help buyers find the content themselves they need to make a buying decision. But they may be going the wrong way.
“We really needed to make the transition from marketing campaigns to buyer-driven experiences,” said Ardath.
# B2B buyers want to do their own research. That means it's time to move from marketing-driven campaigns to buyer-driven content experiences, @ardath said 421 via @CMIContent @Semrush. #CMWorld Click to Tweet
To help you move towards a buyer-led experience, we gathered advice from two Content Marketing World speakers: Ardath and Marcus Sheridan, president of IMPACT.
Build a flow of buyer-led content
In the traditional approach, the sales process triggers the minute a potential buyer fills out a form for controlled content. They then receive a flood of emails or phone calls offering demos or requesting a meeting.
But potential customers are often not ready for that. They may not have assembled the stakeholders involved in the purchase, and they may not know the outcome they want. So potential customers ignore outreach because it's not helpful to their interests and goals.
The buyer-led approach recognizes that potential customers want to solve their problems or needs in the least disruptive way. “We tend to market with the assumption that everyone is already a buyer in the market, and they are not,” explains Ardath. “There is a whole change management process that needs to happen and we can help them do that.”
How? Get involved in solving their problems by helping them:
- Identify stakeholders
- Determine what disruption the solution will cause
- Determine how to make compromises to move the purchasing process forward.
Because when they choose a supplier, your brand is already involved in their process.
Participate in resolving buyer issues. By the time they're ready to make a decision, your brand and #content are already part of their process, @ardath said 421 via @CMIContent @Semrush. #CMWorld Click to post a Tweet
“We need to let them drive. We need to allow them to be in control and we need to help them accomplish what they need to do,” Ardath said.
Buyers oriented to content strategy Ardath says, consists of four components:
Context
Build value with create content based on the desired outcome of the potential client. Focus your content on helping them complete the steps in their quest to solve their problem. Help buyers understand the questions to ask and simplify access to the right information to answer those questions.
Selection
Help buyers decide to continue with their current solution or change. Guide them through options to minimize change-related disruption, etc. Support by making it easier for them to complete their research and purchase process.
Conversation
Make sure the conversations – the exchange of information – take place on the terms of the buyer. Focus on information they want, not the information your brand wants to post back. For example, the act of filling out a form is not related to a conversation, but the subject of the content they visited could be. Keep the conversation going by providing them with follow-ups that are relevant to their behavior and what they were involved in.
Confidence
Help buyers feel confident about their choice. Give them what they need to make an informed recommendation or decision, even if that choice isn't ultimately your product or service. Prioritize being a trusted source over your brand.
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Operating in a world without merchants
Marcus Sheridan, president of IMPACT, agrees: “Buyers are forcing sellers, salespeople and marketers to change. ”
He points to three B2B trends that indicate that:
- Buyers are 80% of the buying cycle before they join an organization
- 33% of all buyers prefer a sellerless selling experience (44% of millennials), according to Gartner
- 70 to 80% of buyers say they like it self-service digital and remote human engagement through face-to-face interactions, according to McKinsey
That means, says Marcus, you should embrace the self-service model that buyers want and take control of them. Marcus pointed at Yale Appliance has become the most visited device website in the world, as an example of a company that offers excellent self-scheduling and self-selection.
Buyers are forcing sellers, salespeople and marketers to change, @TheSalesLion says. That means #content according to your needs needs to adopt self-service model via @CMIContent @Semrush. #CMWorld Click to Tweet
Self-scheduling
Visitors and prospects want the ability to schedule time with your sales team or someone else in the company without having to talk to one person to create an appointment.
On the Yale website, people can choose their preferences for a showroom visit, video call, live chat, or order online:
Elective
When buyers click down on the link, they can choose which Yale team member they want to work with. They can choose based on who is available when they are available, but Yale goes further. It includes sales rep name, headshot, bio, availability:
The Yale Appliance CEO told Marcus the elective closing rate was 62 percent higher and the average revenue was $4,000 per scheduled appointment compared with $2,000 Marcus said: average per customer visit.
“Give visitors the ability to make important decisions by guiding them to conclusions,” says Marcus.
Self-valuation
Marcus' fiberglass swimming pool business offers a different kind of buyer-driven experience: pricing self. Self-pricing does not mean that the buyer determines the actual price. Instead, it involves guiding buyers through options to create the product they need and see the actual price or range of pricing.
A self-assessment tool on Marcus's page asks what shape of bucket the visitor wants, then returns the selected bucket with details about the base plan. Buyer can click on any aspect to understand details. They can choose to upgrade and compare. Finally, the pool location will show other cost considerations (such as hidden costs associated with construction).
The self-pricing experience gives buyers the big picture of a swimming pool project, and it's been a huge hit. About a few hundred wholesalers per day completed the form over the summer. It's a cash cow magnet that works because it gives buyers the power to determine price, says Marcus.
It's the buyer's world
These ideas from Ardath and Marcus make a great case (and helpful tips) for transforming your traditional content marketing, marketing, and sales for buyer-led futures.
Buyers will remain in control. The only choice you have is whether you are willing to follow their lead.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
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