There is a continuous influx of content on the web. Research shows that there are more than 2 million blog posts published on a daily basis. Content has become so prevalent that customers are bombarded with more stuff than they could read in a lifetime. Customers only have 24 hours in a day, and if we want to be successful, we have to avoid fatiguing them by making them sift through the stuff that has no value and makes the most noise.
According to a 2014 benchmarks report by CMI, the top 5 content marketing goals in 2014 for top content marketers were brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition, thought leadership, and customer engagement. Combine these together and you’ve got a recipe for content marketing success; but what happens when we churn out thoughtless content: Content that is weak, lame, robotic and unoriginal and doesn’t deliver on expanding ideas? What happens is that we miss the mark on what really resonates with consumers: Relevant and unique messages.
Let’s take a look at 5 ways we can improve our marketing automation campaigns for the sales team to communicate with prospects using fresh content.
1. Know your audience
When we know who we are writing for, we craft content that is appealing to the audience. By having knowledge of our potential buyers and knowing what it is they are looking for, we make for customers that are enticed to consume our content, and at best, share it with their friends. When we have rich customer data in our CRM, we are able to better understand the needs of the marketing-ready leads that enter our marketing automation platform and as a result, churn out more targeted messages.
2. Write strategically
There has to be a well-thought out plan when we create content. By creating an editorial content that outlines all of our topics, not only do we optimize our channels by using the right keywords for SEO, but we make sure our metrics are aligned with our goals. Having a content strategy in place enables us to understand what each customer needs depending on where they are in the customer lifecycle, and, ultimately, when the time comes that they become sales-ready.
3. Follow through
Content marketing is a marathon – not a sprint. You can’t produce several blogs and call it a day. Companies that invest into building a brand know that churning out fresh content is the way best way to achieve results. Automation enables us to create multichannel marketing campaigns that reach consumers through their preferred channels for content consumption. By continuously running email and social media campaigns, as well as blogs and other marketing collateral, it becomes possible to create unique content with each campaign, and drive leads to Sales.
Good content continuously delights and surprises audiences. Sticking to an on-going schedule and producing unique content with every publication means delivering effective marketing automation campaigns. Top performers are avoiding content fatigue by taking the time, putting in lots of hard work and being dedicated to content marketing. Automation enables us to improve on these processes and deliver the kind of content that resonates with customers and prepares sales reps in the boardroom.
Are you guilty of content fatigue? Automation tools are the key to ensuring you keep rolling out fresh content to ‘Wow’ and delight your audiences. And, finally, enable Sales to close the deal.