6 steps to map inbound marketing content to your customers' buying decisions
DESCRIPTION
Website visitors’ and prospects' needs and challenges can vary widely depending on where they are in their buying consideration. To convert and nurture leads, your inbound content must be relevant to their needs from their earliest problem-solving research, to vendor selection, to purchase stages and beyond. Traditionally, marketers are good at creating content for buying-ready prospects. Creating content that attracts and converts early and mid-stage (top and middle of funnel) leads can be more difficult. If you miss these leads, you won’t be top-of-mind when they’re ready to buy. In this session, we'll show you a simple method to uncover the symptoms and situations that lead prospects to buy. We’ll show you how go from persona to editorial calendar and content plan. Armed with this information, you'll quickly identify content and campaign topics to attract, convert and nurture leads at any stage of the buying cycle.TRANSCRIPT
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Mining Buyer Personas
Map Content to the Buying Cycle
to
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This presentation was originally given at Inbound Marketing Day 2014
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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The Path to Purchase
Decision-Making Dissected
Answering Buyer Questions
Six Steps to Content Creation
Agenda
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Video - The Buying Cycle in Reverse
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What led them to deal with pain?
Where do they look for answers?
Who do they trust?
What steps do they take?
How do they make decisions?
What were they thinking?
What questions do they ask?
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Ocean!of
Options
Jungle!of
Vendors & Pretenders
?
Desert Island!of
Problems & Pains
?
?
?
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Marketing Speak: Map = Buying Funnel
Bottom = BoFu
Middle = MoFu
Top = ToFuSymptoms Early research What-if?? NOT buying-ready
Aware of problem(s) Looking for options Solution Possibilities Move toward buying-ready
Evaluating solutions Evaluating providers Measuring value Buying ready
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Demos Trials
Consultations Assessments
Samples
Bottom of
Funnel
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Operational, Industry, Economic, Political!• People & Resources• Growth & Scale• Market Trends• Financial Performance• Competitive Pressures• Partnerships
!!!
Situations & Symptoms
Work, Family, Social!
F - FinancialE - EmotionalP - ProfessionalP - PhysicalS - Spiritual
!!!!
Personal
Business
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Who: could? should? would?
What: is? can I? should I? if?
When: is? do? should? I?
Where: do I? can I? should I? is?
Why: should I? is it that? do I?
How: Can I? do I? do they? should I?
Who?What?
How? Why?
Where?When?
?
Content = Q + A
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Tagging the Stages
TOFU
MOFU
BOFU
ToFu
MoFu
BoFu
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ToFu Not too likely
MoFu Somewhat likely
BoFu Highly likely
“Persona questions and
researches a pain or problem.
!
Are they actually looking to your
product or service as a possible
solution?”
Tagging the Stages1
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Symptoms + Answers = Questions
Persona TraitsAnswers: The Solutions You Provide
Solution!1
Solution!2
Solution!3
Solution!4
Solution!5
Solution!6
Business
Industry trends
Economic issues
Market issues
Current / political events
1People & management issuesOperational issues
Financial & growth issues
Competitive Pressures
Personal
Family-related issues
Social-related issues
Leisure-related issues
Work-life balance
Professional growthFinancial Issues
Situ
atio
ns &
Sym
ptom
s
Map ToFu & MoFu persona traits and
issues from template
2List your
solutions / value!
Not Features & Functions
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Symptoms + Answers = Questions
Persona TraitsAnswers: The Solutions You Provide
Solution!1
Solution!2
Solution!3
Solution!4
Solution!5
Solution!6
Business
Industry trends
Economic issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Market issues
Current / political events W W W W W ?
People & management issues
W W W W W ?
Operational issues W W W W W ?
Financial & growth issues W W W W W ?
Competitive Pressures
Personal
Family-related issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Social-related issues
Leisure-related issues W W W W W ?
Work-life balance
Professional growth W W W W W ?
Financial Issues
Situ
atio
ns &
Sym
ptom
s
Brainstorm Buyer Questions:
!Who? What?
When? Where?Why? How?
4
Map Questions to your solutions /
approach
Map Questions to your solutions /
approach
Answer Questions with your solutions /
approach
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Symptoms + Answers = Questions
Persona TraitsAnswers: The Solutions You Provide
Solution!1
Solution!2
Solution!3
Solution!4
Solution!5
Solution!6
Business
Industry trends W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Economic issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Market issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Current / political events W W W W W ?
People & management issues
W W W W W ?
Operational issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Financial & growth issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Competitive Pressures W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Personal
Family-related issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Social-related issues W W W W W ?
Leisure-related issues W W W W W ?
Work-life balance W W W W W ?
Professional growthFinancial Issues W W W W W ?
Situ
atio
ns &
Sym
ptom
s
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Content = Questions + Answers
Persona TraitsAnswers: The Solutions You Provide
Solution!1
Solution!2
Solution!3
Solution!4
Solution!5
Solution!6
Business
Industry trends W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Economic issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Market issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Current / political events W W W W W ?
People & management issues
W W W W W ?
