Why Customers Should Be the Heroes of Your Case Studies

Customer case studies are one of the most popular and influential kinds of marketing content used by B2B companies. New research by Eccolo Media shows that case studies are the fourth most widely consumed type of marketing collateral (behind product brochures, white papers, and video/multimedia files) and the second most influential type of marketing collateral (trailing only white papers).

Case studies are potent marketing tools because they're good at performing several jobs.

• They help establish your credibility.
• They educate prospects about the benefits of your product or service.
• Most importantly, they can lower a prospect's perception of the risk associated with purchasing your product or service.

The good news is that case studies can boost the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. The not-so-good news is that the use of case studies has exploded, and therefore your case studies are facing more competition for attention and mindshare. If they don't stand out from all the others your prospects see, they simply won't produce the maximum benefits.

I'm often asked by clients to review and comment on their customer case studies. All too often, what I read is self-promotional "brochureware" disguised as a case study.

The mistake that many companies make is to cast themselves, rather than their customers, as the heroes of their case studies. The storyline in many case studies resembles the old silent movie where the villian ties a helpless damsel (the customer) to the railroad tracks, and the hero (the selling company) rides in at the last minute to rescue the damsel in distress from an oncoming train.

A well-written case study will cause readers to identify with the customer. You want readers to empathize with the "pain" the customer was experiencing and the success the customer achieved. In essence, you want readers to finish the case study believing that they can achieve the same success, if they will just let you help. When you make yourself the hero of your case studies, you are asking readers to identify with your company, not the customer. And that's much more difficult to achieve.

It's easy to tell when the selling company has made itself the hero of a case study. Lots of sentences begin with "We" or "Our" and the story focuses on what the selling company (or its product or service) did rather than on what the customer was able to accomplish.

So, when you prepare a case study, you can give yourself a strong supporting role, but always let your customer be the star.

We've created a "mini-guide" to writing compelling customer case studies. If you'd like to get a copy of Seven Tips for Writing Customer Case Studies that Sell, send an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

What "The Challenger Sale" Can Teach Us About Content Marketing

The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson is one of the most important books on selling that's appeared in the last several years. The book is based on an in-depth research project conducted by the Corporate Executive Board. The research involved an analysis of over 6,000 sales reps from all major industries and geographies.

The objective of the CEB research was to identify what skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes separate top-performing sales reps from average performers. What the researchers found runs counter to much of the long-held conventional wisdom about what drives sales success.

The first major finding is that salespeople fall into one of five distinct profiles:

• The Hard Worker
• The Challenger
• The Relationship Builder
• The Lone Wolf
• The Reactive Problem Solver

The second important finding is that one type of sales rep - The Challenger - clearly outperforms all of the others. Thirty-nine percent of all "star" salespeople are Challengers. One of the major surprises in the research is that Relationship Builders are the big losers. Only 7% of all star reps fall into that category.

The Challenger Sale is written from a sales perspective, but it has a lot to say to marketers. The connection to marketing becomes clear when we look at what causes Challenger sales reps to be successful. Dixon and Adamson found that Challenger reps excel because they provide customers and prospects new, valuable, and unique insights that help them compete more effectively in their markets. Challengers pressure their prospects and customers to question their assumptions and think about their business in new and different ways.

It turns out (as shown by other Corporate Executive Board research) that this is what prospects and customers really want. Buyers say they highly value sales reps who:

• Offer unique and valuable perspectives on the market
• Help them navigate alternatives
• Provide ongoing advice or consultation
• Help them avoid potential land mines
• Educate them on new ideas and outcomes

These are exactly the things that Challenger sales reps do. Rather that just asking a bunch of questions to identify needs and then offering a solution, Challengers bring new insights (and therefore value) to the conversation with the buyer.

Today, marketing content must perform many of these same functions. Because business buyers are doing more research on their own, your marketing content must act as your "surrogate sales rep" early in the buying process. This research shows that your content needs to be a "surrogate Challenger sales rep."

