Buyers want more. More access to more information before they talk to sales. More useful content that they can trust. More self discovery. More control. BUT NOT MORE CONTENT. Successful marketers are evolving to give buyers what they want across their journey. More static content is not the answer. Usefulness and utility separate an engaging interactive dialogue from a passive one. This presentation will guide you through: - Contrasting static and interactive buyer journeys - How interactive content can support every stage of the journey with social sharing, lead generation, demand generation, sales enablement and inbound generation - Using an interactive dialogue to provide rich, explicit insights for lead scoring, sales outreach and marketing segmentation

1. The New Buyer Journey
It’s all about your content!

2. What’s inside:
What’s happening with content?
A buyer’s journey
Interactive across the funnel
Pass/fail versus rich insights

3. To attract, acquire
and engage an
audience.

4. What types of content
are we creating to attract,
acquire & engage our
audience?

5. 2016 B2B Content Marketing Trends
North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Types of Content

6. 76% of marketers expect to create
more content this year than last.
76%
~ Content Marketing Institute

7. BUT only 30% of B2B marketers say their content
marketing is effective.
30%
~ Content Marketing Institute

8. And 60% of B2B marketers say their producing
engaging content is a challenge.
60%
~ Content Marketing Institute

9. “70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before
a buyer reaches out to sales.”
~ Sirius Decisions
70%

10. “Buyers control their journey through the buying
cycle much more than today’s vendors control the
selling cycle. In a recent survey, 74% of business
buyers told Forrester they conduct more than half
of their research online before making an offline
purchase. This buyer dynamic changes the role
of B2B marketing in a fundamental way.”
~ Lori Wizdo, Forrester

11. dealermarketing.net
The Buyers Journey
AWARENESS
STAGE
CONSIDERATION
STAGE
DECISION
STAGE

12. ~ Hubspot

13. ~ Forrester Research

14. Pass/Fail Journey
vs.
Interactive Journey

15. • Interact with an interactive
infographic
• Interact with an interactive
white paper
• Complete a quiz
• Register to download a white
paper
• Answer a 15-question self
assessment
• Configure a solution
• Use an ROI calculator
• Use an implementation calculator
VS
SPEAK AT YOUR
BUYERS
• View an infographic
• Register to download a white
paper
• Click through an email to
download a best practices guide
• Read a blog post
• View product pages
• Download a solution brochure
• View the “getting started” page
• Attend a webinar
• Watch a video
SUPPORT THE MODERN
BUYERS JOURNEY
The Tale of Two Journeys

16. S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
Let’s begin a typical
buyer’s journey through static content…
An anonymous visitor clicks on a tweet
and lands on an infographic. So far,
that’s all we know.
Over here, let’s compare that with a
modern buyer’s experience through
interactive content…the visitor clicks on a
tweet and engages with an interactive
infographic. We know each element
he interacts with.
VS

17. In both versions of our journey, it’s likely that marketing has placed a cookie
on the visitor for retargeting.
B O T H S T A T I C & I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y S

18. Now the anonymous visitor is retargeted with ads that pick up where his
affinity for the infographic left off. He clicks through one of the ads!
B O T H S T A T I C & I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y S

19. He lands and (maybe/hopefully) downloads
a white paper. He’s no longer anonymous as
marketing now has his contact record.
He lands and engages with an interactive
white paper experience. We know every
element he interacts with and what
percentage he “consumed.” He’s still
anonymous at this point.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

20. He loves the content in the interactive white paper and he decides he
wants the PDF version as well.
I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

21. Now he converts from an anonymous visitor to “Bill”.
B O T H S T A T I C & I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y S

22. In the static content journey, once he
completes the form, Bill’s previous
interactions are married to his contact
information. We know he viewed the
infographic and downloaded the white
paper.
In the interactive content journey, once
he completes the form, Bill’s previous
interactions are married to his contact
information. We know which elements of both
the interactive infographic and white paper
he interacted with and even how much of the
interactive white paper he consumed.
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
VS

