The document discusses the importance of creating and distributing relevant content to effectively engage B2B buyers and improve customer acquisition. It emphasizes the need for a solid content strategy that includes developing buyer personas, mapping content to the buying cycle, and ensuring content is easily accessible and shareable. Case studies highlight successful applications of these strategies by companies like BreakingPoint and Kadient, demonstrating significant increases in customer acquisition and the effectiveness of content marketing.

1. UNLEASH THE POWER OF CONTENT TO ENGAGE YOUR PROSPECTS May 5, 2010

2. Agenda Content Marketing The Drive to Deliver Relevant Content 8 Steps to a Solid Content Strategy Stephanie Tilton and Michele Linn How BreakingPoint Used Content to Increase New Customer Acquisition by 240% Pam O’Neal, VP Marketing, BreakingPoint How Kadient Built a Content Library that Maps to the Sales Cycle Amy Black, Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Kadient

3. It’s the End of the (B2B) World As We Know It Photo credit: zachwass2000 on flickr

4. The Disconnect…and the Implication Buyers only find relevant content 42% of the time. Source: IDG Communications The lack of relevant content as perceived by buyers is responsible for reducing the vendor's chance of closing the sale by 45% .

5. Almost 95% of recent purchasers said the solution provider they chose “ provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process.” The Opportunity… Source: DemandGen and Genius.com - Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer 66% of respondents indicated the “ consistent and relevant communication provided by both the sales and marketing organizations” was a key influence in choosing that company as their solution provider. Source: DemandGen Report and Genius.com

6. What Does that Mean to You? Photo credit: HansKristian on flickr

7. “ Create the kind of online content that your buyers naturally gravitate to.” David Meerman Scott Author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR Deliver Valuable, Relevant Content

8. Content Marketing is the Secret "Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience - with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” - Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett, Authors of Get Content. Get Customers.

9. Creating a Content Strategy Listen Develop buyer personas Map content to the buying cycle Think like a publisher Commit to remarkable content Extract maximum value from every asset Make your content easy to find, access, and share Measure 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

10. Google Alerts 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

11. Twitter 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

12. Google Blog Search 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

13. Understand Your Audience Forrester: For B2B Tech Companies, Demographics Shape Adoption Base: North American and European technology decision-makers at firms with 100 or more employees 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 Top 5 influences, application developer Top 5 influences, enterprise architect Peers and colleagues (word of mouth) Peers and colleagues (word of mouth) Vendor, industry trade, or professional Web sites Your direct vendor salesperson Technology or business publications, magazines Consultants, value-added resellers, or systems integrators Consultants, value-added resellers, systems integrators Vendor, industry trade, or professional Web sites Your direct vendor sales person Technology or business publications, magazines

14. Understand Your Audience 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 CIO Archetypes and Focus Function head – Achieving IT operational excellence Transformational leader – Creating enterprise-wide change Business strategist – Driving business strategy CIO Magazine: State of the CIO 2009

15. "a short biography of the typical customer, not just a job description but a person description.” Develop Buyer Personas “ The buyer persona profile gives you a chance to truly empathize with target buyers , to step out of your role as someone who wants to promote a product and see, through your buyers' eyes, the circumstances that drive their decision process.” 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

16. Bring Your Prospects to Life 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 CIO Joe, CIO Transformational Leader

17. Sample Persona 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

18. Map to the Buying Process 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

19. Understand Content Preferences 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

20. Understand Content Preferences Source: Aberdeen 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 Source: TechTarget 2009 Media Consumption Report: Mindset of the IT Pro During the Recession

21. Map to the Buying Cycle 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

22. Map Content 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

23. “ We tend to think of intimacy as being personal—something for the salespeople. But we can do it by reliably delivering valuable content. Magazines have been doing it for years. Consistency, relevance, and quality create a very intimate relationship with readers.” - Chris Koch, ITSMA Think Like a Publisher 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

24. Create an Editorial Calendar 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

25. Keys for the Editorial Calendar Be consistent DO: Deliver content on a regular basis DON’T: Publish only when you have something new Commit to your content DO: Think about the content your audience prefers DON’T: Try a lot of things but don’t do anything well Map out content DO: Move people through the buying cycle DON’T: String random pieces of content together 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

26. Craft Valuable, Relevant Content 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 Variables Considerations Target buyer Who is this for? Stage in buying cycle Where are they in the cycle? Topic What are the buyer’s concerns? Key message How can we address these concerns? Content source Who can provide information – employees, partners, customers, analysts? Call to action What do we want the prospect to do next? Remarkable traits What will make this worth sharing?

