It’s not easy to turn content into money. It’s logical to infer that income creation has an impact on how effective a content conversion strategy is. If our content and accompanying content marketing activities are not generating income in the B2B environment, we should either correct it or quit doing them completely so that cash and resources may be diverted to those techniques that do.
The paradigm I’m proposing in this post for how content translates to money is incredibly effective and measurable. Because the process is best perceived in a linear form, but not necessarily done in a linear fashion, I describe the solution to turning content to revenue as a recipe with seven ingredients rather than a linear series of stages. You can make money with your content if you mix up the ingredients with the big picture in mind. This paradigm was used at a global electronics manufacturing company, and it resulted in growth rates of 20% to 30%. It’s effective. You should analyze each piece of content you intend to create using the seven elements. After all, would you expect a batch of chocolate chip cookies to turn out well if you didn’t use any flour or butter? I don’t believe so.
Note: Basic Material Marketing 101 assumes you’re creating content that’s relevant and useful to your target audience, allowing them to do their jobs better as a result of the information you’re offering. This is the foundation on which this dish is based. It won’t work if you create a bunch of content that is disguised as education but is actually a product promotion. Simply simply, if your content is poor, your recipe will fail.
The Fundamentals are the first ingredient. As previously stated, this won’t work unless you have good content, a good creative process, and the right tools for distribution and measurement. The first and most important responsibility is to create useful content. Companies that thrive at creating revenue-generating content have worked hard to gain leadership support, a “content-based culture” in sales and marketing, and resources to support a content marketing strategy.
A strong marketing plan is another essential component that must be in place before this procedure can be effective. Before you go any further, make sure you’ve established a proper marketing plan for your company. Every stage in this process necessitates a detailed understanding of your company and target market. There is a wealth of material available on how to develop successful content and a supportive environment. The Content Marketing Institute is a terrific place to start.
A suitable toolbox is another essential component. For this method to work properly and effectively, you will require the following equipment:
CRM connected with the Website Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) Alignment with sales about lead management, definitions, and who does what when
Request a FREE CRM Needs Analysis
I’ll assume you have a decent content generation machine, a defined marketing plan, and a powerful toolset in place at this stage. You’re now ready to go on to the next section.
The second ingredient is to disseminate it and make it easy to find. Simply having content on your website will not result in a big increase in revenue. I believe that many businesses that consider their content marketing efforts to be ineffective are actually producing wonderful material and simply storing it on their website in the hopes of improving their SEO. Don’t get me wrong: strong content on the website will help with SEO, but it isn’t enough to have a significant impact on revenue.
Your marketing plan and techniques must include content distribution. Both outward and inbound methods should make great use of the content you provide. Outbound ads must promote content, while inbound strategies such as pay-per-click (ppc) must promote content. Stop advertising your goods! Promote your knowledge and expertise instead! Promoting content rather than telling your target audience about your product or service is a lot more effective way to engage with them. Sorry, but your product or service is seen as a commodity by your target demographic. The sooner you accept that concept, the sooner you’ll be able to achieve growth rates of 20% to 30%. Offer your material across all outbound channels where your target audience gathers, such as emails, print advertisements, email ads, digital ads, direct mail, social media, and so on. The content should also be promoted using inbound SEM ads. The concept of emphasizing content over product might be difficult for organizations to grasp. At this stage, you’re going to face a lot of opposition. This is when your organization’s planning comes into play. You’ll need strong executive support as well as a content marketing culture, or at the very least a strong knowledge. Your product managers and salespeople will stress out if you don’t, and your content marketing plan will suffer as a result. They may even compel you to return to a product-based strategy and those dreadful growth rates of 1% to 5%.
The Conversion Point is the third ingredient (landing page). All outgoing and inbound activity must lead to a personalized landing page. DO NOT direct them to a standard website! Moreover, DO NOT direct them to your home page! They should be sent to a custom-designed landing page that is aligned to the solution your content supports once they take the action step (click or typed URL). The landing page must be built appropriately for the content’s offer. You lose if you send them to one of your normal web sites, especially if it’s a product page. The more relevant your landing page is, the more chance you have of gaining their attention.
Once they’re on the landing page, you’ll have to make some decisions about how they get the material. Will you lock it down or make it available with a single click? The more difficult it is to obtain the content, the higher your desertion rate will be. On the other hand, the easier it is, the wider your reach. I enjoy giving away information for free with no strings attached because it allows you to reach a larger audience while still establishing recognition and trust with your target demographic.
