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In today’s world, marketers have no choice but to embrace the need for content development. Yet every day it becomes clearer that content must be done right to be effective. And done wrong, it can actually work against you.
Recent proof of this has shown up in a study from Content Marketing Institute that targeted marketers in the computing/software space. While 94% of these folks say they believe in content marketing (and even outspend their peers with anaverage spend of nearly $500k a year on content creation and distribution), they state that they are challenged as to what content will engage and keep an audience over lengthier buying cycles.
Although they use typical vehicles: articles, case studies and white papers, and even social media and webinars/webcasts at a higher rate than other industries, their effectiveness numbers are low. What can we learn from this? That pushing content shouldn’t be the goal. Pushing relevant, timely content that tracks with where your prospects are in the sales cycle is the goal.
Finding creative ways to be relevant and timely is more than a guideline — it's a necessity — so make sure your messaging adds value and helps move prospects through the sales cycle.
Tags: content marketing institute / content / strategy / messaging