Content is the linchpin that bridges the gap between sellers and buyers. It serves as the educational cornerstone of the modern sales process, enabling buyers to make informed decisions through their own research. With the help of the internet buyers can come to their own decisions, choosing which product they should be buying almost entirely independently—no ‘bowing down’ to salespeople trying to persuade them which way to fall. In fact, 67% of buyers prefer not to interact with a sales representative as their primary source of information (Mediafly).
In this guide, we'll delve deep into the intricate dance between content creation and buyer enablement, offering detailed insights, real-world examples, and actionable strategies.
At the heart of buyer enablement lies content, delivering useful information and insights to support buyers at each step of the buying journey. Throughout the buyer’s journey, its role changes throughout the buyers’ journey to accommodate buyers’ needs before, during, and after the sale, like so:
It’s important to under that, while content plays a pivotal role in buyer enablement, not all content is created equal. To maximise its impact, you must tailor your content to the unique needs and preferences of different buyer roles.
No matter how complex the B2B buying landscape becomes, every purchase journey begins with a spark—an acknowledgment by someone, somewhere that something needs to change. Problem identifiers are the torchbearers of this change, individuals within an organisation who keenly perceive existing challenges or inefficiencies.
Problem identifiers can take various forms within an organisation. They could be:
Their role is to identify the problems that need solving. Once their recognition of a problem is accepted by their peers, problem identifiers become the driving force of the buying journey.
After all, they want to make their own lives easier—they have skin in the game.
With the key problem identified, the next phase of the buying journey kicks in—the quest for solutions. Solution choosers, as the name suggests, are responsible for evaluating potential solutions and recommending the most suitable one for adoption.
Solution choosers come in various forms:
Their role is to navigate the labyrinth of potential solutions, comparing features, benefits, and potential impacts. The outcome of their evaluation significantly influences the final decision, as they are the ones with the research in-hand.
In the complex world of B2B buying, influencers are the voices that carry weight (admittedly, it’s also in the name). They may not hold the final say in the decision, but their opinions and expertise can sway outcomes significantly.
Influencers take various forms:
Their role is to shape buyer perceptions, guiding them towards solutions that align with industry best practices and emerging trends. Influencers wield the power to inspire confidence and trust.
Budget holders hold a unique position in the B2B buying landscape. They are the gatekeepers of financial resources, responsible for ensuring that any proposed solution aligns with the company's budgetary constraints and long-term financial goals.
They tend to be:
Their role is to assess the financial viability of proposed solutions, ensuring that they represent a sound investment and align with the company's broader financial strategy. Perceived qualitative value can be irrelevant to budget holders if the financial cost is too high.
Information is a precious commodity. Gatekeepers, often operating in administrative roles, manage the flow of information within the organisation, filtering out noise and ensuring that only relevant and promising options reach the desks of decision-makers.
Gatekeepers could be:
Gatekeeps are crucial to maintaining a streamlined and efficient decision-making process by preventing information overload and ensuring that only the most pertinent information is presented to decision-makers.
In essence, these buying jobs form the foundation of the B2B buying process. Understanding and catering to the unique needs and perspectives of each role is paramount to your success in enabling your buyers.
But what types of content resonate with these distinct buying jobs, and how can you craft content that speaks directly to their concerns?
Now that we've met the key players in the B2B buying landscape, let's dive deeper into the art of crafting content that resonates with their unique needs. Tailoring your content to these buying jobs is akin to creating a bespoke suit—it requires precision, attention to detail, and a keen understanding of the wearer's preferences.
Problem identifiers are like beacons, illuminating the path toward solving organisational challenges. To capture their attention and provide value, consider crafting content that:
By addressing the concerns and challenges that problem identifiers face, your content establishes your credibility as a valuable resource, piquing their interest in your solutions.
Solution choosers are architects who require a toolkit of information to construct the ideal solution. Your content should provide them with the insights and data needed to make informed decisions.
By equipping solution choosers with the information they need to make informed decisions, your content becomes a trusted resource and, hopefully, the experts they circle back to.
Influencers wield substantial sway over buyer perceptions and preferences. Your content should focus on building trust, establishing credibility, and aligning your offerings with their expert opinions.
By nurturing trust and confidence through your content, you establish a powerful alliance with influencers, who can, in turn, advocate for your solutions.
Budget holders are the financial custodians of the organisation. To win their support, your content should present a clear roadmap to ROI (Return on Investment) and align with their financial objectives.
By presenting content that speaks to the language of budgets and finances, you stand to gain the confidence of budget holders to whom everything is mathematically black or white, making them more likely to greenlight your proposals.
Gatekeepers play a crucial role in managing the flow of information within the organisation. Your content should streamline communication, providing gatekeepers with materials that facilitate efficient decision-making.
