Persuasive content that begins selling to customers before your salespeople are engaged

Content can be a powerful tool in the selling process. According to Forrester Research, 70% of the product buying cycle occurs before salespeople are contacted. Since customers are relying more on information from the web, and less from your salespeople, this means that the content you post has the potential to achieve a much bigger impact. When customers enter this "search and evaluate" phase, they will read information of greater depth than they would normally find of interest. At this time, high quality “long form” content, such as a white paper, research study or ebook can be very influential. At its best, long form content can act as a digital sales force, representing your company and products during that critical time before they decide to contact your salespeople –or not.   And just like your best salespeople, well-crafted content can:

• overcome anticipated objections
• position products against competitors
• create awareness of product advantages

Here is an example of how we were able to use content to change the perception of an entire product category:

 In 2009, few digital magazines were profitable because publishers had difficulty selling advertising over the objections of skeptical media buyers who had been burned buying ads in earlier generation digital magazines. We developed a program to turn this around by creating awareness of the unique positive characteristics of these publications as an advertising medium. It received extensive media attention because it was legitimate research, not promotion, and contained findings which had never been uncovered before.  It generated 138 pages of media coverage (available upon request).   Today, even two years after its release, when a media buyer does a Google search for “interactive digital magazines,” references to our study come up in three of the top four listings.

Content can also be instrumental to reach economic decision makers. Ordinarily, connecting with these key people is a challenge because they have little interest in meeting with salespeople or engaging with product information. We can develop content to turn this around!  Using our unique, research-based approach, we identify information that the economic decision makers in your market will find compelling, and will make time to see.

Creating breakthrough marketing often means developing additional forms of digital media that better engage customers. We have worked with many companies to extend the range and variety of their digital media. For example, the following testimonial explains how we worked with New England Business Media to increase their revenue by adding digital offerings: 

  "Josh Gordon helped us see our potential in further online media development. He worked with our management group to help us change our product mix, our approach, and some elements of our business model to start us on a higher rate of growth and profitability. His deep knowledge of industry best practices was extremely valuable.

 Over a period of several months Josh engaged me and my management team in a series of phone conferences where he talked us through different strategic possibilities. At the same time, he helped us conduct a series of e-surveys that measured our readers' receptiveness to potential new product launches. Josh also coached our sales staff in three sessions prior to our new product launches.

 We are a stronger in our e-commerce area, and profited from having worked with Josh Gordon. We are on target for increasing our online revenues by at least 35% in the year following our work with Josh. I would recommend him to any organization looking to rethink their business model, and work with their sales organization in building and monetizing new online products.

 Peter Stanton,

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

New England Business Media LLC