Ardath Albee is a B2B strategist & CEO of her firm, Marketing Interactions, Inc. She helps companies with complex sales use persona-driving content strategies to turn prospects into buyers and ensure that customers stay engaged. She’s the author of two books, Digital Relevance and eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale. Ardath has been voted one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in Sales and Lead Management for the last four years.. What Storytelling Means for B2B 1 82% of marketers are concerned about their ability to reach customers Research Now 1 in 2 Marketers don’t have enough ideas to fuel their content marketing. 95% believe creating and finding new, timely, and engaging content is one of their biggest challenges CMO Club: At the Speed of Life Less than 30% of buyers equate trustworthiness with vendor content. 2014 B2B Content Preferences Survey “A story is the only way to activate parts in the brain so that a listener turns the story into their own idea and experience.” Uri Hasson, Princeton neuroscientist How Personas Drive Stories 2 A persona is… …a composite sketch of a segment of your target market designed to help brands align with buyer’s needs and priorities to build engagement that results in a profitable relationship. Context Components •  A Day in the Life •  Objectives / Problems •  Orientation •  Obstacles •  Questions •  Preferences •  Keywords & Phrases •  Engagement Scenarios Objectives / Problems •  Content Personalization •  Monetization – ecommerce •  Optimize online experience •  Lack of Data •  Friction in payment process •  Unable to update in real time Why Storytelling Trumps Campaigns 3 Theme 1: Engagement Theme 2: Interactive Theme 3: Metrics What’s the Problem? The Prospect can’t do X because of Y. Campaigns are a Company Construct 61% of buyers agreed that the winning vendor delivered a be er mix of content appropriate for each stage of the purchasing process. 2014 Buyer Behavior Survey Figure 10.2 | Digital Relevance Stories Create Momentum Hero (Buyer) Has Problem (Big Question) Seeks Solution (Decides to Take Action) Lacks Expertise (Small Questions asked at each stage) Encounters Obstacles ! (What if…?) Learns from Mentor (You) Gains Consensus (Climax) Achieves Resolution (Chooses to Buy) What payoffs can we achieve with a more personalized approach to our website content? Personalized content is viewed with higher relevance, which results in higher engagement and conversions. Find out about the top 5 things CIOs want from a WCM http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Relevance-Developing-Marketing-Strategies/dp/1137452803 2015 KISSmetrics Guide KISSmetrics Demo h p://kiss.ly/growth h p://kiss.ly/demo

1. Ardath Albee, CEO & B2B Strategist, Marketing Interactions, Inc.
The Art & Science of
Persona-Driven Storytelling
April 2015 Presentation

2. @thuelmadsen#KISSwebinar
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3. Ardath Albee – Marketing Interactions - @ardath421
Ardath Albee is a B2B strategist & CEO of her firm, Marketing
Interactions, Inc. She helps companies with complex sales use
persona-driving content strategies to turn prospects into buyers
and ensure that customers stay engaged. She’s the author of two
books, Digital Relevance and eMarketing Strategies for the
Complex Sale. Ardath has been voted one of the Top 50 Most
Influential People in Sales and Lead Management for the last four
years.
Thue Madsen - KISSmetrics - @ThueLMadsen
Thue is the KISSmetrics Webinar Wizard and Marketing Ops
Specialist. Before joining forces with KISSmetrics, he was a Ly
driver in SF, which is also how he ended up as a KISSmetrics
marketer.
Whenever Thue is not trying to automate everything around
him, you can find him fishing and hiking in the Sierras.

4. @ardath421 #KISSwebinar
Join the conversation on Twi er

5. 1 Section One – What Storytelling Means for B2B
Context
Components
Conflict
Conversions
2 Section Two – How Personas Drive Stories
3 Section Three – Why Storytelling Trumps Campaigns
Table of Contents
4 Section Four – Conversational Competence

6. WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING NOW

7. What Storytelling Means
for B2B
1

8. 82% of marketers are concerned about their ability to
reach customers ResearchNow

9. 1 in 2 Marketers don’t have enough
ideas to fuel their content marketi
ng.
Kapost | Content Ideas

10. 95% believe creating and
finding new, timely, and
engaging content is one
of their biggest
challenges
CMO Club: At the Speed of Life

11. Less than 30% of buyers
equate trustworthiness with
vendor content.
2014 B2B Content Preferences Survey

12. “A story is the only way to activate parts in the
brain so that a listener turns the story into their
own idea and experience.”
Uri Hasson, Princeton neuroscientist

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14. How Personas Drive
Stories
2

15. A persona is…
…a composite sketch of a segment of your
target market designed to help brands align
with buyer’s needs and priorities to build
engagement that results in a profitable
relationship.

