Let’s Stop Calling It Content Marketing

Clients sometimes ask me to “flip the script” and write them a piece of content that challenges the prospect’s assumptions. The goal is to create differentiated thought leadership that leads to engagement. I’m all for that, but I’m here today to suggest that technology marketing professionals consider flipping the script on themselves when it comes to content marketing. In my view, it’s time to stop calling the process “content marketing” and refer to what we do as “content selling.”

I’m the rare content writer who started his tech career in enterprise software sales. I won’t get into my whole story, but I spent the 37th year of my life dialing for dollars at an API security startup before moving into marcom and product management roles. It was a great experience, because it taught me that every customer interaction, from making cold calls to sending emails and sharing written content is about selling…and closing.

Every piece of content needs to be selling at all times. Even when content doesn’t appear to be selling, it needs to be selling. There should be no such thing as marketing content. All content is selling content. If not, it’s a waste of time and budget.

?

The only question that matters: “What will move us toward a close?”

I won’t go all Alec Baldwin on you and say “ABC: Always Be Closing,” but it’s good advice for content marketers. Effective content contains the closing argument, even if it’s hidden. When I work with a client on a white paper or blog post, I start the writing process by getting a firm understanding of how their sales process works and how the product meets the prospect’s needs.

For example, if a client is selling an AI-based cybersecurity solution, and their customers buy this solution to alleviate their alert fatigue, then I will frame the content in terms of alert fatigue. I’m not literally going to write, “Buy this to end your alert fatigue,” but I work from the understanding that a desire to end alert fatigue is what will close the deal. The rest is detail and differentiation.

?

Personas and their discontents

The challenge is to write content that sells without obvious selling. Few prospects answer the question “Will you buy this?” with “Yes.” The conversation is more nuanced and indirect. Getting it right means digging deep and figuring out the human dimensions of sales dialogues.

I developed and taught a course on consultative selling for IBM account teams when I was one of Big Blue’s Social Software Evangelists. The path to success with consultative selling, as it is with effective selling content, is to understand why you’re having the sales conversation in the first place. The prospect is not talking to you because he or she wants to buy a product. In their perfect world, they wouldn’t spend a dime on anything. They’re talking to you because they have a problem and they think you might be able to solve it.

So, Step 1 in crafting good selling content is to understand the prospect’s problem. And, a word to the wise, it may be different from what they say it is. For instance, the prospect may tell you that they need a solution that reduces the cost of connecting a corporate network with branch offices. That’s the identifiable problem. Their actual problem is that their network is poorly designed. If you can crack open a dialogue about that, you can demonstrate that you add value beyond their immediate needs. A piece of content can do that. It can frame the branch office connectivity issue in terms of network design.

Step 2 is about identifying the prospect’s personal problem in the sales dialogue. Buyers are people. They worry about the same kinds of problems as you and me. They want to keep their jobs. They want to be praised and promoted. They don’t want to set themselves up for more stress by making the wrong choice. Selling content soothes these concerns—paving the way for a close because the buyer becomes confident that you will solve their technical problem without making their lives worse.

?

Content as reverse qualifier

When I worked at IBM, I learned a great deal about the IBM sales methodology, which is heavy on reverse qualifying. In contrast to the “take any meeting” attitude that pervades many tech sales organizations, most IBM account reps carefully question prospects to determine whether the prospect is worth their time. This may seem counterintuitive, but the practice helps avoid useless meetings and wasting time bidding on deals that IBM isn’t in a strong position to win. Selling content can aid in this process.

Here's an example. Let’s say you are tasked with writing a paper for an application security solution that is best suited for teams that already use the DevSecOps methodology. I would only mention DevSecOps use cases and benefits in the paper. I might even explicitly state that the solution is best suited to DevSec Ops. That way, if a prospect who does not use DevSecOps reads the paper, he or she might think, “This isn’t for me.” They’ll ignore you, and in the process, do you a favor. They won’t waste your time.

?

Conclusion

Sales and marketing may be separate organizational units. They may have different processes and incentive structures. But, they have a common goal: Closing deals. The more these superficially divided teams can come together and see this truth, the better off the business will be. Content is a good place to start. Effective content delivers sales results. Getting there means understanding the problem to be solved, and the human aspects of making a successful argument that your solution is the best and only choice.

So, let’s flip the script. To learn about my writing practice, visit https://b2bcontent.pro

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com: https://www.pexels.com/photo/shopping-cart-next-to-a-laptop-5632397/

Note: This article contains no text written by AI

?

?