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Content is so integral to an effective marketing system in the current environment that it is essential for top-level leadership to play a vital role in strategic development and implementation. The Chief Marketing Officer must guide content strategy in both cultural and functional ways.
The following is a look at why CMO leadership is critical to content strategy. It also offers insights on the value of content and the importance of creating a data-driven strategy that is personalised for the customer.
Role of the CMO
We’ve recently discussed how the role of a Chief Marketing Officer has changed in the last few years. The CMO has primary responsibility for coaching and developing a team that optimises demand generation. And in the current B2B arena, content is a major force in demand generation, which means it is inherently integrated within this responsibility.
Therefore, CMOs must lead in all facets of the content management system, from crucial message strategy to content types, distribution methods, and creation. The development and distribution of content must align with the strategic vision, goals, and strategies formulated at the executive level of an organisation. And for this reason (and others), the CMO is a key member of a company’s executive leadership team.
Value of Content
So what is the value of content? Content is valuable in demand generation in two key ways: quality and distribution.
Quality involves the development of impactful messages that appeal to the interests of a well-defined target market. And the goal of distribution is to optimise results by getting content in from of the largest, most qualified group of prospects.
Successful marketing leaders influence both of these areas.
They help with the strategic development of a content creation plan that begins with the identification of the right target prospects for each given solution.
Additional steps in content development include:
- research on effective topics and formats,
- in-depth development of buyer personas for targeting, and
- content scheduling.
Leadership in the area of distribution includes looking for opportunities beyond direct contacts or content subscribers.
And content syndication, which allows for distribution and follow-up with qualified prospects beyond your existing contact network, is significant to optimising demand generation. Because managed correctly, it can reach the right buyers that you want to target.
Importance of Data
Strong data collection and analytics skills are among those most vital for a contemporary Chief Marketing Officer. The need to look beyond traditional firmographic data, and to leverage intent data, is a primary reason for this development.
Intent data is input about the methods and behaviours of targeted prospects as they go about the buying journey. And its powerful collection and analysis allow you to figure out which types of content have the most effect on specific job roles within a given organisation.
With this insight, you can personalise your content so effectively, that you can reach different decision makers in the same company with distinct messages.
Wrap Up
Because content is vital to demand generation, CMO involvement from planning to execution is necessary for optimised performance.
Leadership involvement is required to demonstrate:
- the importance of content to the organisation and,
- how it contributes to the planning and implementation of a cohesive, effective strategy.
And executed correctly, it can have an outstanding effect on your demand generation efforts.