Those of use who write about content marketing emphasize the importance of using content that is primarily educational, that is customized for specific buyer personas and that speaks to where a potential buyer is in his or her buying process. All those things are important, but what really separates great marketing content from content that is merely good is that great content also provokes new thinking. Great marketing content provides unique and valuable perspectives that prod potential buyers to consider new alternatives for improving their business.

How much of your marketing content would pass the "Challenger" test?

Why a Blog (Still) Matters in Marketing

B2B marketers have more ways than ever to publish and share marketing content. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Slideshare, and Scribd are just some of the venues for disseminating your content to prospects and customers. With all of the options now available, it can be tempting to think that blogging is no longer important to your marketing efforts.

That's a mistake. A blog can still be a highly effective marketing tool. In the 2011 State of Inbound Marketing survey by HubSpot:

• 57% of companies that publish a blog said that they have acquired new customers from blog-generated leads
• 62% of companies with a blog said that it is "critical" or "important" to their business

Here are just a few of the benefits that a blog provides:

• A blog is an ideal vehicle for providing your prospects with bite-size pieces of your marketing content. Today's business buyers are incredibly busy, and many prefer content that can be consumed quickly. This can be particularly important when you are dealing with prospects who don't know you well. A blog provides a way for them to try out your content without investing a lot of their time.
• A blog is one of the best ways to improve your company's position in organic search. Google and other search engines place a big emphasis on how frequently content is updated. So, if you post to your blog regularly, you can improve your search results.
• Your blog can be used to point prospects to more substantial marketing content. For example, you can use a blog post to summarize a topic covered in one of your white papers and include a link to the paper in your post.
• Your blog can function as a hub for your content marketing effort. For example, when you publish a new blog post, you can use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to point to the post.

The catch is that just having a blog isn't enough. To reap the most benefits from your blog, you need to post new content on a frequent basis. The HubSpot survey shows that 72% of companies that post weekly have acquired new customers through their blog. That number increases to 78% for companies that post daily, but it falls to only 49% for companies that post monthly.

Posting on a weekly basis can be challenging for many companies, but there are a couple of ways to deal with the challenge. First, you can outsource some or all of the blog writing duties.  In this scenario, blog posts are prepared by an outside writer, but they are published under your "byline." The second approach is to use "guest bloggers" to write some of the posts for your blog. This approach can be effective, so long as it isn't overused. After all, one primary objective of your blog is to demonstrate your expertise, not someone else's.

Marketing Collateral Remains Critical (But Buyers' Preferences are Changing)

Earlier this month, Eccolo Media released its 2011 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report. This survey focused on business buyers who had been involved in a recent purchase of business technology, and it was designed to measure the use and influence of five types of marketing collateral.

• Product brochures/data sheets
• White papers
• Customer case studies
• Podcasts/audio files
• Videos/multimedia files

This survey was limited to technology buyers, so the results may not reflect the attitudes and practices of all B2B buyers. On the other hand, it's probably fair to say that technology buyers as a group tend to be "early adopters" of new communications methods. Therefore, the findings of this survey may provide a good early indication of how other kinds of B2B buyers will use and value marketing collateral in the near future.  You can obtain a copy of the survey here, and I encourage you to review it.

The 2011 survey revealed a surprising shift in the consumption of some types of marketing collateral, so surprising that Eccolo Media conducted a follow-up survey to gain additional insights. (Note:  Eccolo Media has conducted this survey since 2008, so year-to-year comparisons can be made.) I'll describe the change in consumption patterns, but first here are some of the major survey findings.

• Product brochures/data sheets are the most widely consumed type of marketing collateral, followed (in order) by white papers, video/multimedia files, case studies, and podcasts/audio files.
• Marketing collateral continues to have a major influence on purchase decisions.  At least 61% of survey respondents said that all five types of collateral were "very" or "extremely" influential.
• White papers remain the most influential type of marketing collateral.

The surprise in the survey was a significant drop in the consumption of some types of marketing collateral. Compared to 2010, the consumption of customer case studies fell 17 percentage points, white papers declined 14 percentage points, and product brochures/data sheets decreased 11 percentage points.

