SalesVPI

Content Publishing vs. Traditional "Point Production" Process

People regularly ask me to clarify the differences and reasons for adopting a content publishing  process rather than the traditional “point production" process. Here is a simple list of reasons. 

We believe organizations face new content requirements that a publishing oriented  creation process best addresses because: 

1. Content must be relevant to each buyer and their situation, vs. “one size fits all”
2. Content must educate, create a vision and inspire vs. pitch features and benefits
3. This means a dramatic increase in the volume of content to create which breaks down with traditional approaches
4. We must reduce the burden on subject experts (SMEs) and change their role in creating content
5. Content creation must become a planned asset development and maintenance process vs. an event driven, “one-and-done” approach
6. Content creation is moving from centralized, “professional” creators to “new producers” all over the organization and beyond who must be supported to realize quality, consistent and efficient results
7. Organizations must flatten the cost curve, especially if they apply traditional approaches to new requirements
8. Content must be created for sharing and re-use at the “modular” level, not just as finished programs
9. Content must be flexible enough to be used in multiple delivery channels. 

There are undoubtedly many other reasons and benefits. These are my top candidates, what are yours?

For more on this topic: A short video and related blogs, articles, etc.

Why Create Content Like a Publisher?

We are told, "think and create like a publisher." (Pulizi, Meerman Scott, Albee) What does this really mean? Why is this necessary?

Traditionally, business content creation occurred in a centralized, marketing directed, professional creation organization and process. Today, creation has disbursed to front line creators in the executive ranks, marketing, sales, and even channel and partner organizations. This creates new challenges and requirements. To make this a positive, efficient, contributing effort with positive results, these "new producers" require support.

Failure to provide support could result in haphazard creation efforts of poor quality content, frustrated constituents, reduced productivity, hidden costs -- in fact the risks can be significant.

Framing Questions

Here are questions that will help your team, and your management, understand what's at stake by continuing to pursue a process of "random acts of content." (IDG)

• How do people throughout your organization know what content to build next? Why it should be created? How it will be use? Does the reason meet a set of defined criteria?
• How do you enable anyone to create content without becoming a domain expert, having to figure out what to say, or how to say it (right down to desired phrases or glossary terms)?
• How do you avoid turning your subject experts into content creators?
• How do you preserve message, brand and quality standards while enabling messages to be quickly converted into effective content?
• How to you insure efficient and optimum acquisition of subject expert insights as source input to content creation efforts?
• How do you lower the cost (time, effort and dollars) of content creation, especially over time, as requirements drive up content volumes?

Marketing and Sales Content Strategy

Most people embrace the notion we need to deliver the right content, to the right people, at the right time, in their preferred format.

This begs the question, how do we create the right content, so it is available the instant it is needed and can be made relevant to all the people we address? How do we deploy content so anyone in the organization's "communication ecosystem" can access, tailor and deliver content at the right time, in audience preferred formats?

Without a defined and documented plan of action, organizations risk inaction, or worse, chaotic efforts that create serious un-intended consequences due to "random acts of content."

Organizations need a content strategy, not only for the web, (Halvorson) but for broader marketing and sales purposes.

This strategy should make clear the content creation priorities needed to fill key marketing and sales content gaps. It should inform and guide acquisition of insights from important subject experts who provide source content. The result would be a defined plan for sanctioned content priorities, supported by an acquisition and creation calendar.

Total Cost of Content Model

We need to move beyond justifying the direct costs of a "point production" project. We need a model that illuminates the "total cost of content" across the organization, and measures the "total value of content" from each project.

This thinking will lead to a new process that yields:

• Lower development time and effort --especially on subject experts -- and faster content time to market
• Content created for multiple (not single) purposes
• Source content assets that can be used for other content creation purposes, as well as re-usable, modular content
• Content that can be tailored for different audiences, purposes, sub-issues, buying stages, consumption lengths (scan and read)

Questions that Guide Your Organization

Has your organization embraced content marketing principles that encourage relevant, customer education oriented over vendor, product and service oriented content?

Have you developed a marketing and sales content strategy, defined your customer's buying process and the questions they must answer to buy your products or services?

Have you conducted a content inventory, assessed how well your content supports your new requirements and made sure it is in the customer voice not the vendor voice?

Have you mapped your content to your customer's buying process by persona, sub-issue, stage, alternative solutions (your competition) as well as to your sales processes -- and identified critical content gaps?

I agree, this can be a daunting task, especially without a good, defined and documented strategy that clarifies specific plans, priorities, policies, processes, procedures and standards. Leaving it up to individuals or groups is both inefficient and ineffective.

Perhaps this is a good point to invoke Albert Einstein's famous quotation:

"The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

Content Marketing Principles and Practices

Subtitle: Lip Service or Disciplined, Consistent Execution?

A research briefing on Focus Marketing website call Best Practices in Content Marketing presents summary recommendations, a set of principles really, for conducting content marketing.

Executive Summary
"A content marketing strategy involves the creation of content for the purpose of engaging and establishing relationships with current and prospective customers, and subscribes to the belief that delivering high-quality information to prospects at the right stage of the buying cycle drives profitable action. There are several stages of a content marketing strategy each with many elements to consider before moving to the next. In this guide, Focus Experts Ardath Albee, Joe Chernov, Barbra Gago, Doug Kessler, and Stephanie Tilton have suggested their top tips and best practices for each stage of the content marketing cycle."

