12 Ways To Reach Customers With Great Content

Moving customers along the sales cycle takes a wealth of planning and great content. And content targeted at today's industrial, technical and other B2B markets needs to deliver much more than simple mechanical drawings, a few graphs and a table of product numbers.

Great content should address your customer's concerns, solve their problems, differentiate your products from your competition and highlight unique product benefits. No matter the medium, presentation is important and requires a quality design aesthetic, dynamic illustrations, photography and more.

Fortunately today's digital options, along with traditional media, offer plenty of avenues to deliver this great customer-focused content:

Print & Digital Literature – Brochures, catalogs, application sheets and case studies all make great leave-behinds for your sales team, snail-mail responses to inquiries and hand-outs at events and shows. PDF or electronic versions provide even more options. Email them in response to inquiries; include on websites; optimize for searchability.

Newsletters – Use electronic or printed versions (or both) to share the latest product news, case studies, industry tips, trends and more on a regular basis to build and maintain customer loyalty.

White Papers – Prospects seek out white papers more than other content sources in their initial search efforts. Capture leads early-on when you use your industry expertise and thought leadership to address the questions and concerns of your customers.

eBooks – Expand a white paper or address a topic in-depth. Publish in eBook form. Makes a great premium to help move prospects forward who are already in the buying cycle.

Technical Illustrations – Photorealistic techniques bring clarity and excitement to otherwise mundane offerings. And dynamic illustrations offer an inside view of product features and advantages, providing clear, easy-to-understand communication.

Video & Animation – Whether you show an interview with an industry expert, comments from a customer advocate or an animated version of your product in action to reveal unseen features, video (real and animated) is a powerful way to share content dynamically on your website and through your own YouTube channel. Show to sell.

Websites/Microsites – Keep all sites updated with the current, pertinent information customers are seeking. Make content easy to find with simple navigation and searchability. Focus on specific products or services within dedicated microsites for even more impact.

Blogs – Share information your audience is seeking. Write for them, not yourself.

Forums/Comments – Actively seek out and comment on other industry blogs and forums with helpful information that points back to your original content.

SlideShare – Get extra mileage out of PowerPoint presentations by posting them on SlideShare and promoting that link through your website, blog and other venues.

Webinars – Whether you want to train existing customers on product maintenance, host a virtual conference or introduce a new product, webinars are an economical and efficient way to share content that captures new leads and strengthens customer relationships.

Podcasts/Transcripts – Create new material or multiply the use of existing content by sharing the audio portion of webinars, videos, animations and PPT presentations in podcasts or transcribe them to share in PDF formats.

Are you using every avenue to your advantage? While every medium is unique, be sure your content is integrated throughout to propel your customers to the final pitch.