23. In both journeys, Bill is added to a nurture campaign
in the marketing automation system
B O T H S T A T I C & I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y S

24. Bill gets an email offering a static
downloadable solution brief PDF.
Bill gets an email offering a self-guided
interactive needs assessment tool.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

25. Bill downloads the solution brief PDF.
That's all we know.
Over in the interactive journey, Bill
completes the assessment! We know his
personal responses to questions about his
needs, pains and challenges.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

26. In Bill’s static buyers journey, marketing is
capturing page views, emails clicked and
downloads. These measurements are
“pass/fail,” not providing insight or
measurement beyond the views,
clicks and downloads.
In Bill’s interactive journey, marketing is
able to capture Bill’s key behaviors and
responses. These are rich insights that
illuminate his interactions with the
content and make the content itself far
more measurable.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

27. After Bill downloads
the solution brief, he might share it with
his boss (or, it might sit unopened in his
computer downloads folder, forgotten in
a matter of moments).
In our interactive journey, Bill found the
assessment to be very valuable, providing
him with a score benchmarked against his
peers, and personalized recommendations
and best practices. He decides to share
the assessment results with his boss.
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
VS

28. Bill receives the next generic
nurture email in the drip program,
a link to the product page.
Marketing’s next nurture email to Bill is
personalized based on his previous
responses in the assessment.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

29. Bill clicks through and reads
the product page.
Bill clicks through and uses a solution
builder tool. Behind the scenes, marketing
continues to capture all his inputs and
responses.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

30. Bill (maybe) sends a link of the
product page to his colleagues.
Bill shares the solution builder
results with his colleagues.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

31. In our static journey, Bill bubbles up to the
sales team. Sales can see that Bill has
viewed some pages, clicked some emails
and downloaded some documents.
They reach out to learn about Bill
and qualify him.
In our interactive journey, Bill also bubbles
up to the sales team as an active lead.
Sales can see Bill’s interactions with the
white paper, assessment and solution
builder, and can see he’s likely qualified
based on his responses. Sales reaches
out to contact Bill and begin the
conversation, starting at his point of
interest and current state.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

32. After their call, sales sends Bill some
more product info and
an ROI whitepaper.
After their call, sales sends sends
Bill an interactive ROI calculator.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

33. Sales waits a few days then reaches
out to Bill to see if he read through
the materials they sent.
When Bill interacts with the ROI
calculator, the data is captured and
surfaced to sales. They can see that
the ROI for Bill is pretty compelling.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

34. Sales is trying to reestablish
communication with Bill. He’s gone
dark. He’s been a bit too busy to do the
math on the ROI and review the
other PDFs, so he’s been
avoiding sales.
But over in the interactive journey, Bill
already knows the ROI because of the
interactive calculator. He’s engaged. Bill
calls sales. He’s got buying questions.
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

35. In the interactive journey, Bill & sales discuss getting started, using
an implementation configurator together. Over in the static journey,
sales is still trying to get back in touch with Bill.
I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

36. Bill got a lot of value from his meeting with sales and was able to
learn more about the solution and implementation details. He shares
the new information with his boss and colleagues.
I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

37. I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
Bill is thinking and planning.

38. Bill is talking with his boss about implementation details
and program goals.
I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

39. I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
Bill talking to procurement and doing legwork.

40. Back in our static journey, sales finally
gets Bill on the phone. He’s ready to
(maybe) pick up back where they left
off the conversation. Now,
where were they???
In our interactive journey, Bill had a
great content experience. He had a
relevant experience with sales. Bill
gained team buy-in by demonstrating
value through the assessment, solution
builder, calculator and implementaion
planner. Bill is ready to buy!
VS
S T A T I C J O U R N E Y I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

41. Bill says yes to sales.
I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y

42. I N T E R A C T I V E J O U R N E Y
The interactive
content experience:
• Supports the modern buyer's desire
for self-discovery
• Engages the buyer with content that
feels personalized, relevant and useful
• Helps sales start the conversation at
the buyer's point of interest
• Provides rich insights and measurements
for marketing

