How does marketing come up with all of those creative campaigns that deliver compelling content that resonates with prospects? Do marketing professionals develop these ideas by themselves or in groups made up of other marketers? I hope that’s not the case because if it is, then it’s likely that these campaigns fall short of engaging with prospects.
The best campaigns providing the most relevant content come from the market itself. Your prospects and customers are the best sources for giving you content ideas. Of course, it can be challenging to communicate with your target customers on a regular basis.
Wouldn’t it be great if you had access to people who talk and correspond with your prospects every day? Of course, these individuals exist and probably sit not far from you in your office. They are your sales development representatives (SDRs). Even if your company isn’t big enough yet to have an SDR team, there’s at least one individual acting in that role (likely whoever is doing sales), and it your job as a marketer to align yourself with them.
By aligning with SDRs, marketing will obtain the intelligence sales uncovers when conversing with prospects. While CRM and marketing automation solutions provide a good deal of this insight, there’s still a need for humans to input the right information and knowledge that’ll help marketing develop the most effective communications.
To accomplish this, marketing needs SDRs to share how prospects respond to them via phone and email. While SDRs and software solutions capture what actions prospects are taking, such as downloading white papers or signing up for webinars, it’s also critical for SDRs to share what prospects are actually saying, including their tone. Are prospects excited about what they’re hearing or are they simply trying to be polite? Have prospects indicated in these interactions a need for the product or service you’re selling? If so, how urgent is the need?
Additionally, what clues are the prospects providing about their intentions? Do they casually refer to using a competitive product or do they complain about their current situation? When complaining they may comment about their wish list for a better way for them to accomplish their goals. This information must be captured by SDRs and shared with marketing.
Overall, it’s critical for marketing to work closely with SDRs to obtain these insights through their CRM applications, as well as through face-to-face conversations. Smaller companies and emerging ones, such as start-ups, have an advantage in this case over larger companies because it’s often easier to schedule weekly and possibly daily stand-up meetings with a singular focus on what prospects are saying. These meetings should be kept short and to the point, covering what messages are resonating, what’s not and what prospects are saying. Then marketing can take that information and develop relevant content that will engage prospects and encourage them to take positive action.
How does your marketing team learn from SDRs about your prospects’ needs, wants and concerns? How do they take that information and turn it into awesome content that resonates?