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Content Marketing in 2021

In 2021, companies are focusing their content marketing strategy on consistently engaging their audience (customers) with useful content and not just simply promoting their products and services. They are transforming their marketing strategy and operating like a media company by taking an audience-first approach. They are no longer reliant on only buying their customer’s attention through advertising, and “selling in” to the customer with only value propositions.

Welcome to the Age of Content Marketing

We no longer need a middleman in the form of an old-guard trade/media publisher that sells access to a “rented audience” through advertising. Fortunately, companies now have the strategy, tools and knowledge to go direct and build a platform.

The purpose of Content Marketing is to build a long-term relationship with your audience through consistent delivery of helpful and problem solving content. This puts marketing in the driver’s seat to teach when prospects/customers are in learning mode. A consistent Content Marketing model forms the basis of establishing trust and credibility and can be the best illustration of an organization’s commitment to its customers.

Struggling with Content Marketing Adoption? Take the Bottom Up Approach

Top down (content) marketing strategies often fail to gain adoption of the sales team and sales-centric organizations. The perception is that marketing lacks practical front-line insights from the buyer. While starting with strategy and mission statement is common, organizations can achieve a similar outcome and more buy-in by driving the strategy development process inspired from the bottom of the funnel.

3 Steps to Develop a Bottom Up Approach

1. Build a database of client (audience) wins and success stories
2. Publish case studies of your best work with a focus on how results were created for your target audience
3. With laser focus on your target audience (ideal clients), develop a Content Marketing strategy and mission statement inspired by your proven successes from steps 1 and 2

Not only is this strategy rooted in proven success (to be loved/adored/adopted by the sales team), this approach creates a self-selecting inbound model which attracts more ideal clients and the content can be tied more closely to actual revenue.

Benefits of the Bottom Up Approach to Content Marketing Include

• Super-tight alignment with sales and operations
• Implementation of a “marketing led sales strategy” where inbound governs outbound
• Gets the sales team involved in (video) content creation and production
• Drives adoption and collaboration (and pride) across the organization
• Breaks the perception that marketing is detached from the ground level reality
• Helps the sales team know when to teach and when to sell

A Resource-driven Sales Enablement Model

The days of volumetric and value proposition prospecting are over. Effective prospecting teams use content (aligned to the buyers’ journey) as a resource to engage prospects and customers. By mining the digital signals, effective sales organizations can better understand when to teach and when to sell.

Want to learn more about our methods to drive results? Please contact us.