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The Rising Epidemic in Social Media and Content Marketing

Don’t be alarmed modern marketers, but there appears to be an epidemic on our hands. Numerous reports and surveys have surfaced recently that reveal a disturbing trend. It appears that while the vast majority of B2B companies are investing in social media marketing initiatives, few have clearly defined strategies or tactics for their efforts, and as a result, they aren’t seeing the fruits of their labor they had hoped to reap.

You may recall our last article in which we discussed the fact that while most B2B companies are investing in social media marketing initiatives, the majority aren’t using social media for lead generation or lead nurturing activities. In the end, we stressed the importance of developing a social media marketing strategy that can identify prospects and their behaviors online, and use the intelligence to deliver the right message to the right person through the right channel.

Today, we’ll be dissecting a recent study which shows that an overwhelming 91% of B2B marketers use some form of content marketing, yet only 36% believe their content-based marketing efforts are effective in producing results.

A startling statistic like this may lead some to believe that content marketing is an ineffective tactic for sales integration or deal capture. Before buying into this myth, however, consider the example of Jason Westland, CEO of ProjectManager.com, who was profiled in a recent Forbes article.

The company was launched in 2008 and within two weeks was working with NASA and the United Nations. Today, the company has 10,000 paying customers and by 2015, is projected to own 80% market share of online project planning.

According to the article, Westland was able to accomplish all this without the use of any traditional advertising by simply making content marketing the central focus of his company’s marketing strategy.

Westland even offers readers his “secret sauce” of success:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Westland’s two slides above provide a simplistic view on how his company leverages content marketing to drive brand awareness and sales. However, for many companies, these tactics won’t naturally fall into place without the creation and distribution of quality content.

In Westfield’s funnel conversion process, a company can gain initial trust with the collection of a prospect’s email address. From here, it’s up to the company to build on this trust, which will require the creation and distribution of quality content (in this case a newsletter) that engages, educates, and entertains prospects to take the next step in the lead cultivation process.

Overall, Westfield’s approach to content marketing serves as an incredibly successful example of the extraordinary results that can be achieved through effective content marketing. Marketers just need to develop and implement a unique, quality content creation and distribution strategy that attracts prospects to take action in support of sales outcomes.

For further guidance on defining and creating quality content, check out the latest StrategicGuy blog post, 3 Hallmarks of Exceptional Content.

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“All About Experience” Spotlight Shines on Joe Chernov

To create and market content that will engage an audience and produce business results is no easy task. There are many intricacies involved when deciding which content development and content marketing strategy to pursue. The right combination can increase awareness, engagement and lead generation for companies.

We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Joe Chernov, Vice President of Content Marketing at Eloqua. Joe spoke with us about his role at Eloqua and the valuable content he and his team develop to produce results. Joe also pointed to a few sessions corporate marketers should check out at the highly anticipated Eloqua Experience 2012 event in November.

Can you provide us a little background on your role at Eloqua?

My role is essentially to get new DNA into Eloqua’s prospect gene pool. This is accomplished through articles secured via PR, recommendations made by analysts, and content that we publish for others to consume and share. I see my role as an advocate for the prospective customer by making sure the content we produce is faithful to their interests – not our own.

What do you want your readers to walk away with from the content you produce?

I want our readers to think of Eloqua’s content as performing a service. I want them to feel a sense of pride when they discover – and help others discover – an infographic or video. I want them to feel a burst of confidence when they learn something new in one of our eBooks or presentations. Regardless of the format, I want them to walk away thinking, “I would have paid for this stuff, and yet these guys gave it away–for free!”

What are some of the sessions you recommend marketers check out at the Eloqua Experience 2012 (EE12NA) conference in November? Are there any sessions that you will host?

Our sessions on measuring the impact of modern marketing are very strong. Eloqua is inherently a very analytical company, and marketing analytics has truly “come of age.” I honestly can’t think of an organization better suited than Eloqua to present credibly on measuring the business impact of marketing. Also, our Markie Awards are always a hit. It’s probably the most inspirational three hours of the year for Eloqua staff and customers.

