With analytics software helping B2B marketers identify leads, the biggest difficulty facing these professionals is creating branded content that aids the nurturing process. Back in October, Forbes contributor Steve Olenski reported on a BtoB Magazine study that found 51 percent of survey respondents identified content marketing as the most important tool for lead generation, and custom content can help guide prospective buyers throughout the sales cycle.
In the “2012 B2B Content Marketing: Ready for Prime Time” study conducted by BtoB Magazine, professionals indicate they will make greater commitments to content creation in 2013. The data shows two-thirds of respondents will be either “very” or “fully” engaged in the practice by next year – a 100 percent year-over-year increase.
A few months later, BtoB Magazine analyzed another aspect of the sales cycle – lead nurturing – and found marketers indicated similar plans for the practice next year. The report shows that 74 percent of marketers will participate in lead generation in 2013, but only 49 percent of respondents have lead-nurturing processes in place.
A challenge that prevents marketers from developing content that educates and guides leads throughout their product or service research is, most often, lack of resources. According to the source, 67 percent of respondents said they don’t have the technology or skill sets to succeed, and 26 percent blamed poor communication and processes.
Marketers must put together a content strategy that improves every aspect of lead generation and delivers media to prospective customers throughout their research. Eighty percent of B2B marketers say social media is their channel of choice in the Ready for Prime Time report, but it’s worthwhile to consider how video marketing (cited as top dog by 57 percent) might speak to leads in a different stage of the sales cycle with more authority.
