Using Customer-Related Content
Involving customers in marketing has always been a successful tactic for businesses, particularly those who are B2B. Your prospects want to hear how a business with the same problem used your product to solve that problem and, more importantly, achieve measurable results. That’s why case studies, either as a sales collateral piece or as part of a sales presentation, have perpetually been an effective tool.
Nowadays, your customers often buy based on the reviews, ratings and referrals of peers. A single TikTok influencer can make or break a product or service and that same outcome can be seen with B2B buyers. When prospects see that others in their professional space have taken a successful plunge with a vendor or service provider, it becomes credible and, in turn, valuable.
That is why using customer-related content has taken on more of a strategic and multi-dimensional approach. Businesses know it’s critical to not only reach their target prospects, but also connect, engage and build a relationship with them. What better way to do that than with customer-related or customer-driven content? Some customer-related tactics besides case studies include co-hosting or co-presenting with a customer at events, creating videos or photos of customers interacting with your product or developing articles or infographics on how customers have maximized their use of your product.
Customer-Driven Content at the Next Level
An innovative tactic that has been trending in recent years is influencer marketing, where user testimonials from high profile individuals are posted to the individual’s social media or blog or used in various forms of advertising. Influencers typically have a large following or audience that is relevant and their testimonial can help build your brand credibility and serve as a huge draw for curious prospects.
The more strategic approach is to not only create and use customer-related content but also generate drilled-down customer data that answers many questions for your business and provides real insights about who your prospects are, what challenges and needs they have and when they might be seeking solutions to those needs/challenges. This data can be used across many of your marketing materials and to help you accomplish your primary marketing and sales goals: establishing credibility and trust, building relationships and, most importantly, generating more leads.
Customer Content Direct from the Prospect
Gathering this important data starts at the grass roots level with a 100 percent verified target list of prospective customers in the industries, companies and decision-making roles you sell to. A highly responsive, professionally-developed survey is developed and emailed to these contacts to qualify them but also to ask the hard-hitting questions that generate those valuable insights. For example, if you are targeting and surveying senior IT security professionals within financial services firms, the survey would ask them: “What security solutions are currently in use?” “Have you had a security incident within the last 18 months?” and “Is it a strategic priority to consider new security solutions within the next six months?”
When this survey comes from a reputable industry research firm, takes only a few minutes to complete and includes an incentive to respond, the response rate is very high. With the responses received from the survey, your marketing team obtains customer data that can be used to create rich and relatable content such as webinars, infographics, white papers, etc. Your sales team has the peer-to-peer feedback that will help them with opening the door to a prospect.
It’s a novel concept to some obtaining data from your target prospects and using that data in your marketing and sales endeavors to reach, engage and convert those prospects. But there is no customer-related content that is more valuable, useful or successful at helping you generate leads and drive sales.