Avitage

FEBRUARY 28, 2013

If content is the fuel for inbound marketing then customer stories or insights are the active performance enhancing ingredients. Well-developed messages targeted to address key buyer questions are better understood when contextualized with customer stories. Trying to find stories when you need them is not easy.

Acquisitions 120

Acquisitions Barriers Inbound Marketing Positioning 120

Avitage

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

I identified the shortcomings of the traditional and still prevalent process by which B2B organizations create content. In our 20 year content creation business we discovered the answer in a different approach, process and set of techniques we refer to as a leveraged content supply chain process. appeared first on Avitage.

Content 120

Content Software Google Process 120

Avitage

AUGUST 29, 2018

The long-prevailing wisdom is to align content to the customer’s buying stage and/or the sales process stage. Few content users and their audiences really know or think about what stage of the decision / selling process they’re in. This approach reflects an outdated content alignment and management mindset.

Content 120

Content Tagging Buyer's Journey Buy 120

Avitage

JANUARY 16, 2018

At some point B2B executives realize that adding resources and technology to the traditional content operations process produces only marginal improvements. They will not be addressed with the current process. When it comes to B2B customer-facing content, there’s too much assumption going on.

Content 120

Content Domain Paid Search Agency B2B Sales 120

Avitage

MARCH 13, 2015

Or, you are accountable for any number of other content dependent, customer engaging groups across your organization. Your inventory and budgets are starved for the customer relevant content you require. Use case driven development is a key characteristic of process models.

Wikipedia 120

Wikipedia Lead Gen Lead Ranking Budget Programs 120

Avitage

MARCH 29, 2016

But if you’ve truly adopted a customer-centered sales philosophy you know you have new requirements. The right content addresses every key buyer decision point throughout the customer engagement process. Content is needed to get into more customer conversations.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Marketing & Strategy B2B Content 120

Avitage

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

To be successful sales people need: Knowledge and information (including sales strategy and process), Skills and techniques, Conversations and messages These inputs enable sale people to know What to do, What to say, How to say it. Done well, coaching can make a significant difference to rep and manager performance and success.

B2B Sales 120

B2B Sales Training Differentiation Acquisitions 120

Avitage

AUGUST 10, 2017

Too many executives aren’t aware of this imperative or the impact it has on new customer acquisition, revenue growth, selling costs or customer experience. Content is the first “product” prospective customers “acquire” through sharing their attention and contact information.

Content 120

Content B2B Sales Acquisitions Vendors 120

Avitage

AUGUST 8, 2017

.” I have written, useful high-value content is a strategic business imperative in this digital era because it is a primary driver of: New customer acquisition and profitable revenue growth Marketing and sales productivity and lower selling costs Data acquisition about customers and buyers (DBL) Consistent, exceptional customer experience.

Content 120

Content Gartner Acquisitions Custom Publishing 120

Avitage

MARCH 25, 2016

Poor or missing content is an under-appreciated reason B2B selling organizations experience lower than projected new customer acquisition and revenue growth results. The traditional content production process can only optimize two of the first three criteria. But the process hasn’t kept up. But the diagnosis is simple.

Marketing & Strategy 120

Marketing & Strategy Acquisitions B2B Sales Paid Search Agency 120

Avitage

MARCH 6, 2013

Is the content predominantly focused on the company’s products or the customers’ problem? Assuming the content is focused on their customers’ problem does it: Effectively articulate the problem, symptoms, causes, and impacts? Are there customer […]. Provide a clear position on why a buyer should want to change?

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Urgency Marketing Content Marketing & Strategy 120

Avitage

JUNE 28, 2017

.” For B2B sales and marketing leaders the problem isn’t knowing what to do. What to do is universally understood and generally accepted.

B2B 120

B2B B2B Sales Differentiation Segmentation 120

Avitage

JULY 23, 2012

A rich history, and many models, demonstrate that process change is often the key to execution and cost related breakthroughs. The traditional “point production” process for creating content is too limited for the new requirements of the content marketing world. Marketers should take heed.

Content 120

Content Guidelines Consulting Planning 120

Avitage

APRIL 26, 2017

Many B2B selling organizations hit a wall in their new customer acquisition and revenue growth rates. Too often they bring their traditional selling mindset, process and skillset with them. This is the result of a critical underlying cause they unaware of, and do not fully appreciate even when they become aware.

B2B Sales 149

B2B Sales B2B Class Consulting 149

Avitage

JUNE 10, 2014

Enterprise organizations face a serious challenge with the creation and management of content that impacts the success of new customer acquisition and profitable revenue growth, as well as tactical marketing and selling initiatives. Current responsibilities and budgets for content are spread across functions.

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing & Strategy Content 120

Avitage

MARCH 7, 2012

” Aligning with the customer’s buying process is an important starting point, and one we baked into our process well in 2010. I think this is a key principle to achieving our objective of being the best and taking our business to the next level. For this year, it means to start with a buying vs. selling mindset.

Buy 120

Buy Process Practices Organization 120

Avitage

AUGUST 6, 2012

With solutions that have several variants, or that require customization, the process is designed to postpone adding variant features or customizations until the last possible moment. Think of the genius in the Dell custom PC supply chain. They should be able to do this every day without consuming their day.

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Marketing Management Buyer Personas Advertising Agencies 120

Avitage

MARCH 26, 2012

You have shifted content focus from vendor and product collateral, to customer educational content. With a fundamentally different process, the challenges and constraints of the traditional, “point production” model can be resolved, while at the same time improving content effectiveness.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Barriers Content Custom Publishing 120

Avitage

JANUARY 28, 2016

Business Strategy Background and context for this conversation are the new realities associated with self-educating, B2B buyers, and their preferred buying decision process. Belief in this, and the role of content, is the foundational premise for what follows. Are you assuming everyone “gets it”?

