the hidden sales cycle | aberdeen & webmarketing123
TRANSCRIPT
© AberdeenGroup 2013
Winning the Hidden Sales Cycle:
Digital Strategies for Navigating the
New B2B Buyer’s Journey
Trip Kucera
Sr. Research Analyst
Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy
Aberdeen Group
© AberdeenGroup 2013 2
Objectives:
1. What is the “Hidden Sales Cycle”?
2. How does it define modern marketing?
3. How can I win?
� Content marketing
� SEO
� PPC & Display
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Lead Management
Opportunity
Management
Lead
Generation
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Lead Management
Opportunity
Management
Lead
GenerationHidden Sales Cycle
The Hidden Sales Cycle
Content + Community
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Control of Message & Visibility
Low
High
Competitors Content + Community Marketer (You)
Marketing’s Imperative:
Get Vision-Shaping Content In the Path of the Buyer
Discovery Consideration Evaluation Selection
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Marketing Must Adapt
Batch & Blast “Always-on” / Continuous
One-to-Many Aligned / Personalized
Product/Co.
CentricContent & Buyer Centric
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Content Marketing
is the Alchemy of
Intent
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Content Marketing Budgets
Budget Leaders Followers
Budget for content
marketing-related
programs (planned
change in next 12 mo.)
31% 19%
Content development
budget (planned change
in next 12 mo.)
22% 18%
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Top Strategies
41%
29%
33%
41%
43%
47%
50%
53%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Adopt a multi-channel content strategy (i.e.connecting content channels together across blog,
website, social channels, etc.)
Increase the quantity of relevant content we’re publishing on our site
Focus on improving the targeting of our contentmarketing efforts (i.e. content personalization,
situational content, etc.)
Use content in nurture-based marketingcampaigns that move buyers closer to purchase
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81
Leaders Followers
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Map your buyer’s
journey
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Get Content Marketing Right:
Right Alignment, Right Persona, Right Stage
59%
52%
38%
45%
27%
20%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Content marketing effortsare well-aligned with sales
methodology
Process to align marketingcontent with marketing /sales funnel stage (i.e.
content is developed withfunnel stage in mind)
Process to align marketingcontent with buyer persona(i.e. content is developedwith specific persona(s) in
mind)
Percentage of Respondents, n = 75
Leaders Followers
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0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Perception of Value (percent of companies ranking
activity as "Valuable" or "Very Valuable")
Effectiveness of Execution (percent of companies ranking execution as "Effective" or "Very Effective")
Content Marketing Perception of Value vs. Effectiveness of Execution, n = 81
Producing high-quality content
Tracking the content utilization metrics(visits, views, shares, etc.)
Generating / publishing sufficient contentto meet our needs
Tracking number of qualified leadsgenerated
Driving more traffic to our website withregularly updated content
Generating high-quality links to our content
Ability to personalize web site content
Accurately forecasting and budgeting leads/ customer acquisition
Ability to roll out new sites or contentquickly
Generating social mentions of content
Content Marketing Execution Gap
Source: Aberdeen Group, April 2013
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65%
13%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Generating high-quality links to content"valuable" or "very valuable"(4 or 5 on 1-5 scale of value)
"Effective" or "Very effective" in abilityto generate high-quality links to content(4 or 5 on 1-5 scale of effectiveness)
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81
All Respondents
The SEO spirit is willing,
but execution is weak
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SEO Management:
Don’t Call it a Comeback
CMOs haven’t “trusted”
SEO in the past
Happy days are here
again
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Know the Keyword of the Day
56% 55%
34%
50%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Process to share targetkeywords with content creators
across organization
Established process for searchkeyword research and
identification
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81 Leaders Followers
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Align SEO with development &
distribution of content
52% 52%
39% 39%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Marketing contentdevelopment alignedwith search engine
optimization (SEO) strategy
Content distributionaligned with search
engine optimization (SEO)strategy
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81
Leaders Followers
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It’s not just about page rank anymore
86%79%
48% 50%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Ability to measure howspecific search keywords
generate site traffic
Ability to track site rank forspecific search keywords
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81 Leaders Followers
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How Content Gets Measured
24%
24%
52%
76%
76%
76%
32%
36%
64%
82%
91%
95%
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Virality (how much is content shared)
Impact on the sales cycle
Conversion
Search engine rank
Utilization / consumption / views
Inbound / referral traffic
Percentage of Respondents, n = 81
Leaders
Followers
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SEO Management Users Outperform Non-
Users in Key Content Marketing Metrics
2.0%
3.6%
0.0% 2.5% 5.0%
Average websiteconversion rate
Current Performance, n = 81
SEOmanagementsolution users
Non-users 16%
24%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Percent of websitetraffic generated byorganic search
Current Performance, n = 81
SEOmanagementsolution users
Non-users
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Only the marketing
paranoid survive
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Best-in-Class More Effective in Search /
Digital Advertising
17%
16%
27%
55%
27%
28%
43%
59%
0% 25% 50% 75%
Contextually targeted display ads (adsare shown based on content that is
being displayed on site)
Behaviorally targeted display ads (adsare shown based on browsing history,
recently viewed pages, etc.)
Google display network
Google AdWords (not including display)
Percentage of Respondents "Effective" or "Very Effective" (4/5; 1-5 Scale), n = 130
Best in Class
All Others
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Search marketing success:
get the basics right
57% 57%
39%34%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Comprehensive view of organicand paid search keywords andassociated performance data
We understand which keywordsare likely to perform well in PPC
campaigns
Percentage of Respondents, n = 130
Best in Class All Others
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Knowing what works leads to
more of what works
48% 48%
36%33%
24%
17%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Ability to attribute organicand paid search to leads
Ability to track theconversion rate and revenueperformance of paid search
terms / PPC keywords
We understand the value /ROI of each individual
search term
Percentage of Respondents, n = 130 Best in Class All Others
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Don’t be
afraid to
get help
19%
33%
34%
23%
31%
46%
51%
55%
58%
62%
68%
70%
0% 25% 50% 75%
Measuring the effectiveness ofthe PPC spend
Keeping up with the latestsearch engine changes (i.e.search rank algorithms)
Improving the organic searchranking for keywords
Identifying effective PPCterms
Ranking organically forselected keywords
Identifying the right keywordsfor website optimization
Percentage of Respondents "Effective" or "Very Effective" (4/5, 1-5 scale), n = 160
Search marketing agency users Non users
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What’s next?
�Will it Blend? – Mixing paid, earned, and owned
� Ad acceleration - Digital ads integrated with
lead nurturing
� Responsive / Just-in-Time – Dynamic targeting
based on analytical customer model
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How do you “win” the hidden sales cycle?
1. Unhide the hidden sales cycle in your market
and map your buyers’ decision journeys
2. Design content / moments that:
� Align to the buyer’s need
� Shape your buyer’s vision of success
3. Invest in content marketing / search
marketing solutions (technology &/or services)