As a technology provider, delivering educational content throughout a long sales cycle is one of most important things you can do to convert prospects into customers. The process is called content marketing – the art of communicating with your customers and prospects and delivering valuable information without selling.
Instead, you educate. And here’s why …
Teaching Sells
Content marketing is built on the concept that teaching sells. Unlike an ad, telemarketing call, direct mail, and other tactics referred to as “interruption marketing” (because you’re interrupting someone with an unwanted sales pitch), content marketing is about delivering information that educates your customers and prospects.
The essence of a content strategy is the belief that if you deliver consistently valuable information to your buyers, they’ll ultimately reward you with their business and loyalty.
Content marketing can take many forms like white papers, blog entries, technology articles, tips and tricks, success stories, webcasts, videos, etc. But the idea is to get away from the mindset of trying sell your products, services, and features and delivering a sales pitch with every communication.
Getting Content to Prospects at the Right Time
Below is the slide deck from a presentation we delivered at Sage Summit 2012 in Nashville, TN. The slides provide some important content marketing tips that will help you:
- Generate the content you need to stay top of mind with prospects
- Understand content marketing vs. traditional “outbound” marketing
- Deliver the right content at the right time during the technology evaluation process
- Understand what type of content buyers are looking for
(Click Image to Launch PDF)
Download Content is King: How to Get Info To Prospects At the Right Time in PDF format
By Mark Badran
Agree content is considered good only when you are able to finish it on time and it is a unique post