Match Marketing Content to Buying Cycle

Over the years, I've seen Marketers great piece after piece without any thought about what Sales really needs. So what does sales really need? 

Content that moves deals forward.

The best way to think about marketing content is to think of what is needed in each buying stage.

The first stage is Untroubled/Unaware.  This is when the prospect does not see a problem, even though it may exist.  So the goal of marketing content is to show him he really has a problem.  How do you do that?

• An educational white paper.
• Industry examples.
• Other educational content.
• A specrfic webinar.

Later in a sales cycle, you need other information. In the Which to Consider? phase, you'll want to show that your company is a leader and worthy of consideration.

One very important piece of content in the justification piece.  This is often an ROI calculator.  Used late in the process, this can be very helping in gaining internal authorization.

Use the customer buying process as your road map for developing compelling marketing content.