By facilitating streamlined communication and simplifying complex information, your content becomes an indispensable tool in the hands of gatekeepers whose role is to prevent information overload.
As you craft content tailored to the distinct buying jobs, bear in mind that these roles are not just functional: humans, fundamentally, are emotional beings. In the buying journey, emotional jobs involve the feelings, fears, and aspirations of individuals in their respective roles. Functional jobs pertain to the specific tasks and responsibilities they carry out.
For example, a problem identifier may have the functional job of identifying operational bottlenecks, but they may also have emotional concerns about how these issues impact their team's morale. Tailoring your content to address both these dimensions ensures a more comprehensive and resonant approach, recognising the human and not just their job function.
Consider creating content that:
By addressing both emotional and functional jobs, your content becomes a holistic resource that connects with the entirety of the buying job persona.
The B2B buying journey is a dynamic and multifaceted process. To effectively support buyers at every turn, your content must evolve as they progress through the various stages of awareness, consideration, decision, and retention. Ensuring you can keep your buyers in-touch at every stage goes some of the way to facilitating an eventual sale.
The journey begins with awareness, where buyers recognise a challenge or opportunity that requires attention. At this stage, your content should incorporate some of the following:
At the awareness stage, your content should serve as signposts, guiding buyers towards a path of deeper understanding of their challenges and the potential solutions available.
As buyers move into the consideration stage, they begin actively seeking solutions to their identified problems. Your content strategy should produce content such as:
At the consideration stage, your content should serve as a guide, helping buyers explore potential solutions and evaluate their suitability.
In the decision stage, buyers are narrowing down their options and making their final choice. Your content should focus on:
At the decision stage, your content should serve as a catalyst, helping buyers make the final leap towards selecting your solutions.
Once the purchase is made, the journey doesn't end—it evolves into a retention phase. After all, you want to keep good business as long as possible. This also means that your content strategy needs to engage current customers, not just new prospects. Your content should focus on:
At the retention stage, your content should serve as a bridge, nurturing ongoing engagement and loyalty among existing customers.
Throughout the buyer's journey, different types of content play essential roles:
By aligning your content with the different stages of the buying journey and incorporating a mix of educational, solution-focused, and nurturing content, you provide buyers with the guidance they need at every step.
In today's era of hyper-personalisation, delivering content that speaks directly to the individual needs and preferences of your ICP is no longer an option—it's basically mandatory. Personalisation extends beyond merely addressing someone by their first name; it involves tailoring content based on buyer personas, roles, specific buying jobs, and behaviour.
Let's explore the value of content personalisation and strategies for effective delivery across various channels.
Personalised content is the secret sauce that elevates your buyer enablement efforts. It goes beyond a one-sise-fits-all approach and instead customises content to resonate with each buyer's unique journey and requirements.
Achieving effective content personalisation requires a multi-faceted approach. Here are strategies to consider:
Once you've personalised your content, it's crucial to deliver it effectively across various channels, ensuring that your audience finds it in the right context. Here's how you can achieve this:
Implement website personalisation tools that customise the content displayed to visitors based on their behaviour, preferences, and demographics. Alternatively, have your blog show ‘related content’ at the bottom of an article, so a prospective buyer can engage more deeply with your website’s touchpoints.
Segment your email lists and tailor email campaigns to specific buyer personas and stages of the buying journey. Also, consider using personalised subject lines, content, and calls to action—to both build rapport and for more effective targeting.
Leverage social media advertising platforms to target specific audience segments with personalised content and messaging. Potentially consider re-targeting, where those who have previously engaged with, for example, a webinar, can be reminded of your business’s existence.
With the assistance of marketing automation software, develop lead nurturing workflows that automatically send personalised content to leads based on their behaviour and interests.
Use AI-driven chatbots and live chat features on your website to deliver personalised responses and content recommendations. This will also give you an idea of frequently asked questions, and common user concerns—you can then address these in the content you develop down the line.
By combining content personalisation with effective delivery across channels, you create a seamless experience for your audience, increasing the likelihood of long-term engagement.
So, that’s a lot of information to take in. In my opinion, the key takeaway is that content creation lies at the heart of a buyer enablement.
By tailoring your content to the unique needs and preferences of different buying jobs, you create a resonance that captures attention and builds trust. Crafting content that addresses both emotional and functional aspects ensure a holistic approach to buyer enablement. Meanwhile, personalising it enables you to build rapport with people you may not even know personally.
It’s key to remember that as buyers progress through the awareness, consideration, decision, and retention stages, your content must evolve to guide and nurture them at each step.
What content you use, and what form it takes, is entirely up to you.
If you would like to learn more about buyer enablement as a whole, visit our ultimate guide to buyer enablement here.