There’s a lingering ailment in B2B marketing. It’s finding cohesion between the marketing content we produce and the buyers we serve. Thankfully, the majority of marketers are seeing the light.
76% of marketers said mapping the right content to key stages in the buyer’s journey is important to their digital marketing initiatives over the next three years, according to a new report from Regalix. The realization that actually targeting content to buyer personas and sales stages is critical is an encouraging sign. After all, how many of us spend hours (and cash) to develop personas, only to bury them in a spreadsheet or inbox somewhere?
But if B2B marketers think they can wait three years to systematically map their content to their buyers’ journeys, they are in for a rude awakening.
Content that is purpose-driven—that is planned, created, distributed, and optimized with specific personas and stages of sales cycle in mind—ends up getting limited usage. That’s why as much as 70% of B2B content goes unused, according to SiriusDecisions.
So if mapping content to personas and sales stages is such a priority, why isn’t every marketer doing it? The answer is that they simply don’t have the right process and tools.
76% of marketers say mapping content to the buyer’s journey is important to their digital initiatives
Content within most marketing organizations gets created in silos, using a variety of systems (email, spreadsheets, project management software, etc.), and distributed to an expanding array of channels. The result is mass confusion. And without a process and technology for ensuring buyer personas and sales stages are aligned to the content made in these systems and distributed to these channels, it’s impossible to actually track what assets exist and the purpose they serve.
This is where B2B needs to make greater investments. As we joyously examine new tools and tech to optimize bits and pieces of the buyer’s journey, we need to pay equal attention to improving the process and workflows for producing the content that moves those buyers forward. And that includes mapping it to the right buyer and the right stage.
Otherwise, expect to throw more content into the already heaping landfill.