43. VS
• View an infographic
• Register to download a white
paper
• Click through an email to
download a best practices
guide
• Read a blog post
• View product pages
• Download a solution brochure
• View the “getting started”
page
• Attend a webinar
• Watch a video
PASS/FAIL
• Interact with an interactive
infographic
• Interact with an interactive
white paper
• Complete a quiz
• Register to download a white
paper
• Answer a 15-question self
assessment
• Configure a solution
• Use an ROI calculator
• Use an implementation calculator
RICH INSIGHTS FOR SALES &
MARKETING
The Tale of Two Journeys

44. It’s hard to surface buyer
insights & meaningful digital
body language without content
interactions.

45. What does interactive
content mean for the
organization?

46. Content that
is not simply
pass/fail

47. Content that your
audience wants to
consume—that
they will engage
with and use.

48. Better engaged
and educated
prospects.

49. Sales can meet
the buyer at the
point of interest.

50. Better sales
and marketing
alignment

51. More
opportunities

52. More
customers

53. Interactive Content
Across the
Buyer’s Journey

54. Content – defined as all information
components produced by marketing to
communicate ideas and transfer knowledge to
buyer and seller audiences – plays a critical role
in driving demand. But when the type of
content created does not align with buyers’
and sellers’ needs, it fails to support the
types of conversations that are required to
move the buying process forward.
“
”~ Sirius Decisions

55. Early Stage
Begin the dialog. Design
for content engagement.
Seek to educate.
EBOOKS INTERACTIVE
WHITE PAPERS
QUIZZESLOOKBOOKSINTERACTIVE
INFOGRAPHICS

56. Middle Stage
Continue the relationship.
Increasing specificity of education.
Transform general concepts into
more concrete ones.
EBOOKS INTERACTIVE
WHITE PAPERS
CALCULATORSASSESSMENTSINTERACTIVE
INFOGRAPHICS
SURVEYS SOLUTION
BUILDERS

57. Late Stage
Continue the relationship.
Increasing specificity of education.
Transform general concepts into
more concrete ones.
ASSESSMENTS SOLUTION
BUILDERS
CONFIGURATORS CALCULATORS

58. B2B Content preferences survey: Buyers want
short, visual, mobile-optimized content.
~ Demand Gen Report

59. Comparing interactive to passive content, interactive
content is somewhat or very effective at...
Generating Conversions
36%
INTERACTIVE CONTENT PASSIVE CONTENT
70%
VS

60. Comparing interactive to content, interactive content
is somewhat or very effective at...
Educating the Buyer
70%
INTERACTIVE CONTENT PASSIVE CONTENT
93%
VS

61. Comparing interactive to passive content, interactive
content is somewhat or very effective at...
Differentiating from Competitors
55%
INTERACTIVE CONTENT PASSIVE CONTENT
88%
VS

62. Comparing interactive to passive content, interactive
content is somewhat or very effective at...
Being Shared
17%
INTERACTIVE CONTENT PASSIVE CONTENT
38%
VS

63. 53% of marketers use interactive content.
53%

64. 75% plan to increase their usage this year.
75%

65. Our audience engagement
has increased since my
organization started using
interactive content tactics
Engagement
66 AGREE%
66%

66. Non gated interactive content
can provide a “sample” of
the brand, resulting in a higher
degree of lead nurturing
Lead
Nurturing
75 AGREE%
75%

67. Combining traditional content
marketing tactics with interactive
content enhances retention of my
organization’s message
Education
79 AGREE%
79%

68. That’s a Wrap
Your prospects and customers
don’t want your content
They want answers to their
questions or new information
They want you to be useful
and helpful
They want to learn
They want something
interesting

69. Thank You
info@ioninteractive.com
atalerico@ioninteractive.com
twitter: @annatalerico

70. We Can Help.
Get a Demo of the Platform that
Creates Interactive Journeys
Engage, convert and profile
higher quality buyers using
interactive content.
info@ioninteractive.com
Contact Sales:
www.ioninteractive.com
Visit: