Marketers face increasing challenges when implementing content syndication as part of their demand and lead generation efforts. Alongside meeting KPIs, keeping stakeholders happy, and supporting the pipeline, they must understand and learn how to deploy the latest developments.
The marketing landscape is changing rapidly. We are seeing the “Death of the MQL,” the “Dark Funnel,” and consumers “Picking Their Own Adventure.” AI is becoming increasingly important, and you know that if you get the Intent and the Ideal Customer Profile right, you´ll nail it.
It’s a lot.
But content syndication alone shouldn’t be that difficult, after all everyone is doing it and there are hundreds of solutions on the market.
In this blog post, we’ll go back to basics and explore why your content syndication efforts might not give you the desired results with some simple checks. But don’t worry; we’ll also give practical solutions to improve your B2B digital demand generation campaign.
What Exactly Went Wrong?
So, what’s going wrong with yours, and where to start looking?
The partner you selected said they have the best data, validation, and some bells and whistles, but it’s still not working.
Hang on! There was another partner who called you. They also had great data and validation.
The fast solution, best when you’re busy, is to swap out the supplier you’re already using and try someone else. Maybe someone with intent, AI, or BANT?
But one quarter later, your results aren’t improving.
So perhaps it wasn’t them. It was you.
Getting The Basics Right
Common themes develop when talking to advertisers with content syndication campaigns that “haven’t worked.” In our experience, here are some easy checks to make sure you’re on the right track:
- Unrealistic Expectations for the Channel
Sales teams often expect content syndication to fill a lead-shaped hole in their pipeline with a demand-shaped peg. Instead of focusing solely on instant conversions, use content syndication to increase brand awareness and remain top of mind for potential customers when the time is right.
- Lack of Clarity on Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Failure to communicate and implement a well-defined ICP with your content syndication partner can lead to ineffective targeting. Work with your sales team to set up a clear ICP and ensure that the data onboarded matches everyone’s requirements. - Inaccurate Target Account List (TAL)
Collaborate with sales or use a data provider to properly qualify your target account list. Ensure you capture demand from the correct accounts, increasing the chances of conversion. - Poor Lead Accuracy
Low conversion rates may result from trying to service leads that do not meet your specification. Implement a quality control method or technology to ensure the leads generated align with your product or service offering. - Content Quality
Review your syndicated content to ensure it is engaging, valuable, and relevant to your audience. High-quality, well-researched, and insightful content is crucial to capturing the attention of potential clients. - Overly Enticing Content
While having compelling content is important, overly generic and enticing content might attract too wide of an audience. Focus on tailoring your content to appeal to your specific target audience.
- Insufficient Nurturing
Knowing that you haven’t generated sales ready leads isn’t enough. B2B sales cycles are typically longer, and top-of-funnel prospects require nurturing over time. Implement a lead nurturing process to keep the interest of potential buyers and guide them through the sales funnel.
- Unrealistic Expectations for the Channel
Beginning To Look Beyond The Basics
So, what happens when the basics are in place?
Now it’s time to consider adding vendors, using intent data, running ABM (Account Based Marketing) or multiple channels or “brand to demand,” amongst other techniques.
Whichever of these techniques is deployed first, the best results are driven when robust and useful measures are in place to score the performance of this activity.
Setting out this way helps stakeholders understand what changes you can make and where to focus efforts to increase volume and conversion rates.
To implement this, marketers need full transparency and control over every part of their campaign and should work with vendors who can offer that.
In return, they should offer feedback from all stages to allow the vendor to identify where they see the most success.
Conclusion
Boost your B2B digital demand generation campaign by addressing the basic challenges associated with content syndication. Focus on developing and deploying personalized content and lead nurturing, but most importantly, take time to set realistic goals and align expectations across all stakeholders at the outset.
Once this is in place, turn towards more advanced techniques but ensure the controls are in place. Understand and find the impact of changes made and share findings with your vendors to work toward a common goal.
Email me or add me on LinkedIn to discuss how LeadScale Services can help you improve your content syndication program.