Your content is largely taking the place of the interactions your sales reps would normally be having with prospects. “ Where will the white paper be used in the sales cycle? Janice King of WriteSpark is a prominent freelance technical copywriter who creates white papers, case studies, and other sales materials for global technology companies such as Cisco, Nokia Siemens Networks, Hewlett Packard, and Sprint. It is possible to avoid this muddled mess by identifying the three most important elements for planning a white paper: audience, topic, and sales cycle fit. MORE >>

Ardath Albee: Marketing Interactions helps B2B companies with complex sales increase and quantify marketing-to-sales effectiveness by developing and executing interactive e-marketing strategies driven by compelling content. Ardath Albee: I wrote the book for marketing and sales organizations challenged with engaging prospects across the entirety of a lengthening, complex buying cycle. Ambal Balakrishnan: What is one change you recommend for businesses to do better when it comes to handling complex sales? Ardath Albee: That’s a good question. looked. link]. MORE >>

This experience included a variety of sales, marketing, business development, and management positions. Enterprises used certain deliverables to support their sales activities such as spec sheets, brochures, and sales guides. Today, the need to generate ROI has accelerated the white paper’s evolution to a sales format similar to other traditional sales/marketing deliverables. As the modern white paper gets smaller, its limited number of pages is becoming increasingly focused on sales messages, solution attributes, and their associated benefits. MORE >>

Her company Marketing Interactions helps companies with complex sales and quantify marketing effectiveness by using interactive e-marketing strategies driven by compelling content. She empowers her clients to create customer-centric nurturing programs that leverage strategic story development to engage prospects until they are sales ready. Ardath’s book, eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale is now shipping! How willing are prospects to pick up the phone when an inside sales rep contacts them by phone to discuss their interests? " Ardath Albee. Blogs. MORE >>

This means that the relevant and compelling content that small businesses deliver directly to buyers will be vital to sustain and to grow sales. Why will small businesses get better and better at content marketing and do more and more of it in 2010 and beyond? We asked Newt Barett "What are key marketing trends and predictions for 2010? What actions should marketers take in 2010?" " Newt Barett is the President and Chief Content Officer of Content Marketing Strategies , a Division of Voyager Media. He is also a leading thinker and evangelist for content marketing. MORE >>