As per B2B Content Marketing 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America, 70% of B2B marketers say they will produce more content in 2017 than they did in 2016 and 39% of B2B marketers say they will increase spending on content marketing over the next twelve months. Content is key for any marketing initiative to succeed. However, in the present world of information overload, content without context merely is a ‘low-test fuel, prone to knocks and stalls’. In this exclusive with The Smart Manager, Rutsky talks about how B2B companies can break through and lead when they control the context of the market conversations.
To become market leaders, you say, organizations should exert influence on the context of market conversations...
Markets are at their core conversations between buyers and sellers. The topic of the conversation is the exchange of value. As a buyer, I am exchanging my time and money to obtain the benefits of the sellers’ product or solution. However, value is a very subjective judgment that the buyer makes. That judgment is made in the buyer’s context, not the seller’s. If we can first tap into that context in a way that is meaningful to the buyer, we can then influence the context and ultimately connect our value to that context influencing what the customer values in our favor.
You urge companies to resist the temptation to customize the solution. Why?
Sellers must realize that today’s buyers are highly educated and fiercely independent. The days of showing up and questioning and qualifying a prospect before presenting your solution are over. They want sales representatives to teach them something, not question them.
If most companies follow similar strategies, how will they differentiate their communication?
Organizations who better connect to the customer’s world and make it better are the ones who are seen as differentiating. Your solution still matters, but it takes second, as it should to your customer’s success.
How can companies break the quantity vs quality trade-off?
Bu hikaye The Smart Manager dergisinin May - June 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Smart Manager dergisinin May - June 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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