Are you looking for a really good way to engage your prospects and customers? I’m a big fan of branded content tools, also called interactive marketing tools and value selling tools.
What is a branded content tool? Essentially it’s an electronically-enabled service that gathers information from prospects and customers then produces, in return, a customized analysis, assessment, report or plan.
Check out CMI’s new interactive B2B content marketing assessment from our friends at Alinean. We’re really excited about this because it gives B2B marketers an opportunity to assess how their content marketing efforts compare to their peers from their industry and company size. No other research or tool provides this type of personalized assessment.
The assessment is based on the B2B Content Marketing: Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report and takes about 8 – 10 minutes. You’ll receive a quick overview of your results, and you can also get a more detailed report emailed to you.
See big results
Not only do prospects and customers love branded tools because they can get personalized results, but marketers are having great success with them. According to a study from IDC, the investment in branded content tools has proven to be one of the highest ROI investments an organization can make in sales / marketing operations. The survey revealed that the average Alinean Business Value Tools programs delivered:
An ROI of 810%, meaning that each $1 invested in a branded content tools program generated $8.10 in incremental benefits.
A payback of less than three months from content deployment / delivery.
Get started
Sound interesting? The more aligned the tool is to helping the buyer through the buying process, the better.
The beginning of the buyer’s journey (Discovery) Interactive research and diagnostic tools help uncover, confirm and prioritize the buyer’s issues. The insight from these diagnostic tools can help the buyer realize that addressing a specific issue and changing the status quo is a priority and worthy of pursuit.
Later in the buyer’s journey (Consideration and Decision) Economic-focused executives demand that every investment deliver a bottom-line impact, positive return on investment, and quick payback. Use iterative tools to quantify potential savings and incremental benefits that the selected solution represents. You want to prove the solution is the best value.
Across the buyer’s journey, the recommended branded content and tools include:
The B2B Content Marketing Assessment represents a good example of a provocative tool, helping you as a marketer understand your current content marketing investments, tactics and effectiveness. Equally as important, it compares you to your peers and best practice leaders. The tool helps highlight and prioritize issues, and provides recommended improvement plans, helping you loosen the status quo, and start the journey towards content marketing nirvana.
Check it out and let us know your thoughts.
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