1. PRESENTED BY!
#C2C14!
Developing Effective Content Fueled
Conversations !
Matt Papertsian, Research Director, Demand Creation Strategies, Sirius Decisions!

2. Taking a buyer-focused,
process-driven approach.
Developing Effective
Content Fueled
Conversations

3. Agenda
• A view of content from a demand perspective
• Driving content effectiveness and leverage
• Steps to develop a more efficient content strategy
3

4. A View On Content From a Demand
Generation Perspective

5. SiriusPerspective: Buyer expectations for content, messaging and offers aligned to their
specific needs have never been greater and thereby require a more integrated approach.
Empowered, Online Buyers Accentuate the Need for Content
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 5
Up/Cross Sell
Loyalty
Retention
Tools
Content
Validation
Sales Enablement
Outbound
Email
Direct Mail
Mobile Push
Original
Recycled
Reconstituted
Nurture Web/
Portal/
Microsite Mobile
Ads, SMS,
MMS,
Apps
Search
Engine
Optimization
Search
Engine
Marketing
Online
Chat
Online
Advertising
Directory
Listings
Social
Media
Blogs
Content
Syndication/
Curation
Company
Web Sites

6. The Current State Of B To B Content
of buyer interactions are digital in nature,
6
fuels these conversations, yet
of b to b content is never used to close a deal

7. SiriusPerspective: Utilize the six actions listed below to increase content leverage,
effectively scale your content strategy and to track and measure its effectiveness.
Six critical actions to drive content effectiveness and leverage
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 7
1. Target and offer alignment
2. Determine when to engage
3. Discover what buyers are seeking
4. Align conversations with buyer needs
5. Scale the content process
6. Track and measure effectiveness

8. Determine Which Audience(s) you are
Speaking With (Not To)

9. The SiriusDecisions Content Inventory Framework
SiriusPerspective: The most critical element of a content strategy is determining with
whom you are speaking.
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Audiences Requirements
Influencers
Buyers
Customers
Sales
Employees
Education PublicizePerspectiveAnalysis
Education EngagementSelectionSolution
Initiate AdvocateActualizeParticipate
Prepare ProveEngageConnect
Attract EnableInformDevelop

10. Understand When You Are We Engaging
With Them

11. The SiriusDecisions Buying Cycle Framework
Loosening
of the
Status Quo
Committing
to Change
Exploring
Possible
Solutions
Committing
to a Solution
Justifying
the Decision
Making the
Selection
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
SolutionEducation Selection
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12. Buying Processes and Demand Type
SiriusPerspective: While it’s true buyers are involving sales later in their cycles, they
don’t always have the ability to do so.
12
New Concept New Paradigm Established Market
• Disruptive product/
service
• No budgetary line item
• Requires issue creation
• Retools existing
processes
• Solves current problem
better
• Replaces current line
item
• Necessary offering
• Highly contested
market
• Price, features, service
are ways to compete
Buyer very unfamiliar Buyer very familiar
Buyer ControlLOW HIGH
Seller EntryEARLIER LATER
Changeability factors: Size of company, geography, industry

13. Discover What They Are Seeking

14. Engage in ‘Deal Forensics’ By Leveraging Touch Analysis
SiriusPerspective: Most companies are siting on a wealth of data to guide the content
process, yet rarely fully leverage it to extract buyer intelligence to drive alignment.
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• Discover what messaging, content and offers
are resonating with specific buyer roles
• Develop buyer journey maps to sequence
content
• Align tactics, content and formats to buyer
preferences
• Build and/or enhance personas to guide content
• Create more relevant, integrated, online and
offline ‘conversations’
Examine opportunity and deal anatomy

15. EngagementSelectionSolution
The SiriusDecisions Content Inventory Framework
Audiences
Education
Decision Inflection Points
What is the
nature of this
problem?
How are others
solving this
problem?
How do all the
options stack
up against each
other?
How can I
shorten my
time to value?
Information Components
Asset Formats
Delivery Channels
Outcomes
Sequencing
Buyers
Persona 1
Persona 2
Persona 3
Persona 4
Persona 5

16. Architecture and Analysis
Asset Title Format Buying Cycle Stage
Delivery
Channel
Acme and Me: A Love Story Case Study Education Web site
Acme’s Smarties Tell All White Paper Solution Sales
Why Acme is Better than
KaBlamo Solutions Article Selection Influencers
Acme in Action! Video - Demo Engagement Web site
Acme Scores “Only Slightly
Sucky” on Snooty Analyst
Report Analyst Report Education Social
Acme’s Widget Brochure Selection Sales
Audience: Buyers
Sub-Category: Healthcare CMO, North America
Process Stage: Education
Knowledge Requirement: How are other companies solving XYZ problem?
Asset Title
Key
Knowledge
Component
Asset
Format
Delivery
Mechanism
Objective
Campaign
Theme
Offering
Publish
Date
Source
SiriusPerspective: Conduct a qualitative evaluation and alignment exercise of content
against framework

17. Align content conversations from the buyer’s
perspective.

18. SiriusPerspective: Two lessons we can learn from librarians. Like, real ones.
Beyond Shushing: Big Librarian Ideas
Controlled
Vocabularies
Form vs.
Aboutness

19. Scaling The Content Process: The Three
Phases Of Content Leverage

20. SiriusPerspective: Most companies are siting on a treasure trove of content, yet due to a
lack of buyer insight, content is not being leveraged effectively.
Phase One: Reuse Content
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 20
Content
Asset
Intended
Audience
Reach New
Audiences
Original
Content
Reused
Content+ =

21. SiriusPerspective: By deconstructing existing assets into their component parts, new
assets may be created from existing ones to increase content leverage.
Phase Two: Repurpose Content
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 21
Content
Asset
Intended
Audience
Deconstruct Content To
Build New Formats/Assets
Extend Your Reach
And Content Leverage

22. SiriusPerspective: Modular content starts small with each asset audience-tested and
designed for multiple purposes to enable content leverage.
Phase Three: Modular Content – A Different Approach
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 22
Begin with the
building blocks of
short-form
content
Use successful short-
form content assets
and combine them to
build new assets
Continue to test
and develop new
assets from the
building blocks
Continually track buyer
interactions to enable
the development of
new assets
LEVERAGE

23. Tracking and Measuring Content
Effectiveness

24. SiriusPerspective: The first step toward content measurement is defining the objectives
of each content asset in order to measure how well the content achieves its objectives.
Measuring Content Effectiveness
© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 24

25. Getting Started
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• Conduct touch analysis to augment buyer
personas to guide your content strategy
• Leverage the SiriusDecisions Content
Framework to guide the process of
content creation and alignment
• Utilize modular content to more
effectively align with buyers and to
leverage and scale efforts
• Encourage continual testing, targeting to
enhance buyer insight
• Assign specific goals to each content
piece to enable effective measurement