{"id":2297,"date":"2015-06-02T18:40:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T18:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\/?p=2297"},"modified":"2015-09-17T17:18:31","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:18:31","slug":"content-marketing-that-converts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/buyingfacilitation.com\/blog\/content-marketing-that-converts\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Marketing that Converts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cContent is king\u201d. I\u2019ve heard that phrase for years. But what does it mean? Does it mean that by offering thought-provoking, useful, creative information buyers will be motivated to contact you at the right time along their complete (including pre-sales) decision path? By sending out veiled advertising in the form of \u2018articles\u2019 to random email addresses you can convert readers to action? How is \u2018conversion\u2019 defined \u2013 opening the email? Making a purchase that can be directly tracked back to the email?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the problems.<\/p>\n

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  1. Wrong Time: Content is useful only at the time it\u2019s needed and won\u2019t be opened otherwise, even if your solution is needed later. Even when offering options, research, or educational benefits, your content currently targets the activity of product\/vendor selection; you miss key opportunities to enter earlier, during the buyer\u2019s necessary pre-sales activities \u2013 assembling the correct Buying Decision Team members, sorting out change issues and responsibilities, getting consensus, etc. \u2013 to become a true trusted advisor and support partner.\u00a0Imagine offering the type of content that drives buyers during every decision and pre-sales activity<\/a>. Then you\u2019ve part of the solution, every step of the way, as they approach a final purchase. And they trust you.<\/li>\n
  2. Wrong People: You get a 1% (or less) conversion rate because your missive connects with only those whose email addresses you have and, even if they might eventually be part of a Buying Decision Team, who consider it spam. It\u2019s possible to offer content that readers seek out because it\u2019s vital to their path toward excellence.<\/li>\n
  3. Wrong Focus: Content is often merely an ad vaguely concealed as an \u2018article\u2019. Buyers know this. It\u2019s possible to use content to facilitate the non-solution-focused consensus and change issues readers must attend to as they ready themselves to make a purchase.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The way you\u2019re doing it now<\/p>\n