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Work in Sales and Haven’t Embraced Content Marketing? Prepare to be Replaced by a Computer

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7 Apr 2017 | by Ian Blake

Technology is getting smarter all the time – and it’s not just menial tasks and straightforward admin jobs that are coming under threat from smart machines. These days, an algorithm can work out what you’d like to watch, buy or wear almost as well as you can.

Technology is getting smarter all the time – and it’s not just menial tasks and straightforward admin jobs that are coming under threat from smart machines. These days, an algorithm can work out what you’d like to watch, buy or wear almost as well as you can.

While Artificial Intelligence almost feels like old news in the consumer-facing world, its applications have been less easy to harness in the world of B2B marketing.

Data, data everywhere

However the trend towards Big Data is helping companies analyse their customer’s behaviour, predict their next move and learn what makes them tick. In the years ahead the whole operation of pooling and collecting data is destined to get faster and more sophisticated. In other words, automation is creeping beyond the easy, mind-numbing stuff and into the realm of things we’d always thought you needed a sharp and engaged human mind to pull off. Of course, the expectation is that the client will think that you know them inside out; they will be less tolerant of calls identifying them as leads when they don’t even come close to your ideal persona.

In addition to this, if a Facebook advert can figure out that you fit the targeted persona for some new, innovative product, you’d think a living, breathing human sales rep would have an easy job persuading you to buy, right? Shouldn’t they be able to do what a robot can’t? 

Cannot compute: creative content

Computers are smart, but they aren’t going to become thought leaders in any particular field. They can’t create. They don’t write sparkling, persuasive copy or shoot engaging video. They can’t make an emotional connection with a potential client, gain their trust, and build rapport. They are a tool; a means to an end, not the end itself. Some things just simply can’t be entrusted to a computer which is why enlisting the help of a B2B content marketing agency is the solution to future problems.

Robots can’t read between the lines to work out real problems in a customer’s business and offer them timely solutions that fix issues or tackle pain points. They can’t think like your clients think, and they can’t speak to them in their language.

In order to be found online, your website needs to look alive when the search engine spiders crawl through its directories. Your SEO game needs to be tight. Moreover, you need to produce top quality content that is carefully tailored to your client’s professional interests and objectives, making it clear that you really know your stuff and would be a perfect business partner.

We know what you need

You need to be have a steady output of great written material that shows off your expertise, builds momentum and keeps traffic flowing to your website. You need assets up your sleeve that you can offer to leads at crucial points in the dialogue. You need to have a thorough, well thought-out strategy that adds value at every stage of the customer journey – and guides them seamlessly through the sales funnel. You need to prove that you’re indispensable.

Save time, stress less

Allow the tasks that can be automated, be automated. Focus instead on adding real value in ways that only an actual person can. Of course, the right technology will assist you with every element of this process. It will help you to calculate ROI and ascertain how best to reach the people you want to reach. It will help you to draw out insights that will be of enormous value to your clients, which you can then package in ways that are meaningful for them.

Once you stop seeing sales automation as the competition, you can begin to use all that extra free time to to create better content for your customers and bolster your personal relationships with clients… try getting a computer to do that.

How can you become an indispensable asset to your company?  Download the B2B Content Creation Masterclass below.  

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