These results do not mean that case studies, white papers, and product brochures are becoming less critical to effective marketing. The follow-up survey conducted by Eccolo Media addressed five additional types of marketing collateral - company Web pages, social media sites, blog posts, e-books, and presentations. It showed that buyers are using all of the "new" types of content to research business issues and learn about products and services.

So, what's happening is that companies are offering marketing content in a wider variety of formats, and buyers are taking advantage of the expanded options to consume content in the format they prefer.

The results of these surveys contain three important lessons for B2B marketers.

• Informative, valuable, and compelling marketing content is more critical than ever for successful B2B marketing.
• The number of content formats available to companies is increasing, and many of the newer formats are attractive to potential buyers.
• It's becoming important to deliver the same basic content message in a variety of content formats. For example, B2B buyers view white papers as highly influential because they present valuable information in a objective, non-promotional way. This type of information is still essential for marketing success, but it's now important to embody that information in Webinars/Webcasts, podcasts, and presentations, as well as in white papers.

Building the Business Case for Marketing Asset Management

Even if you're certain that a marketing asset management solution would be beneficial for your company, you'll still be required to justify the investment to your senior management team.  Today's business decision makers are more skeptical and frugal than ever. They are demanding that any investments they make produce positive, measurable results on the bottom line - and the faster the better. An investment in a proposed MAM solution will be viewed no differently.

To get the go-ahead for a marketing asset management solution, you'll need to present your senior leaders a business case that demonstrates the value of the solution in clear and convincing terms.

A well-prepared business case for a marketing asset management solution will contain five components.

• A description of the problems, issues or challenges that create the need for an MAM solution
• A description of the proposed MAM solution
• The expected financial results of acquiring and implementing the proposed solution
• A discussion of the non-financial benefits the proposed solution will produce
• A discussion of the risks associated with the proposed solution and the risks of not acquiring the MAM solution

All of these components are important, but the focal point of a business case is the financial analysis. This is where you will calculate the estimated ROI, net present value, and payback period for the proposed MAM solution.  Both the ROI and the net present value calculations require you to input the value of the MAM solution.  Therefore, one key to building a persuasive MAM business case is to develop a credible estimate of that value.

Like any business product or service, a marketing asset management solution creates value by enabling a company to reduce existing costs, avoid future costs, or increase revenues.  To estimate the value of your proposed solution, you'll need to analyze the two major types of benefits that MAM solutions typically provide. One group of benefits includes those that improve the efficiency of the marketing materials supply chain. These benefits create value primarily by enabling you to reduce or avoid costs. The second group of benefits include those that improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. These benefits create value primarily by enabling you to increase revenues.

I've just released a new white paper that describes these benefits in greater detail and explains how to calculate their value when building business case for marketing asset management.  If you'd like to review the new paper, send an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

When Content Marketing Really Matters

Content marketing has become an essential marketing tactic for many B2B companies. According to research by Junta42 and MarketingProfs, nine out of ten B2B companies now market with content.

Content marketing is the practice of providing valuable and primarily non-promotional information to potential buyers for the purpose of persuading them to begin or continue a relationship with your company. The basic idea of content marketing is to provide information that will demonstrate your company's expertise and create or nurture the perception that your company would be a knowledgeable, capable, and reliable business partner.

Most marketing thought leaders agree that effective marketing content is critical for B2B marketing success.  Marketing content provides the fuel for lead generation and lead nurturing programs, it is a critical component of a company's website, and it plays a central role in social media marketing efforts.

All B2B companies can benefit to some extent from using content marketing, but it is more critical for some kinds of companies than others.  There are six circumstances that make content marketing particularly important and highly valuable.

• When the product or service you provide is complex (technologically or otherwise), or when the product or service addresses a complex business problem, issue, or challenge.
• When purchasing your product or service requires a substantial financial investment by the buyer.
• When the buyer must rely on your expertise to achieve success with your product or service.
• When the purchase and use of your product or service requires the buyer to make significant changes in its business processes.
• When the purchase of your product or service requires (formally or practically) a long-term commitment by the buyer.
• When the product or service you offer is not purchased frequently, and potential buyers have little or no experience with the type of product or service you provide.