ROI 120

ROI Urgency Marketing B2B Content 120

Avitage

MARCH 19, 2015

Marketing leaders, and the executive team to which they are accountable, understandably want to improve performance of customer facing content, get better outputs from content operations, and better returns on content investments. This approach has created a process […].

Content 120

Content Vendors Custom Publishing ROI 120

Avitage

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

What if you flip the process? ” (An objective, task or customer engagement) Then, it asks the same question about Communication Support. This is not a simple challenge. But content ROI must be proved. Or does it? What if you change your approach to “proving the value of content”? This isn’t a nuanced nicety.

Marketing & Strategy 120

Marketing & Strategy Content Tactics Paid Search Agency 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 11, 2013

Segments in this show address: Why Content Publishing Content Requirements and Challenges marketer face How a Publishing Process differs from the traditional Production process marketers use A Specific Content Project Example A Model for Applying the Publishing Process to All Content Projects This is the native PowerPoint version.

Content 120

Content Custom Publishing Advertising Mediums Video Marketing 120

Avitage

JUNE 4, 2014

Traditional content creation methods will not meet use case requirements for customer facing digital content (Tweet this) Lack of effective enterprise content strategy practices has masked this problem. Content Operations Strategy content operations content strategy enterprise content strategy'

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing & Strategy Content Paid Search Agency 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 11, 2013

Segments in this show address: Why Content Publishing Content Requirements and Challenges marketer face Publishing Process versus the traditional Production process A Specific Content Project Example A Model for Applying the Publishing Process to All Content Projects This is the native PowerPoint version.

Content 120

Content Custom Publishing Advertising Mediums Video Marketing 120

Avitage

JULY 23, 2015

With businesses unable to keep pace with evolving consumer behavior and the marketing landscape, the pressure is on to put marketing operations—skilled people, efficient processes, and supportive technology—in a position to enable brands to not just connect with customers but also shape their interactions.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Digital Transformation Content Marketing & Strategy 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 21, 2012

October 22, 2012 Jim, I have been putting together the key points that the executive team needs to understand about a volume video production process. Customer and Content Frameworks Drive the Process: Customer and content frameworks represent the documented market research and experience working with our customers.

Advertising Channels 120

Advertising Channels Video Marketing Custom Publishing Planning 120

Avitage

MAY 7, 2016

This will be based on an analysis of the buyer decision process (B2B buyers don’t “journey” ) We find use case definitions to be an important, deeper, but typically missing output from content strategy work. UCRs inform content requirements.

Marketing & Strategy 120

Marketing & Strategy B2B Curation Content 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 21, 2012

Jim, I have been putting together the key points that the executive team needs to understand about a volume video production process. Customer and Content Frameworks Drive the Process: Customer and content […]. Our production model will be similar to that used by publishers. The work is guided by four principles.

Advertising Channels 120

Advertising Channels Planning Video Marketing Custom Publishing 120

Avitage

MARCH 7, 2012

I find that a pre-call process must be as efficient, brief and focused as possible. They should be worked on well before customer engagements begin, and simply selected and applied to each call. Her trademarked process focuses on the internal issues the customer must resolve to make a buying decision with ANY vendor.

Vendors 120

Vendors Custom Publishing Tips Efficiency 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Content creation is undergoing a major shift from a few, centrally managed professionals, to many people, through out the organization, with varying skills, process understanding and techniques, who aren’t often managed in this process at all. And yet, we wonder why this content “sucks.”

Webinar Metrics 120

Webinar Metrics Domain Video Marketing Organic Leads 120

Avitage

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Content creation is undergoing a major shift from a few, centrally managed professionals, to many people, through out the organization, with varying skills, process understanding and techniques, who aren’t often managed in this process at all. And yet, we wonder why this content “sucks.”

Content 120

Content User-Generated Content Webinar Metrics Domain 120

Avitage

MARCH 21, 2013

Any sales conversation must begin with the nature of the selling process, especially from the buyers perspective — how they see their problems, available solutions, and buying challenges. My colleague Rob Scanlon developed a simple “Three Level Selling Model” that I’ve found useful.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Vendors B2B Sales Buy 120

Avitage

MARCH 21, 2013

Any sales conversation must begin with the nature of the selling process, especially from the buyers perspective — how they see their problems, available solutions, and buying challenges. My colleague Rob Scanlon developed a simple “Three Level Selling Model” that I’ve found useful.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking B2B Sales Vendors Buy 120

Avitage

AUGUST 7, 2013

Each are significant categories in their own right, with supporting requirements that often involve people and skills, process and technology components. The following is a checklist of demand management success competencies. Click image for a larger view.)

Demand 120

Demand Work Management Microsite Landing Pages 120

Avitage

MARCH 28, 2013

The opening lines, and most of the lines that followed, really grabbed my attention: “Marketers spent more than $40 billion on custom media in 20111. B2B marketers are allocating one-third of their budgets to content marketing, and more than half plan to increase content marketing spending in 20132.

Allocation 120

Allocation Webcast Content Case Study 120

Avitage

MARCH 28, 2013

The opening lines, and most of the lines that followed, really grabbed my attention: “Marketers spent more than $40 billion on custom media in 2011. B2B marketers are allocating one-third of their budgets to content marketing, and more than half plan to increase content marketing spending in 2013.

Allocation 120

Allocation Webcast Curation Content 120

Avitage

MARCH 17, 2014

This is why we say: Content is a strategic imperative.

Organization 120

Organization Enterprise Management Cross-Selling B2B 120