Here’s how to create content for the busy decision maker ?

Let’s for a few minutes imagine you’re the CFO or an FP&A manager looking for business planning software.?

What are the steps?

1. You’d ask your fellow finance friends about the software they use.?
2. You’d have checked the product’s content (website, landing pages, blogs, case studies) and followed them for some time before deciding to buy it.?

Essentially, along with recommendations from your network, what kind of content the company sends your way/publishes would play an important part in starting the conversation with that software.?

As a busy decision maker, what sort of content do you look for when deciding the software to purchase? Even more so when it’s enterprise software that would be used by an entire department and not just an individual.

?? Bad things can happen when you choose the wrong enterprise software.?

So there are two options: RedNova and Pigment.?

??Would you be convinced about the product RedNova if their content covers entry-level topics: what is business planning, what is financial reporting, or a guide to modern finance 101??

And GPT-generated copy that covers the mere basics??

A sheer waste of your time right?

??Or would you look for more depth in terms of the features of Pigment, how (your competitor) or other companies are using Pigment, how to make financial consolidation less painful, or the typical ROI from Pigment??

Here, the content ties to the objectives, goals, and results you’d get from using the product.

? It gives insights into your challenges and how the product solves them.?

? It tells you whether they’re the right choice for your size and industry.?

Any self-respecting CFO would be more interested in Pigment vs RedNova.?

So what did Pigment do right? What made it the software of choice for the busy CFO??

I’ll pinpoint some great things Pigment’s content/marketing team is doing right:??

#1. Regularly creates content that targets the decision makers and not industry beginners.?

?? Ties to the ROI or the CFO’s objective. No random definitions.?

As my dear friend Rucha Wele says: are you creating content that is worthy of the decision maker’s time or is used by a student looking to complete an assignment??

#2. Answers a question - how to use the product, before vs after, solves a pain point, compares to the alternative and convinces about the software’s ideal fit for the reader.?

#3. Drills down into the technicalities.

#4. Shows more, is less wordy.??

#5. Is skimmable.?

#6. Has unique observations/shows the team’s experience.?

#7. Every content asset serves a purpose.?

??It could be generating leads (downloadables that compel the reader to share her details),

??Sign ups (product how-to’s and case studies that nudge the user to book a demo), or

??Organic traffic (the potential to rank high on search results and bring more qualified leads).

All in all, in the words of Jay Acunzo - It ensures that when the prospective customer is ready to buy, they don’t look at your competitors, but buy from you.?

So what goes into creating content for the busy decision maker??

Introduction - is crisp and engaging.?

??We love starting with a question/challenge that the target audience faces. Makes the post instantly relatable.?

?No point rehashing GPT output or what the first 5 searches say.?

The main body - show more, tell less. Less build up, more insights.

??Back it up with relevant product features, case studies, and client insights.

The tone is authoritative, confident, and written from an expert perspective.?

? If your reader is a C-suite exec, they’ll sniff out generalized/AI-written/content written by a junior writer within seconds.?

Technical depth over wordiness is always the goal.?

The conclusion - is crisp, ties to the introduction and the CTA directs the reader to the next action: for example, booking a demo.?

? No lengthy summaries or stating the obvious.?

??Only a CTA is more valuable when you have nothing new to say.?

If you want to be like Pigment and NOT RedNova, think about the decision maker's expectations, objections, and pain points.

In this do more with less economy, creating more/basic content will get you nowhere close to your target audience, rather junior folks who have little to no influence in the decision-making process.?

Whereas content that shows your expertise, experience, and ability to tie to what the C-suite decision-maker expects will give you a solid head start.?

A great post I came across from Jimmy Kim :

I’m a huge fan of Rand Fishkin and this post about Moz’s final chapter almost teared me up: https://sparktoro.com/blog/the-final-chapter-of-my-first-startup/?

What I’m currently reading:?

It’s from the book Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross :

PS: If you’d want to build a content engine for your decision making/C-suite audience, let’s talk. You can reply here/DM and I’m at [email protected].?

I hope we find peace this November. The world needs more of it right now.???

With love,

Priyanka..