The connection between content marketing and the first circumstance is obvious. When potential buyers are trying to address a complex problem or challenge or evaluate a complex product or service, they need a lot of information to help them understand the ramifications of the problem or challenge, how the product or service works, and what benefits the product or service will provide.  Content marketing is the most effective way to provide prospects the needed information.

The other five circumstances all relate to the buyer's perception of risk. We now know that fear is the most powerful emotion at work in the B2B buying process.  Business buyers can be extremely risk averse, and they aren't likely to move forward with a purchase until the perceived risks have been eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level.  Content marketing is a highly effective tool for mitigating the risks perceived by your potential buyers.  For example:

• White papers, articles, and webinars can be used to demonstrate that your company understands the issues and problems your buyers are facing and knows how those issues or problems can be successfully addressed.
• Customer case studies can be used to show how similar businesses have used your product or service to solve difficult problems and/or reach significant business objectives.
• Value justification tools and ROI calculators can be used to quantify and prove the value of your product or service.

If some or all of these six circumstances apply to your company and your marketing and sales environment, content marketing should be at the core of your marketing efforts.

How Content Marketing Accelerates the Buying Process

Today's business decision makers are more skeptical, more frugal, and more easily distracted than ever. As a result, it's harder to create engagement with potential buyers, sales cycles are longer, and sales opportunities that once appeared solid can unexpectedly fall off the tracks.

Overcoming these challenges is not easy, but the starting point is to recognize that the single most important job of marketing and sales is to remove friction from the buying process.

In military science, friction is the term that's used to describe anything that can get in the way of the perfect execution of a military operation.  Therefore, friction includes things like the effects of weather on soldiers and equipment, soldier fatigue, misinterpretation of orders, equipment breakdowns, and unexpected enemy actions.  Because of friction, no military operation goes exactly according to plan, even though commanders try very hard to anticipate where and how friction will arise and to devise ways to minimize its effects.

In B2B marketing and sales, friction is anything that slows down or stops a potential buyer's progression through the buying process.  The friction gremlins live everywhere in the buying process.  Friction can (and usually does) pop up at every stage of the process, and many of the causes are beyond your control.  For example, any of the following unforeseeable and uncontrollable events can delay or stall the buying process.

• A change in the prospect's business condition
• A change in the make-up of the prospect's senior management team
• A change in the prospect's business strategy
• The illness of a key decision maker

While it's not possible to anticipate or eliminate all of the friction from the buying process, you can substantially reduce it.  Many major causes of friction are related to information.  To keep moving through the buying process, potential buyers need the right information at the right time.  When they don't get that information, the buying process can stall.  For example, a potential buyer's progression through the buying process can be slowed or stopped if he or she:

• Doesn't understand or appreciate the costs or negative ramifications of the status quo
• Doesn't know or fully understand how the status quo can be changed or improved
• Perceives that the proposed purchase will involve substantial risks
• Doesn't have an accurate picture of the ROI that the proposed product, service, or solution will generate

All of these issues can usually be resolved with appropriate and persuasive information.

Both marketing and sales are responsible for reducing friction in the buying process, but marketing's share of the job has grown significantly because of changes in buying behavior.  Today's business buyers are performing more research on their own, and they are postponing conversations with sales reps until later in the buying process. In a recent survey by DemandGen Report, 77% of B2B buyers said they did not engage with a sales rep until after internal research was conducted, and 36% of buyers said they didn't engage with a salesperson until after a preferred list of vendors was established.

With potential buyers avoiding and/or delaying interactions with salespeople, marketing content must be the primary tool for eliminating friction from the buying process. In fact, marketing content is often the only effective tool for dealing with the friction that arises in the early stages of the process.

Today, many marketing and sales "gurus" are offering a variety of techniques that promise to accelerate the buying process.  My take is that it is rarely possible to push prospects through the buying process any faster than they are willing to move.  The best way, therefore, to accelerate the buying cycle is to use relevant and compelling content to eliminate or reduce the friction that slows prospects down.