The Hidden Sales Cycle | Aberdeen & Webmarketing123

© AberdeenGroup 2013

Winning the Hidden Sales Cycle:

Digital Strategies for Navigating the

New B2B Buyer’s Journey

Trip Kucera

Sr. Research Analyst

Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy

Aberdeen Group

© AberdeenGroup 2013 2

Objectives:

1. What is the “Hidden Sales Cycle”?

2. How does it define modern marketing?

3. How can I win?

� Content marketing

� SEO

� PPC & Display


Lead Management

Opportunity

Management

Lead

Generation


Lead Management

Opportunity

Management

Lead

GenerationHidden Sales Cycle

The Hidden Sales Cycle

Content + Community


Control of Message & Visibility

Low

High

Competitors Content + Community Marketer (You)

Marketing’s Imperative:

Get Vision-Shaping Content In the Path of the Buyer

Discovery Consideration Evaluation Selection


Marketing Must Adapt

Batch & Blast “Always-on” / Continuous

One-to-Many Aligned / Personalized

Product/Co.

CentricContent & Buyer Centric


Content Marketing

is the Alchemy of

Intent


Content Marketing Budgets

Budget Leaders Followers

Budget for content

marketing-related

programs (planned

change in next 12 mo.)

31% 19%

Content development

budget (planned change

in next 12 mo.)

22% 18%


Top Strategies

41%

29%

33%

41%

43%

47%

50%

53%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Adopt a multi-channel content strategy (i.e.connecting content channels together across blog,

website, social channels, etc.)

Increase the quantity of relevant content we’re publishing on our site

Focus on improving the targeting of our contentmarketing efforts (i.e. content personalization,

situational content, etc.)

Use content in nurture-based marketingcampaigns that move buyers closer to purchase

Percentage of Respondents, n = 81

Leaders Followers


Map your buyer’s

journey


Get Content Marketing Right:

Right Alignment, Right Persona, Right Stage

59%

52%

38%

45%

27%

20%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Content marketing effortsare well-aligned with sales

methodology

Process to align marketingcontent with marketing /sales funnel stage (i.e.

content is developed withfunnel stage in mind)

Process to align marketingcontent with buyer persona(i.e. content is developedwith specific persona(s) in

mind)


Leaders Followers


0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Perception of Value (percent of companies ranking

activity as "Valuable" or "Very Valuable")

Effectiveness of Execution (percent of companies ranking execution as "Effective" or "Very Effective")

Content Marketing Perception of Value vs. Effectiveness of Execution, n = 81

Producing high-quality content

Tracking the content utilization metrics(visits, views, shares, etc.)

Generating / publishing sufficient contentto meet our needs

Tracking number of qualified leadsgenerated

Driving more traffic to our website withregularly updated content

Generating high-quality links to our content

Ability to personalize web site content

Accurately forecasting and budgeting leads/ customer acquisition

Ability to roll out new sites or contentquickly

Generating social mentions of content

Content Marketing Execution Gap

Source: Aberdeen Group, April 2013


65%

13%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Generating high-quality links to content"valuable" or "very valuable"(4 or 5 on 1-5 scale of value)

"Effective" or "Very effective" in abilityto generate high-quality links to content(4 or 5 on 1-5 scale of effectiveness)


All Respondents

The SEO spirit is willing,

but execution is weak


SEO Management:

Don’t Call it a Comeback

CMOs haven’t “trusted”

SEO in the past

Happy days are here

again


Know the Keyword of the Day

56% 55%

34%

50%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Process to share targetkeywords with content creators

across organization

Established process for searchkeyword research and

identification

Percentage of Respondents, n = 81 Leaders Followers


Align SEO with development &

distribution of content

52% 52%

39% 39%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Marketing contentdevelopment alignedwith search engine

optimization (SEO) strategy

Content distributionaligned with search

engine optimization (SEO)strategy


Leaders Followers


It’s not just about page rank anymore

86%79%

48% 50%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Ability to measure howspecific search keywords

generate site traffic

Ability to track site rank forspecific search keywords

Percentage of Respondents, n = 81 Leaders Followers


How Content Gets Measured

24%

24%

52%

76%

76%

76%

32%

36%

64%

82%

91%

95%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Virality (how much is content shared)

Impact on the sales cycle

Conversion

Search engine rank

Utilization / consumption / views

Inbound / referral traffic


Leaders

Followers


SEO Management Users Outperform Non-

Users in Key Content Marketing Metrics

2.0%

3.6%

0.0% 2.5% 5.0%

Average websiteconversion rate

Current Performance, n = 81

SEOmanagementsolution users

Non-users 16%

24%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Percent of websitetraffic generated byorganic search

Current Performance, n = 81

SEOmanagementsolution users

Non-users


Only the marketing

paranoid survive


Best-in-Class More Effective in Search /

Digital Advertising

17%

16%

27%

55%

27%

28%

43%

59%

0% 25% 50% 75%

Contextually targeted display ads (adsare shown based on content that is

being displayed on site)

Behaviorally targeted display ads (adsare shown based on browsing history,

recently viewed pages, etc.)

Google display network

Google AdWords (not including display)

Percentage of Respondents "Effective" or "Very Effective" (4/5; 1-5 Scale), n = 130

Best in Class

All Others


Search marketing success:

get the basics right

57% 57%

39%34%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Comprehensive view of organicand paid search keywords andassociated performance data

We understand which keywordsare likely to perform well in PPC

campaigns


Best in Class All Others


Knowing what works leads to

more of what works

48% 48%

36%33%

24%

17%

0%

25%

50%

75%

Ability to attribute organicand paid search to leads

Ability to track theconversion rate and revenueperformance of paid search

terms / PPC keywords

We understand the value /ROI of each individual

search term

Percentage of Respondents, n = 130 Best in Class All Others


Don’t be

afraid to

get help

19%

33%

34%

23%

31%

46%

51%

55%

58%

62%

68%

70%

0% 25% 50% 75%

Measuring the effectiveness ofthe PPC spend

Keeping up with the latestsearch engine changes (i.e.search rank algorithms)

Improving the organic searchranking for keywords

Identifying effective PPCterms

Ranking organically forselected keywords

Identifying the right keywordsfor website optimization

Percentage of Respondents "Effective" or "Very Effective" (4/5, 1-5 scale), n = 160

Search marketing agency users Non users


What’s next?

�Will it Blend? – Mixing paid, earned, and owned

� Ad acceleration - Digital ads integrated with

lead nurturing

� Responsive / Just-in-Time – Dynamic targeting

based on analytical customer model


How do you “win” the hidden sales cycle?

1. Unhide the hidden sales cycle in your market

and map your buyers’ decision journeys

2. Design content / moments that:

� Align to the buyer’s need

� Shape your buyer’s vision of success

3. Invest in content marketing / search

marketing solutions (technology &/or services)

© AberdeenGroup 2013

Thank you

[email protected]

@TripKucera

linkedin.com/in/tripkucera

Technology

The Hidden Sales Cycle | Aberdeen & Webmarketing123