Traditionally B2B companies moved their potential customers through the sales funnel, ultimately hoping to close the sale and for the new customer to become loyal and thereby a source of recurring revenue. Mass-marketing was largely the initial driver as no other option existed.
While the sales funnel remains relevant B2B companies must think differently about how they present themselves to potential customers and most ground-breaking is the hypothesis that B2B-companies must act like media companies with content as a new type of product.
Sounds crazy, listen closer.
Content is being used as an umbrella term, however in a B2B context and particularly in B2I (Business-2-Investor) communication, content needs to have an attention grapping edge, be inspirational or educational, or all of the above. This can be referred to as a company’s Learning & Development strategy (L&D).
Content in today’s media context can be a company’s most important differentiator, and most importantly B2B companies most view content as a way to grow demand, rather than view content as a way to meet search demand. This distinction is crucial and requires a change of mindset to providing Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) to your customer.
Successful communication strategies for B2B companies leverage this new paradigm of educating customers as opposed to merely pushing a product benefit. It is about providing perspective and engaging in a dialogue rather than just pushing a message. It is about really deeply understanding customer needs, often before the customer realize he has new needs. In short, it is about operational thought leadership, insights you can activate.
Building a loyal bond between brand and customer remains key and content can be the glue to secure just that. Content is a brilliant way to show your customers that you understand their needs and that you are helping them figure out a problem, or shedding light on a new opportunity.
With the shift in how media is consumed today, communication can be extremely niche and hyper targeted. With the introduction of social media and tailored digital platforms such as Coherra, B2B companies can micro-segment their customers to levels not possible in the past. With online advertising becoming more expensive and competitive, thinking like a media company will be the way to go for many B2B companies: Spend less on Google and more on producing brilliant attention grapping content to be broadcasted via the most suited platforms.
While this apply to many B2B companies, the Coherra platform is designed to attract and match opportunities with investors by giving them access to curated information and content presented by the fund managers themselves. It is our ambition to provide the best possible research for all potential investors, regardless of risk profile and area of investment interests. This so they can make sound investment decisions based on insightful research.
At Coherra we are a communications company thinking like a media company with the content presented by the funds on the platform, as our single most important product. To succeed our content must always be highly relevant, inspirational and tailored to each viewer’s needs and we aim to bring answers to questions not yet asked. Nothing less.