The following are the three elements of your landing page:
Make an offer on the asset. This should be considered the landing page’s primary function.
Tell them what you do or what your value proposition is. We want to provide content that people find useful, and we want the visitor to associate the asset’s goodwill with the brand’s offering (awareness + credibility). Present the offer as a side panel rather than the landing page’s main focus.
Make it simple for them to learn more about your business.
“Who is this company offering me this vital information?” you want them to wonder. “I’d like to learn more.” Allow visitors to ‘raise their hand’ and make a direct connection at all times.
Remember that both your outbound and ppc advertising should lead to the same landing page. Filling the landing page with product-related information is not a good idea. The last thing you want is for your visitor to believe they’ve been duped by a bait and switch strategy that promises useful information but then redirects them to a product page.
The Call to Action Step is the fourth ingredient. Despite the fact that the CTA is part of the third element, it is significant enough to warrant its own section. It’s at this point that the quality of your material becomes crucial.
If you’ve created something that your target audience is interested in, they’ll want to learn more. You must specify what you want them to accomplish!! It usually includes a click in the digital world.
You must again instruct them to “click here to obtain the paper” or “register here,” for example. Don’t expect the reader to figure out what they’re intended to accomplish on their own. You might lose them if it isn’t genuinely simple. You’ll lose a lot of efficacy if you don’t make it obvious what you’re offering and how to receive it.
Qualification is the fifth ingredient. At this point, a member of your target audience has clicked or responded to the CTA in your ad, arrived at your unique landing page, been happy to quickly get a valuable and helpful piece of content, connected value with your brand, and associated your firm with a specific item.
They may also have looked around your website, shared the content on social media, forwarded the email, or even sought a call from your sales staff. It is critical to decide what will happen next at this moment.
For adequate qualification, it is advantageous to have a well-developed sales procedure in place. Is it a marketing qualified lead (MQL) that will be passed on to the sales team for immediate action? Is it possible that they’ll be placed in a nurturing program? Are they left to their own devices till you publish your next amazing piece of content? Each of these options is a viable option that will be determined by your specific business practices.
Whatever your company practice, you must make a clear decision about what will happen next. Your effort does not end when you click or download something. If you’re fishing in the same pond as your target audience, you only have two choices: send them to sales as a MQL or put them in a nurturing program.
The content conversion step is when your marketing automation and CRM software come into play. Your contacts will receive more great useful information (content) and will learn more about your organization and the associated product through regular website visits throughout the nurturing process. You can use a lead scoring application to track their activity as they visit and interact with the content.
The qualification step’s success is contingent on tight collaboration with the sales team. You should have a contract in place that specifies when any of these contacts should be regarded ready to call. It’s possible that you’ll just let the contacts determine when to contact your sales staff on their own.
Pass the Contact Information to the Sales Pipeline as the sixth ingredient. You’ll be flooding the top of the funnel and the sales team with qualified leads, as well as filling the nurturing funnel with tons of future buyers, if your content is educational and you’ve followed all of the best practices for offers, ppc, landing pages, and so on.
I’d like to underline the necessity of working with sales on each campaign once again. As leads begin to flood their inboxes, they need to grasp what’s going on and why it’s occurring.
Those that do not meet the criteria are sent to a content-based nurturing program. They are connecting more deeply with your organization and its value proposition while in the nurturing program (where you provide them even more amazing material you’ve generated). You are developing awareness and credibility in their minds as they engage. When the time comes for them to buy what you have to offer, your organization will get the call because of the awareness and credibility you have established.
The Purchase is the seventh ingredient. The purchase, and hopefully many more purchases in the future, is the final stage. Following the contact’s entry into the sales funnel, material may be utilized to guide them through their decision-making process, resulting in a beneficial conclusion for your company.
Salespeople should be taught how to use the content created for the ‘latter funnel stage’ to help complete more sales. Late-stage content includes things like product descriptions, case studies, application notes, and so on.
Remember to include these seven elements in every piece of content you publish. You should never develop content unless you have a clear conversion strategy in mind.
The marketing strategy and methods, as well as the sales process, are all tightly intertwined with effective content marketing. It’s all about engagement when it comes to cultivating your target audience into long-term clients. You want people to think of your brand and associated offering first, and to do so with confidence.
If you are able to achieve this position in their minds, when the day comes around and they are ready to purchase the thing you are offering, your firm gets the call. Competitors who do not employ this framework may receive a call, but their credibility will be low, and they will just be used for price comparison.
This Seven Ingredient structure can help your company gain market share and grow at a faster rate.