27. Example: Competitive Comparisons 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

28. Example: Shake Up Your Case Studies 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

29. Extract Maximum Value from Every Asset 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

30. Don’t . . . Customize content based on the channel (e.g. mobile) Ask “How can give my readers a new way of understanding a key issue?“ Include a plan to reuse content from the start Customize your content for a certain audience, vertical or place in the buying cycle Do . . . Simply put the same content in different channels Ask “What more can I create?” Consider content reuse as an afterthought Recycle the same content again and again Repurposing Content 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

31. Make Content Easy to Find, Access, and Share 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

32. Make Content Easy to Find 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

33. Make Content Easy to Access 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

34. Source: Ecollo Media 2009 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2 Make Content Easy to Share

35. Make Content Easy to Share 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

36. Measure the Impact Photo credit: Tyrone Shum on flickr 3 6 8 7 5 4 1 2

37. How BreakingPoint Leveraged Technical Content to Increase New Customer Acquisition by 240% Case Study Pam O’Neal Vice President of Marketing BreakingPoint Systems, Inc.

38. “ Do not interrupt what people are interested in; be what people are interested in.” Jeff Lanctot Avenue A | razorfish

39. Becoming Interesting

40. Developing Buyer Personae

41. Monitoring, Engaging, Prioritizing Mine for topics and opportunities (key influencers) Capture the conversation Analyze SEO keyword volume Monitor analytics to ID popular topics Identify and create content for buyer needs, issues Prioritize content by effort Identify opportunities

42. Speak to Your Buyers Create blog, forum, community Deliver role-based content Optimize for search Build community of interest Pull with “conversation” Pull with SEO, viral content Push with SEM, email Monitor popular content Maintain with fresh valuable information

43. Seek to be Found - SEO Content Aggregation Content Distribution “ Forget about your home page. Google is the new home page.”

44. Spread the Word Use Case Targeted Sales Presentations Membership in BreakingPont Group and Other Key Groups Monthly Webcast Promotions Key Messages and Thought Leadership Content

45. Integrate with Drip Marketing . . . .

46. Measure and Optimize Results LAUNCH PHASE LEADERSHIP PHASE Return Visitor Growth Sustained Growth in Inbound Leads Content Testing *

47. Building a Content Library that Maps to the Sales Cycle Case Study Amy Black Senior Marketing Communications Manager Kadient

48. A Little Background 1997 2007 2009

49. Cha-cha-cha-changes

50. Mapping Content to the Sales Cycle What’s your key objective for the piece? How else can you use it?

51. Kadient’s Content Library – A Sampling

52. Content Library: Top of Funnel /Lead Gen “ How to” – Impart practical knowledge Provocative – Challenge and introduce a new way to think Fresh format – eBook, conversation style, images, video

53. Content Library: Nurturing Entertain with relevant, attention-grabbing humor (also great for viral program)

54. Harness customer voices Highlight third party validation Content Library: Nurturing

55. Content Library: Lead to Opportunity Connect prospects with internal expertise

56. Content Library: Sales – Opportunity to Close Making the iron clad case Showing how Kadient is different and better Getting over the hurdles

57. A Few Parting Thoughts Remember who you are “talking” to Keep your key objective front and center Break through the clutter – stand out! Entertainment Provocative POVs Video – short, sweet and interesting Create content you can repurpose Listen to your sales team Pay attention to what is & isn’t working

58. Staying Connected Michele Linn, B2B Content Strategist, Linn Communications Connect: www.linkedin.com/in/michelelinn Follow: @MicheleLinn Contact: [email_address] Stephanie Tilton, Content Marketing Consultant, Ten Ton Marketing Connect: www.linkedin.com/in/tentonmarketing Follow: @StephanieTilton Contact: [email_address] Pam O’Neal, Vice President of Marketing, BreakingPoint Connect: www.linkedin.com/in/breakingpoint Follow: @poneal Contact: [email_address] Amy Black, Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Kadient Connect: http://www.linkedin.com/in/amyjblack Follow: @amyblack Contact: [email_address]