I will be hosting a session with Kapost and Compendium on the topic of content marketing.

Do you have plans to extend content leading up to and following the conference?

We are working on several pieces of content leading up to Eloqua Experience. One particular project, which I cannot reveal just yet, is something I am uniquely proud of. We are trying to fuse several content types into a new format, and, in doing so, deliver value and create a community. Like I said, it’s a real mash-up!

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Eloqua’s Joe Payne Previews ‘Experience’ Excitement

Eloqua CEO Joe Payne

As the editors at “All About Experience” ramp up for Eloqua’s highly anticipated user conference in November, we wanted a chance to get a sneak peek of what’s in store for this year’s conference, which grows larger every year. And who better to offer a preview of this year’s conference than Eloqua CEO, Joe Payne?

Each year, Eloqua Experience gets larger with more speakers, sessions, content and attendees. What’s new that Eloqua has planned for the North American conference in Orlando in November?

The most obvious “new thing” is the change of location. We had to move the conference to Orlando because we basically outgrew San Francisco. Only a couple of hotels could accommodate our size (and we would be too small for Moscone) and those hotels were booked a year in advance. We have already booked San Francisco for 2013, but this year, modern marketers will simply have to fly to Orlando to enjoy the Eloqua Experience. I’m hoping that plenty of our customers and friends will be thrilled to soak in the sun of Orlando in November.

And yes, we are getting bigger and better every year. For instance, we’ll have two guest keynotes this year instead of one. Jeffrey Hayzlett, former Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Eastman Kodak, will talk about how to drive change within your organization, and Charlene Li, of Altimeter Group, will help us take stock of where the market currently is and plot where it’s heading.

We have also listened to customer feedback and added 20 new education sessions, many of which dive deeper into the product than ever before. We’re also adding a Camp Eloqua, which is designed for those in the early stages of the Eloqua journey. We’ll host an executive session with the Corporate Executive Board so those at the C-level will be able to hear about the trends that are shaping modern marketing. In other words, the days will be jam packed no matter your title or experience.

Oh, and we’re throwing the Markies after-party at the Hard Rock Live, so you can plan on the best celebration yet.

What should an attendee expect to come away with after attending Eloqua Experience?  Best practices and approaches? Better understanding of the platform’s technical functionality? New industry contacts?

All of the above. We’re covering all the modern marketing bases. The new “Push It” track we’re adding will give advanced clients a chance to swim in the deep end of the pool, while Camp Eloqua will focus on the basics. Plus, we’ll discuss the most important topics hitting marketers today: content, privacy regulations, customer service, impressing the CFO—the list goes on and on.

What excites me most is how many of these talks will be led by customers. Brands like McAfee, NetApp and LinkedIn will all share their own experiences. It goes beyond networking, because you’ll not only have a chance to shake hands and swap stories with some of most respected marketers in the world, but also hear practical knowledge you can put in practice when you get back to the office.

Your keynote address is Wednesday morning, November 7.  Can you preview any themes or messages from your presentation?

I don’t want to give too much away, but expect to hear about what drives modern marketing success. My focus—the whole company’s focus—is always on making our customers successful. And success today requires a growing set of skills, particularly layering social intelligence across sales and marketing.

For the past couple of years everyone has been talking about social, but largely from an outreach perspective. We’re exploring how to turn the social media attributes we use to communicate externally into internal tools, collaborating in real-time so marketing touches every aspect of the organization. I suspect that will come up in my talk.

And, of course, I will try to make it fun!  I hope to see you and all your readers in Orlando.

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Eloqua a Shining Example of Effective Content Marketing

In an age of declining traditional media, companies are searching for new ways to get their collateral in front of the appropriate audience. Thanks to content marketing, companies are accomplishing their goal as they become online publishers of their own content.

