Thursday, March 28, 2024

A deeper look at content and best practices

As we continue to work to increase the value of the editorial content we provide users, I have spent time tapping into reports on how content is consumed, as well as learning best practices from top marketers who are gaining recognition for their use of PartnerOn.  

Not all types of assets are correct for all types of sales.

Based on analysis from over 70 streams of content from more than 30 different organizations, who target markets from SMB, government, education, enterprises, finance, and manufacturing and who cover solutions from hybrid, multi-cloud, security, here is what we have learned…

Take, for example, SMS. SMB’s have fewer decision-makers and quick conversations between decision-makers is easier, plus they are typically purchasing single technology solutions. SMB consumers typically engage with:

  1. Short videos- these are in the top 1/3 of content consumed.  Quick and focused on single solutions is what SMBs want.
  2. Infographics- again they are focused on typical endpoint solutions

On the other hand, enterprise organizations tend to have multiple decision-makers and require the sharing of different information. For example, the business owner is going to want to first see IT spec’s financial benefits, and business operations benefits. They will then share content to the finance team, and IT teams that is most relevant to each team, and shows the solution to their specific problem. Often times these types of organizations are planning on purchasing AI or private/public cloud solutions, so their top content choices are:

  1. Solution briefs
  2. Financial benefit documents 

Because these are easier to share within a company, these make more sense to include in their purchasing process.

If an enterprise organization is in search of more complex, multi or hybrid solutions their content choices are:

  1. Stories from large organizations that have solved similar challenges.
  2. Cost analysis documents of the integrated solution
  3. Solution briefs

Sharing suggestions from top users.

Our users are invaluable resources not only when it comes to seeing what content they use, but also for learning their best practices.  Take a look at what they have told us works for them to help improve the results from your own marketing initiatives…

  1. Leverage the personal social networks of the sales team. A salesperson is a trusted source of information and can be the best ambassadors for the brand and your company.
  2. Use emojis in posts to create excitement. “We have found eMoji’s can help increase engagement rates.” What catches your audiences’ eyes? It can be as simple as a smiley face.
  3. Bury the lead – entice with a great heading, and provide them with a reason to expand the post to get more of the information. While it might not be smart to totally bury the lead, coming up with a good hook to reel in your audience is always a good idea.
  4. Request reactions. Celebrations, support, love, likes, great ideas- these reactions can provide a valuable source of intent, but a reaction should be requested. For example, let’s celebrate the launch of our latest zero threat solution, or celebrate with us and we will schedule a call to review the new zero threat initiative. As a sales person or a marketer we need to ensure that we treat social reactions as opportunities, and follow-up with them. 
  5. Educate sales people on the benefits of responding to the reactions they receive from posts. Salespeople who leverage social will hit and exceed quotas more often.

The PartnerOn platform is not only an amazing service to help improve through channel marketing, but it also provides great insights into how content is used and consumed. It is a privilege to be able to provide our users both!

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