Having marketing automation or account based marketing in place is great, but if a B2B organization doesn’t have the content marketing plan in place to back it up, those initiatives are doomed to fail.
“The first things many companies realize as soon as they implement ABM or marketing automation is that they have a content gap, and you need to feed that,” says Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insider Group.
Some companies are still relying on agencies to create content, notes Brenner, adding that in some sectors—such as financial services or healthcare—it can be difficult to rely on employees to create content.
“In B2B a lot of large companies trying to bring the content creation process in house, but they’re not sure if they can do content marketing effectively,” he says. “Promotion is the natural instinct of most companies—we all love our products and that cultural mindset is ingrained in B2B companies, especially those with a sales driven culture.”
Sometimes the biggest challenges lie not with people and technology but managing the internal structure to do the right thing, says Brenner, who will also moderate the B2B LeadsCon session “Please, Pretty Please: The Trick to Getting C-Suite Buy-In.” “When you ask CMOs about their biggest challenges, they’ll say showing ROI but they often really feel its having a relationship with the CEO.”
CMOs need to have the confidence to implement programs that are measurable and can deliver value, he notes. Things like logos on buildings look great but don’t deliver quantifiable results. “Do things that deliver value. “
Michael Brenner led the workshop “Building a Content Marketing Plan That Converts” during the B2B Path2Conversion day at B2B LeadsCon in New York.
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