A Recap of the Content2Conversion Conference Presented by DemandGen Report
April 25, 2012
Today I joined about 200 other B2B marketers at the Times Center in New York for DemandGen Report’s first ever Content2Conversion Conference. The event was nicely tailored for B2B marketers concerned about lead generation, lead nurturing, the buyer’s journey, and the content that creates the foundation for the program. All in all, I thought it was a really successful event and I encourage you all to look into it next year! In this post I will share a few highlights from today’s sessions focusing in on the funnel, video, and mobile.
Why You Ought to Rethink the Funnel
Considering that the room was chock full of B2B marketing geeks it’s no surprise that the word “funnel” came up, ahem, several times. There were references to TOFU, MOFU, Buddha belly, gravity, and more! I thought it was great that different speakers brought different perspectives of what the funnel really looks like. A nice example came from Mac McConnell of BlueBird Strategies. Mac challenged us to turn the funnel on its side in order to see its true shape – what he described as a Buddha belly! No doubt there are points within your sales cycle where leads accumulate because they aren’t ready yet, or because your sales team is attracted to a shinier object. These are the leads you should be nurturing. Mac offered the following simple framework to help define a solid lead nurturing program:
- Define goals
- Build a content map for your sales/buying cycle
- Be the lead and truly understand motivations, wants, and needs
- Attach content to each step
- Write emails to help you sell content, not your product
- Fully build nurturing into your system
- Test, monitor, revise, and repeat
Consider Video
Michael Kolowich of Knowledge Systems led a session on the importance of video due to the rise of mobile and the growing popularity for visual content. Michael offered a simple structure to help B2B marketers plan their video creation efforts:
- Showpiece video: This is the type of video that is super slick. It’s high visibility and beautifully created. Often, these videos have a high viewership and are very brand central. Michael suggested budgeting $3,000 to $10,000 per finished minute.
- Workhorse video: This type of video will garner medium viewership. It is typically product, service, or technically specific to your company or brand. It is okay for the quality of the video to be less than the showpiece. Michael recommended budgeting $500 to $2,000 per finished minute.
- Long tail video: This last type of video typically lives on internal pages of your site. It is SEO bait and is educational or explanatory in nature. Michael suggested a budget of $50 to $500 per finished minute.
The Rise of Mobile
Another great session (and potentially the most entertaining of the day) was led by Christina Kerley, or CK. CK’s session was about the rise of mobility and why B2B marketers should take note. We all know that mobile is on the rise. Heck, it has to be. Nearly every waking moment we are on our mobile phones. After all, I’d argue that if phones were waterproof we’d take them into the shower! It was funny to note how many people in the audience (myself included) were glued to our mobile devices throughout the session. In any case, CK’s presentation was full of marvelous statistics (i.e. there are 6 billion mobile devices on this planet and in just 12-36 months mobile will be the first screen devise). CK offered the following tips on incorporating mobile into your strategy:
- Optimize content for mobile now. As you are creating new content consider how it will be presented on various mobile devices and plan accordingly.
- Reimagine B2B marketing content through mobile tools. Consider building out a separate mobile site. Think about using QR codes to drive your audience to your mobile site or specific piece of content.
- Remember that B2B audiences always want something better, faster, and easier. CK cited some solid B2C examples like Chase’s app that takes a photo of a printed check and automatically deposits money into your account. How can your company have impact like this for your audience?
Lastly, I also had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion later in the afternoon. I was joined by Heather Teicher of LivePerson, Candyce Edelen of PropelGrowth, and Leslie Hurst of American Express. Jon Russo of B2B Fusion moderated our talk. Our panel was one of the last sessions of the day and we focused on sharing our best practices and pitfalls around bringing content to life as well as success stories of using content to generate demand. Many thanks to the team at DemandGen Reports and to my fellow panelists!
DemandGen Report just released the video streaming. All presentations can be accessed here.