But any savvy business person knows that effective content marketing must be tied to organizational goals. And if effective content marketing is an art form, then Eloqua is Van Gogh.

The marketing automation pioneer has achieved impressive results from its proven formula of providing high quality content in a variety of forms. Additionally, one look at the company’s blog, “It’s All About Revenue” showcases Eloqua’s ability to present and release content in ways that make it easy to find and share.

Eloqua’s success in content marketing is featured in a recent Business2Community article. The article presents three key lessons from Eloqua’s proven success in content marketing.

First, highlight top performing content. Take a look at Eloqua’s homepage for a prime example of this.

But how do you know which content is worthy of being featured? Start out by conducting some research on existing contents’ performance and talk to your audience to find out what they consider valuable. Then, track the performance of your content to find out how it’s performing. Featuring this content on your homepage allows visitors to easily find, access and share your best content.

Next, focus on creativity. A lot of attention has been placed on data lately. But Joe Chernov, Eloqua’s VP of Content Marketing, has a few words of wisdom on data vs. creativity:

“Marketers tend to think in ‘zero sum’ terms. If ‘A’ is hot, then ‘B’ must be cold. Right now ‘A’ is data. Data is hot; big data is hotter still. Data informs decisions, helping companies making smarter choices. Yet just because data is hot doesn’t mean that creativity is cold. In fact, given the sharp rise in amount of original content being published by brands, it has become exceptionally difficult to ‘get heard’ on the noisy social web. Creative content stands out, gets discovered and, most importantly, gets shared. The data say so.”

Eloqua’s last key to success is to tie content to the sales funnel. While increased traffic and brand awareness are great side benefits of content marketing, the real value is in increased sales and lead generation.

Eloqua offers a great infographic for a helpful visual on how to successfully move customers through the sales funnel by suggesting next steps and putting the right content in front of potential customers at the right time.

If you need more proof of Eloqua’s expertise in the area of content markting, take a look at the original article for some impressive statistics Eloqua has achieved using their tried and true content marketing methods.

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Say “Hey” to All About Experience

A constant in my two decades of work in the technology industry is the fact that life at an emerging growth software firm is not for the faint of heart.

It takes a Herculean effort to balance the intensity of product definition and development, sales and marketing execution and customer implementation and support, with ever mounting capital requirements.  Regardless of how innovative the solution, the vast majority of start-ups are destined for irrelevance.

That’s why now is such an exciting time to be associated with Eloqua, a firm considered to be the most successful marketing automation software company in the industry.

Led by CEO Joe Payne, Eloqua helped create the marketing automation space and then convinced a myriad of corporate marketers to adopt their innovative platform.  Moreover, Eloqua’s Revenue Performance Methodology has redefined how many organizations approach the sales and marketing process.

My consultancy – Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) – is an Eloqua referral partner.  Three of our marquee clients (Blue Coat Systems, Mandiant and Polycom) use Eloqua.  We’re working with each to utilize Eloqua for lead scoring and lead nurturing in a field sales environment.

This brings me to Eloqua Experience 2012, the company’s annual user conference scheduled for November 6 – 8 in Orlando, Florida.  I’m excited to participate as one of the featured speakers on day two.  My topic:

Fortune One:  How to Grow Your Company’s Business in the $41B US Federal Government Market

I also sought to identify a way to contribute to Eloqua’s continued success, while enhancing my own prospects at Eloqua Experience.  That desire led to the creation of this special section on my Strategic Guy blog.

Entitled “All About Experience,” I will publish high value content weekly in a couple of areas:

–Exclusive interviews with Eloqua executives

–Profiles of conference speakers and attendees

–A round up of Eloqua related news, analysis and insight

Please subscribe by Email, add this site to your RSS reader and visit often.  I also encourage you to Email me at mhausman@gotostrategic.com or call me at (240) 485-1080 if you plan to attend Eloqua Experience.  It would be great to meet up.

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