Content marketing has been a commonly known practice in the last decade. Companies have recruited writers and chief content officers to manage offices, develop blogs and other materials, and some have told salespeople in the process that the end of cold calling will mean content marketing.
The playbook sounds easy: attract prospects with content relevant to each stage of their purchase journey and expand deals that inspire them for a demo or conversation to contact your sales team. This should be a cost-effective tool for online technologies and targeted lists to separate the offenders from the prospects, accelerate consumer conversion through the sales funnel, and, equally importantly, maximise' data-driven marketing 'by tying each piece of content to metrics such as opening, viewing, downloading, and so on.
But as Churchill reportedly said after Gallipoli, "You have to look at the results occasionally, however beautiful the strategy." Consider: blog production by brands has increased over 800 per cent in the past five years, but blog organic social share has decreased by 89 per cent and 90 per cent of interaction is obtained by around 5 per cent of the content. "Sales representatives never use an estimated 70% of the content produced by marketing and a comparable percentage of the leads generated vanish into a 'sales lead black hole.' And despite the repeated "data-driven" mantra, there is conflicting advice on which content marketing metrics imply progress, as well as several blithe statements about best, practises in this field.
Brand blog production has increased over 800 per cent in the past five years, but blog organic social share has decreased by 89 per cent and 90 per cent of interaction is obtained by around 5 per cent of the content. Sales reps never use an estimated 70% of the content generated by marketing, and a similar percentage of the leads generated vanish into a 'sales lead black hole.'
On DocSend's website, we analysed 34 million interactions between customers and content, which enables sales organisations to upload and exchange documents with prospects. The outcome is empirical evidence and a strong starting point to explore key aspects of any content marketing initiative: how much time prospects currently spend on content, on which devices, when, and the type of content they prefer.
1 You have less than 3 minutes to create an impression of an ideal duration.
It's no secret that customers are bombarded with notifications and that the problem has been worsened by the internet. That probably explains why the average content viewing time is two minutes and 27 seconds respectively. Prospects make several quick-fire decisions during that brief time, including whether or not they will progress to the next stage. In comparison, many sellers need to exchange loads of data with prospects to inspire the actions of the desired buyer.
Our data suggest that, relative to the content of longer duration, you can do your utmost to get that data into documents that are 2-5 pages. First-time prospects spend more time looking at of document page and are more likely to display it all. Case studies, overviews and manuals, e-books, and ideas are included in documents uploaded to DocSend's website. (Keep in mind that more data might be needed for prospects further along their purchase journey.)
Our data also shows that outside of the usual work week, prospects read most of the marketing and sales collateral. If initially engaged, a prospect frequently returns for a longer stay on the weekend to read a piece on Wednesday. This represents an important purchasing fact of the 21st century that often obscures pipeline metrics: increasing numbers of buyers do not travel sequentially through a funnel; rather, they follow parallel streams to discover, analyse, and interact with people in content and sales. Buying is a continuous and complex process, and it is important to adjust content types, formats and sequencing.
2 Mobile is important but overhyped.
A certain folk knowledge about crafting content for the mobile buyer has been created by the proliferation of smartphones, iPads, and other devices. But our data shows that it usually makes sense, at the top of the funnel, to optimise content for viewing on various formats and devices. In addition, a vast number of prospects view sales content on desktop computers, not smartphones, until a lead is handed over to sales and becomes an opportunity.
For advertisers, these results have actionable consequences. Desktop devices remain very relevant, such that excessive optimization for a single device type and format is avoided. Focus on developing content that provides visuals to easily relay key messages and performs well on multiple formats. Think of brief copies and key takeaways that punctuate each slide and prevent drops of text-heavy data on each page. Also, consider developing a content-sequencing method for pairing an initial view with additional interaction to help your sellers prioritise their follow-up behaviour, considering the way prospects frequently return for a closer look outside working time. And consider the inherent differences between marketing and sales-relevant material in doing this. In the former, the goal is to build awareness and interest; the goal for sales is to get the client to sign a contract.
3 No 'Best Day' of the Week is here to submit content
There are several assertions about submitting content on the best day of the week. But Tuesday afternoon or Thursday morning views clearly do not stand up to empirical analysis. Our data shows that overall visits to sellers' sites by prospects were spread almost equally across every day of the workweek, marginally more on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and, predictably, a little less on Monday morning and Friday afternoon.
For sending information, do not concentrate on particular days. In reality, doing that probably implies unused potential in your marketing and sales process and a lack of cadence. Instead, prioritisation is best focused on the degree and form of prospect interaction with particular content types and a follow-up phase after the initial engagement. For several businesses, this also means linking your content marketing efforts to what you know about the vertical your prospect is in and specific guides for each type. Vertical material also plays well for the bulk of sales teams.
4 Prospects also prefer more than others to one form of material
In producing content, marketers put a lot of time and effort into it. And the data shows that they need to continue working on this to maximise the actual use by prospects and sales colleagues of their material. But in terms of completion rate, which type of content routinely outperforms others? The tried and true case study is by far the material that more than others is completed by prospects. Case studies have an 83 per cent completion rate in our results, orders of magnitude greater than other sales and marketing material supplied during the purchasing trip.
Buyers want to know what others are doing with your product especially B2B buyers, not what they could do to boost productivity or other performance. Good case study material does that while presenting the prospect with a persuasive reason to learn more and initiate a process of change.
Buyers want to know what others are doing with your product especially B2B buyers, not what they could do to boost productivity or other performance. Good case study material does that while presenting the prospect with a persuasive reason to learn more and initiate a process of change. Buyers must explain a decision, especially in B2B contexts, to those in the company who have conflicting preferences for limited funds. It is more critical than grand declarations about 'thought leadership' or 'disruption' to know how other companies have effectively implemented and used a new product, service or process. As a result, good case material also has a clear and applicable vertical emphasis, such as good follow-up. And the process of finding and articulating the content involves constant contact between your company's advertisers, sales and service individuals, interactions that often generate other advantages in addition to acceptable and credible use cases.
Content marketing is changing, and it can play an important role in aligning selling with purchasing, as buying becomes increasingly non-linear. But as the practice has exploded, there are now many misconceptions and unexamined assumptions that have accumulated about content marketing. Don't obey the herd. You have a blind spot in a significant part of your marketing budget if you can't track what prospects read, were where, and for how long, and with this strategy, it's impossible to get the ROI possible.
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