91% of B2B marketers use content marketing. The most successful of these marketers (those showing the highest returns) have an established process, align content to personas and buying stages, and track content performance across channels.
What else are these leaders doing? They’re increasing their content marketing platform budgets.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, we often think of technology as supporting a strategy. For example, if part of your marketing strategy is to engage with key influencers on Twitter, you’ll probably invest in a social media platform to monitor and manage those interactions.
But marketing technology isn’t just there to execute a set strategy; it informs that strategy. Content marketing software is no different.
A good technology platform pushes users to be better at their jobs. With the right tool, things that couldn’t be done before become possible. It shifts a strategy for the better.
Marketing technology isn’t just there to execute a set strategy; it informs that strategy.
But finding the right tool isn’t always easy. If you’re researching your options, it’s important to ask the right questions of sales reps to get the answers you need.
Here are five key questions to ask your content marketing software sales rep to help you choose the right technology for your organization.
1. How well does your software accommodate my current business process?
Ask this question to find out if software is customizable, or if it takes a one-size-fits all approach. Organizations have different needs—from unique workflows to favored distribution channels to unique categories to track (for example, multiple business units or localized content by region). Content marketing software should be able to address the specific requirements of your organization.
2. How does this software promote best practices?
As mentioned above, technology should not only support processes, but inform strategy. Find out which content marketing best practices are built into the framework of the software, and how it will help your team succeed in these tactics.
3. Do you just offer software, or can you help us with the change management aspects of the implementation?
If you’ve used marketing automation or CRM software, you know that proper implementation is key to getting the most out of your investment. Also, taking on a robust tool requires team buy-in. Ensure that technology comes with sufficient support to get your team up and running and, ultimately, succeeding.
4. How does your software help us measure the success of content? How about the success of our operation?
Managing processes and organizing content are just two aspects of good content marketing software. But what about measuring what works and what doesn’t work? Ask your sales rep how the software helps to track and illuminate which content assets are helping your marketing team achieve their goals. And remember—content teams should be held accountable for the same metrics and goals as your marketing team.
5. How will this purchase maximize results from our current technology investments, for example, CRM or marketing automation software?
All of your key technologies must work together to ensure better processes and results. But this goes beyond integration. Content marketing platforms should support those investments and help your marketing and sales teams succeed. For example, can you push content for specific personas to Salesforce folders so your sales team can easily access appropriate content? This not only enables your sales team, but allows marketing teams insight into which assets work at the late stages of a sales cycle.
The best sales reps these days, and, for that matter, the right content marketing software, will take your strategy to the next level. By asking these questions, and thinking of their responses with the success of your team (and the growth of your career) in mind, you’ll find the best technology for your organization.