16. Context

17. Components
• A Day in the Life
• Objectives / Problems
• Orientation
• Obstacles
• Questions
• Preferences
• Keywords & Phrases
• Engagement Scenarios

18. Helen, VP of eCommerceMy team has worked really hard on our website. It looks amazing, but just when
we think we’re done, consumer preferences shi again. Traditional marketing
seemed so much more predictable than the digital channels in use today. But
that’s not all that’s changed. My executive board wants metrics for our marketing
initiatives that tie to business objectives and new markets with demonstrable
revenue streams.
The analysts say that personalization and dynamic publishing are the path to
consumer engagement, but I’m not sure the best way to do that. Mitch is doing his
best, but the tools we have today aren’t cu ing it. Making this more difficult,
Charles is really proud of the system his team has worked to evolve over the last 7
years. Unfortunately, it’s not scaling well for what we need now. Every time he
sees me coming, he knows I want something else. I think he’s starting to avoid me.
Consumer preferences are driving the industry and if we don’t keep ahead of what
they want, they’ll go somewhere else. In fact, I hate to admit it, but they already
are. We’ve got to reverse that trend. I’m working really hard to try and get my
digital expertise up to speed, but I’m afraid I’ll make the wrong choice. I really
need a vendor who’ll help me get there and look good while I’m learning.
Alan is a godsend, but I’m afraid he’s going to leave if I don’t give him the tools he
needs to do his job be er. We need to be able to create more immersive and
interactive experiences that help us grow reach and build loyalty that translates
into business value. Waiting on IT adds too much time. We need more control.
Changing systems is going to be a huge undertaking. Not just on our side, but for
IT as well. I need a credible vendor who puts their money where their mouth is—
a er the contract gets signed.
A Day in the Life

19. Objectives / Problems
• Content Personalization
• Monetization – ecommerce
• Optimize online experience
• Lack of Data
• Friction in payment proces
s
• Unable to update in real ti
me
Helen, VP of eCommerce
Helen needs to transform her company’s
website to create “stickier” engagement t
hat leads to higher conversions and reve
nue.

20. Questions Create Links to
Build the Buyer’s Story
Why should I care?
Why isn’t my workaround good enough?
What will happen if I do nothing?
What are my competitors doing?
What do the experts say?
What are best practices?
What are my choices?
Who has the expertise to help?
What’s the payoff?
What else does it impact?
What if something goes sideways?
How can I be sure you’re the best
choice?

21. Engagement Scenario
Buyer clicks link
in Tweet
Lands on
featured article
on website
Clicks link to
white paper
mentioned
Downloads white
paper and clicks
on link to blog
post
Reads blog post,
subscribes and
Tweets link to
post
Sees webinar on
related topic
promoted in blog
feed
Registers to
a end webinar
Asks a great
question at the
end
You follow up
with the answer
and conversation
begins

22. Conflict
Where’s the Trouble?

23. Conversions
At each step along the
way…
What should your buye
r do next?

24. Why Storytelling Trumps
Campaigns
3

25. Campaigns

26. T1 T1 T1 T2 T2 T2 T3 T3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Theme 1: Engagement Theme 2:
Interactive
Theme 3: Metrics
What’s the Problem? The Prospect can’t do X because of Y.
Campaigns are a Company Construct

27. 61% of buyers agreed that the winning vendor delivered a
be er mix of content appropriate for each stage of the
purchasing process.
2014 Buyer Behavior Survey
Figure 10.2 | Digital Relevance

28. Stories Create Momentum
Hero (Buyer)
Has Problem (Big
Question)
Seeks Solution
(Decides to Take
Action)
Lacks Expertise
(Small Questions
asked at each
stage)
Encounters
Obstacles !
(What if…?)
Learns from
Mentor (You)
Gains Consensus
(Climax)
Achieves
Resolution
(Chooses to Buy)
Figure 15.1 from Digital Relevance

29. Conversational
Competence
4

30. Conversational Competence
Providing experiences that are fluid,
easy to follow and highly relevant.

31. What payoffs can we
achieve with a more
personalized approach
to our website
content?
Personalized content is viewed
with higher relevance which
results in higher engagement
and conversions. Here’s why…
Why is a WCM be er
than the CMS we use
now?
Because unstructured content
allows for customized displays
created in real-time based on
individual user parameters…
How do I talk to my
CIO about the
solution? What will he
care most about?
Find out about the top 5
things CIOs want from a
WCM…
Helen Your Content

32. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Relevance-Developing-Marketing-Strategies/dp/1137452803

33. 2015 KISSmetrics Guide KISSmetrics Demo
h p://kiss.ly/growth h p://kiss.ly/demo

34. Questions?
Ardath Albee
CEO
Marketing Interactions
@ardath421
ardath@marketinginteractions.com
Thue Madsen
Marketing Operations Specialist
KISSmetrics
@ThueLMadsen
tmadsen@kissmetrics.com

35. THANK YOU
Ardath Albee
@ardath421