I highly recommend the briefing, the full roundtable discussion transcript, or the on demand recording of the full program. (I especially like that Focus offers MP3 and transcript versions, and wish more webinar providers would follow suit).

While the principles are quite clear and have been promoted extensively now for years, execution of the associated practices is indeed difficult.

How many of the recommended best practices does your organization execute on with consistency and discipline?

Additional Thoughts on 10 Rainmaker Principles

As we all plan for a new year and for changes that will make a difference, a good place to start is with core principles and practices. Mike Schultz gives us a useful checklist in his recent blog 10 Rainmaker Principles and Keys to Sales Motivation, which I highly recommend.

Given my commitment to focusing on "being the best" I found this list especially helpful. Like all good points this post stimulated additional thoughts that I'd like to share.

Principle #1 -- Play to win-win. One of the challenges many of us have given our years of experience is to view principles like this through a mindset of "yes, this is a good one, I understand." I will be challenging my organization to re-think and re-apply this principle in ways that break through our "thinking as usual."

We will re-define what it means to deliver in the best interests of clients and prospects -- specifically and in detail. What does it mean to be "top performers"? How committed are we -- really? We will use this to set new levels of expectation.

Principle #4 -- Think buying first, selling second. I think this is a key principle to achieving our objective of being the best and taking our business to the next level. Again, we're re-thinking what it means to "think buying first." Aligning with the customer's buying process is an important starting point, and one we baked into our process well in 2010.

For this year, it means to start with a buying vs. selling mindset. This will drive our entire approach to prospects. Rather than thinking about "what can we sell them?" our approach will be based upon how well we can service them uniquely, and how our buying criteria fit with the prospect, i.e. we're "buying" a new customer.

Among our criteria will be "fit." We will work with customers where we are truly the best fit with their needs, values and beliefs. They will value the best, and be appreciative of our "secret sauce," the things that make us best. This is important because too many buyers do not meet this criteria. Either through ignorance, indifference, or the belief of commoditization of services, they refuse to appreciate our capabilities that provide real value.

Three important buying questions from our perspective: 1) can the customer be helped best by us? 2) will they allow us to help them? 3) will they value our help sufficiently to make them an ideal customer?

This will show up in the conversations we have with customers. They will sound like a journey of discovery and alignment, rather than directed questioning, pitching of value propositions, or even traditional discovery.

Principle #5 -- Be a fluent expert. Everyone in our organization must know, appreciate and be able to communicate our unique expertise -- where and how we are the best -- and how this provides value to customers. This must be delivered not in a pedantic or typical competitive sense, but to gain alignment and verify appreciation.

Principles #6 & 7 -- Create new conversations - Lead masterful conversations. Of course, it's all about conversations. But conversations about what? Not about us and our ideas and services (as tempting as that is). Leading conversations is about leading the buyer to better understand their current situation, their business and personal objectives, to notice symptoms that indicate problems they might not appreciate, to understand what's possible, necessary and required to resolve their problems. The quality of conversations dictates how well we execute on our vision and plan.

Our conversations will focus first on becoming related, on sharing our vision and values, on establishing trust and a common view. Like good buyers, we will discuss shared criteria to making the best mutual decision.

Each of the principles in this post bear reflection and serious application. How we interpret and apply the principles is the real challenge and opportunity. What insights can you share as you reflect on the original principles or my observation and application of them?

New B2B Marketing and Selling Truisms

This is my list of new truisms for B2B marketing and sales. They provide context for most of our services and writing.

I post them prominently here so as to not have to repeat them in any conversation or material I create. If you agree with these truisms, please join the conversation. If you have additional, please help me growth a comprehensive list. Thanks to those who have provided suggestions, some of which I've added.

1. Buyers are more in control of the B2B buying process than ever before.
2. For buyers, all sellers look and sound alike. Products and services appear undifferentiated. Therefore, the way we sell is a critical area of differentiation and value add.
3. The Internet changes everything, by providing instant access to virtually unlimited information.
4. This requires new ways of thinking about marketing and sales, as well as new processes, skills, resources and investments.
5. "It's not about the bike!" It takes more than technology to achieve outcomes, especially strategy, skills, process and content.
6. Content is the new currency for marketing and sales.
7. The goal of content marketing is to provide the right person with the right content in the right media at the right moment in time. That requires a new approach to content.
8. Content must help customers with their buying process by addressing their questions and issues, which are not addressed by vendor product features and functions.
9. Content must be relevant, remarkable, timely and convenient to be appreciated by buyers who are inundated with information and have limited time and attention.
10. Content must meet and optimize a new set of criteria:

• Quality -- professional, but perhaps only "good enough"
• Rapid development and instant availability,
• Affordable cost,
• Flexible tailoring for relevance,
• Accommodate the volume of content required,
• Easy to share and maintain to optimize use and shelf life, as well as provide an acceptable return-on-content
• Ability to enable front line to access, select, assemble and deliver relevant content in a timely and convenient manner.