Hi there! It’s Matt with MessageUp.
A polar vortex is gripping North America this week (including some nether regions that aren’t accustomed to sub-zero temperatures—in either °C or °F). We’re glad to be cozied up at our keyboards rather than watching sports in record breaking conditions where water bottles freeze in seconds. Hopefully you’re staying safe and warm, wherever you’re reading this.
On the work front, things are heating back up after the winter break. In addition to kicking off new marketing initiatives, a couple of our clients are deep in the throes of fundraising. An exciting time, for sure, but one that definitely brings extra stress to the party.
Something we’ve noticed while working with businesses in fundraising mode—though not necessarily these particular clients (in case they’re reading!)—is the way leaders immediately want to create new materials for investors to enjoy.
While investors require certain types of information to which other groups—including customers—won’t be privy, many of their questions are remarkably similar to ones asked by prospective buyers.
This makes sense. Both groups are trying to decide whether to commit a significant amount of money to your business—one for a solution, the other for a stake in the company.
So, why wouldn’t the same content work for both groups?
The short answer is: it will.
In fact, an equally short and arguable more correct answer is: it must.
In this week’s post on the Framework blog, Investors Are a Lot Like Buyers: Effective Content Marketing Can Help You Raise, I examine the similarities between investors and buyers, and why having an effective content marketing strategy plays an important role in engaging the investor community.
If you’re in fundraising mode and the post makes you realize there’s a content gap to be filled with some urgency, don’t panic. Give us a call and we’ll help expedite solutions to the most critical issues.
Moving on to this week’s What We’ve Been Reading collection of helpful B2B content marketing articles, we’ve chosen pieces that cover outcome-focused performance evaluation, B2B tech buyers’ content expectations, the advantages of sponsored content, and producing content that maximizes near-term and long-term growth potential.
Of the four, Cathy Colliver’s piece arguing that we’ve taken metrics a step too far is perhaps the most thought-provoking—and definitely the most controversial. In our experience, B2B companies are still measuring too little and engaging in too many random acts of marketing. However, her point about some metrics being so full of noise that there's no clear signal is certainly valid. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on marketing metrics and how valuable (or not) they are to your content marketing practice.
To wrap up this week’s edition, my One Step actionable tip leans into the idea that the content you publish shouldn’t just be aimed at prospective customers. Hopefully the 5 minutes you spend on it will result in more rounded—and consequently more impactful—content.
Keep the icicles out of your moustache (and don’t let your hair freeze) and I’ll see you back here next Wednesday.
Cheers!
~ Matt
Our Latest Posts on The Framework Blog
Jan 17, 2024 - Investors Are a Lot Like Buyers: Effective Content Marketing Can Help You Raise
Jan 10, 2024 - The Hard Part About Starting Something New (or Why New Year’s Resolutions Usually Fail)
What We’ve Been Reading
Here are some articles we’ve been reading this week that we hope you will enjoy and find valuable:
Stop Trying to Measure Everything, Use an Outcome-Focused Lens Instead
In the MessageUp content marketing framework, the letter E stands for evaluation and evolution. You'll hear us argue that it's critical to measure the performance of your marketing efforts as effectively as you can, so that you can constantly be learning and evolving. So this piece by Cathy Colliver for Marketing Profs caught our attention. In it, she argues that we might have taken metrics a step too far...
Buyers Want To Trust Content. But Do They Value Yours?
According to Informa Tech's recent Trust in Marketing Index survey, over 70% of B2B tech buyers are disappointed in the value of vendors' content. Robert Rose at the Content Marketing Institute digs into the data and offers tips on closing the gap.
Top Benefits of Sponsored Content: Why B2B Marketers Should Take Notice
What’s the difference between sponsored content and traditional advertising? The team at Martech Series get into the weeds in this article, explaining the advantages of sponsored content and the steps required to get it right.
B2Bs: 5 Questions to Ask When Shaping Your 2024 Marketing Plan
We almost glossed over this generic-sounding piece by Kathy Floam-Greenspan, written for the Forbes Agency Council. However, behind the uninspired title, she proposes five important questions for understanding how your B2B marketing is working to support sales efforts. By strengthening the marketing-to-sales connection, you can produce content that maximizes both near-term and long-term business growth potential.
Books on B2B Content Marketing
If you haven’t done so already, secure your copies of Content Marketing: Mission Critical, a guide for B2B CEOs, and Content Marketing: Making the Magic Happen, a guide for B2B marketing leaders, in paperback, e-book, or audiobook format, by visiting www.messageup.com/books. There you’ll find discount codes as well as details on limited edition boxed sets that include copies signed by the author.
One Step…
Today’s One Step actionable tip builds on the idea explored in this week’s blog post that the content your company publishes shouldn’t just be written for prospective customers.
There are several sets of stakeholders for whom your content might be relevant and helpful. For example:
Prospective investors (see this week’s blog post)
Prospective employees
Regulatory authorities
Local community members
Students learning about your industry
While it’s important to demonstrate return on your content marketing investment in monetary terms—and therefore to positively influence potential customers with your content—these other groups should not be overlooked.
If your content—or a lack thereof—can positively or negatively impact an investment decision, the hiring of a key employee, the approval of a permit, or the way your business is perceived by its neighbors, the impact could be just as significant as winning or losing a piece of business.
So, with that importance in mind, answer these four questions and consider what follow-up action might be warranted:
Which of the stakeholder groups we’ve just listed are most relevant to your company and its current situation?
Are there any other stakeholders you ought to consider?
How much of the content your company is publishing is relevant to the stakeholders you’ve listed?
What types of information are missing that would make your content more relevant and helpful to non-customer stakeholders?
Don’t be alarmed if you realize that almost all of your content is sales growth focused and very little speaks to the other constituencies. This is a natural outcome of content marketing approaches that focus on growing the business—something we’re guilty of coaching.
Take a few minutes to capture your conclusions and ideas for improvement, then raise them at your next leadership meeting.
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