For anyone working to advance their career in academics, the maxim of ‘publish or perish’ is deadly accurate. Moving up the department ladder to tenured status requires producing a steady stream of scholarly articles, which are rarely read by anyone other than the author and their committee of peers. This luxury of scholarly pursuit may be acceptable behind the ivy covered wall of academia, but nowhere else. Yet for far too many B2B marketers, the ‘publish or perish’ paradigm also holds sway. Faced with multiple channels to fill and editorial calendars to keep pace with, too many, marketers churn out vast amounts of content—without ever asking who will want to consume it and why should they?
According to a MarketingProfs study, brands spend 25%-43% of their marketing budget on content, yet according to eMarketer only 23% of CMOs feel they are producing the right information for the right audience, and delivering it at the right time and correct format. This is a very large and very expensive disconnect for brands that otherwise are very results-oriented in virtually every other endeavor. How did this happen? One explanation is that their customers became less and less swayed by traditional sales and marketing efforts and began doing the vast majority of research and due diligence before ever reaching out to a manufacturer or service provider. To maintain their presence in this new self-serve paradigm, brands felt compelled to push out more and more information and so, continue to attract its fair share of leads and new business.
This 180 degree shift in marketing has led to a ‘publish or perish’ mentality across marketing teams and throughout lines of business (LOB). But without developing a clear definition of who their targets are and how, when and through which channels they want to receive information, marketers run the risk of wasting time and money on subpar content. Worse yet, they may further muddy the waters of an already complicated sales process.
For many brands, part of the solution lies in developing definitive buyer personas, mapping that buyers’ content journey, identifying the strengths and gaps – and then using that input to craft a content roadmap to guide development, distribution and amplification. Do you feel that your content roadmap is on course?
For an informative and logical approach to content marketing, download a free copy of The Alchemy of Content.
Principal
Engaging your customers is at the heart of successful marketing programs. For more than 20 years, Cheryl has been building and executing content and thought leadership strategies designed to do just that. She is excited to be applying that well-honed skill to a help companies like Microsoft, Cisco, 3M, Intel, Capital One and Barclaycard tap into their stakeholder communities and build sophisticated content strategies.
Her experience base spans a range of industries – from technology and financial services to retail, travel, consumer products and healthcare. Cheryl has served as an integral member of her clients’ marketing teams, providing counsel on marketing and brand strategy, thought leadership, media relations, product introductions, and event management.
Prior to joining ComBlu, Cheryl spent 10 years leading corporate marketing for large, complex organizations.