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Content marketing, or, inbound marketing (whichever you prefer) is a growing challenge for many vendor marketers, and as the amount being spent on content continues to rise, it is imperative that content be used correctly at each stage of the decision journey. This week we examine 15 of the top content marketing types, how they apply to the stages of the decision journey, and how you can optimize the entire digital content sales and marketing process from end to end.

Blogging takes on many forms and has grown to be more than just a way of expressing thoughts. Blogging is still a relatively new form of media but has reached new heights over its roughly twenty years of existence. Initially, the concept of blogs was similar to an online diary, but now people have taken it from posting personal ideas to boosting company exposure.

So, everyone is using and/or moving towards the use of digital content marketing, but the success of this relatively new practice is highly variable, and many companies are missing the mark in specific areas. Making wins with content is conceptually very easy, it’s the creation that gets complicated. This week we’ll examine how to create content that is tailored to buyers at different stages of the sales funnel for an optimized sales process with a real sales enablement solution.

In today’s market, sales diminution is one of the critical issues that can cause a company to lose its foothold in the market. There are various facets because of which sales decline and whenever that happens, management’s top priority should be to identify the root cause and eliminate it. This week we examine the top 10 reasons sales can decline in the face of effective content marketing.

So you’ve secured a business. You’ve gotten that client to finally say "Yes, I am ready to buy". How exhilarated must you feel? All your hard work paid off. But before you close-off the sales process and spend your commission, remember that the sale only consummates the relationship, and the buyer’s relationship hasn't come close to ending. Are you stuck thinking; what now? Your CRM system holds the answer.

If you’re reading this and thinking “My CRM system won’t tell me that”, then not only is your CRM system being underutilized, your company is at risk of being a laggard of CRM integration.

The concept of the trust based relationship sales orientation is well established in sales. Old time strategies like pressure selling or canned selling have absolutely no relevancy. The trust based seller is consultative, and wants to help the buyer achieve their strategic priorities through the sales process.

Technology has exploded and given way to sales acceleration through various types of sales rep software, CRM systems, and etc. but something isn’t clicking. The state of the sales rep is in a continued trend of decline, and even with more time spent on sales preparation activities, the buyer is less satisfied than ever.

This begs the question; is the issue somewhere in the process? Or is there just a lack in real sales enablement software.

Behind the times,

Marketing and Sales have changed, in fact, they’ve evolved over the last generation. A lens of production volume and high quantity product movement is now marketing customer centricity and relationship selling. Yet, even with the huge shift from product/ion-centric to customer-centric, the flow of traffic has continued to be unidirectional.  

That is to say, Marketing is primarily focused on continually understanding the marketplace, refining a value proposition, and integrating communications to deliver that value. Sales receives MQLs generated from those communications, guides the leads through the sales process, and captures the final sale. End.

Now you see the problem… the two are operating like 18^th century firefighters, passing along buckets of water and showering it into the fire, hoping that more buckets will lead to more success. At no point does the information flow come full circle to let Marketing know about what is and isn’t working, leaving Sales to make do with what they receive. We call this a lack of sales and marketing alignment. 

Easier to find; harder to reach,

There was once a time when the only way to reach someone was by letter, phone, and in person. Today, finding someone has never been easier, you could throw their name into Google and probably get 2 social media hits, contact details, personal characteristics, job competencies, their network, and etc.

But with all the ease of access, it seems harder than ever to actually reach someone. Today’s buyer is significantly more fragmented, operating on several social media platforms, likely using multiple mobile devices with potentially several operating systems.

Oh, and did we forget to mention? They’re also more empowered as buyers!  Your trusted sales process is turned inside-out with the abundance of online information, allowing buyers to meet you for the first time yet be half way into your typical funnel. How can you manage this?

Does your sales process feels buried in marketing content?

We understand the confusion, you have more digital sales aids, more technology, more sales process, more sales content, etc. and everyone is telling you that it’s going to make everything easier and more streamlined when it comes to selling to your client.

But in reality, you’re spending less time actually doing your job -selling to clients- and more time sifting through what seems like endless reams of files for something valuable to use in your next sales call.

Who or what is to blame?

Manifesting dreams: it’s a topic tackled by motivational speakers, CEOs of startups, mystics, education professionals, marketing managers and beyond. How does something go from one great big idea to one great big success?