Operational issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Financial & growth issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Competitive Pressures W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Personal
Family-related issues W W W W W ? W W W W W ?
Social-related issues W W W W W ?
Leisure-related issues W W W W W ?
Work-life balance W W W W W ?
Professional growthFinancial Issues W W W W W ?
Situ
atio
ns &
Sym
ptom
s
1 Question + 1 Answer = 1 Article
Related Articles = Premium Offer (eBook, White Paper. etc)
!
Themed [Questions + Answers] = Campaign
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Example - Plant Owner Pete
Position: !Pete is the owner, and frequently the founder, of a relatively small regional business. He takes an active day-to-day role in overseeing the operation and frequently pitches-in, working right along side his employees.!Company Info:!Pete runs a B-to-B light manufacturing or distribution business, headquartered in larger metropolitan area. They serve clients throughout US geographic region but also are extending across country. His business employs 10-50 employees and generates $5-20 million annual revenue. Economic downturns and occasional reduced workloads have resulted in occasional downsizing.!The business is well established and overall stable. Pete is likely ready to expand into new markets, products or services.!
Demographic and Personal Info:!Pete is 45-60 years old, married and has 2 or more children. At least one of his kids is in (or about to start) college. His household income is $200-$400k. Pete is college educated and may have an advanced degree (Masters or Phd). Pete’s life experience is his greatest asset; he’s inquisitive, adventurous and he knows what he’s doing. !Pete owns his home and enjoys spending time traveling with his family. He may own a vacation home or luxury toys like a boat, snowmobile, etc. His family is central to his life, and he wishes he could find balance between his concerns over the business and his enjoyment time.!A Day in Pete’s Life:!Generally, there are not enough hours in a day to accomplish what Pete would like to do vs. putting out all the “fires” at work. He gets up early for a workout & to get the kids off to school, then it’s into work. He tries to be home for dinner, on weekends and for kid stuff, but he often has to do catch-up work when the family goes to bed or early on weekend mornings.!Pete has a LinkedIn account and uses Facebook with family and friends, but he’s not too into social media. He’s somewhat familiar with Twitter, but doesn’t see how it relates to his life. He’s sensing things are changing and he better learn a bit more about social media so he doesn’t fall behind. He’s been asking the kids and friends more about it. He uses the Internet for research and some reading, but he gets most of his information from colleagues, friends and traditional media.
Plant Owner Pete
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ExamplePersona: Plant Owner Pete
Owner / operator of manufacturing company
Answers: Inbound Marketing Solutions
Expand reach &
awareness
Grow contacts and relationships
Build trust overcome objections
Grow, nurture and qualify
lead pipeline
Shorten sales cycle
Increase customer retention
Measure & improve
performance
Losing business to AsiaRising healthcare costs
Working “in,” not “on” bizKeeping workforce employed
Transport & material costsWant to grow proactively
Attracting & retaining top talentMeet aggressive growth goals
Uneven workloadGeographic expansion
Leading edge reputationSorting out technology options
Affording college tuitionRetirement worries
Not enough hours in dayWant more time w/ the kidsToo much time on tactical
If I don’t do it, doesn’t get doneEmployees are like family
Situ
atio
ns &
Sym
ptom
s
Bus
ines
sPe
rson
al
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Topic Ideas: ToFu
Attract & Retain Top Talent Where can I find skilled engineering help?
How can I ensure my sales people make plan consistently?
Why do my trained sales people keep leaving?
What is the best social media site for recruiting young talent?
Using social media campaign to attract the best and brightest
Making sure your sales team gets enough qualified leads
Shortening sales cycles to keep the salesforce hungry and happy
Twitter vs. LinkedIn vs. Facebook: Where do milennials look for
work?
Issue Questions Answers
Who is most at-risk of leaving next?
What are the greatest causes of sales force attrition?
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Topic Ideas: MoFu
Sorting out technology options Who uses inbound marketing in the metal stamping industry?
How can marketing automation shorten sales cycles?
What are the best marketing tools for manufacturing?
Why should we blog or use social media?
Examples of industrial companies who successful with inbound
How lead nurturing & scoring increase sales productivity
Side-by-side comparisons of leading tools
How to demonstrate industry expertise with content marketing
Issue Questions Answers
When do you use marketing automation vs. CRM?
How to link marketing ROI to real revenue
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Step-by-StepTag persona traits - ToFu, MoFu, BoFu
Add tagged traits to matrix
List your key solutions / value (not features & functions)
Brainstorm buyer questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?
Create articles & conversion offerings that tell:• Attract visitors to the path• Encourage taking the path (convert)• Measure their location & progress on the path• Tell you when & how to reach out (sell)
Answer buyer questions: Your solution’s value (not features & functions)
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Don’t try this alone! Brainstorm it Enlist sales, customer service, consulting, engineering…
Keys to Success
Don’t make it up! Listen to your customers Collect customer questions Listen to social media
Experiment and refineBuild, measure, learn, rinse and repeat Regular, timely review sessions
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!
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Website: InboundinFocus.com
Thank You!
Questions or comments…