Content marketing plays an important role in the business development process. Its goal is to attract target audiences through the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant and consistent content. The business development team uses this content to build relationships that bring in new customers and drive sales.
The Business Development Process
Business development, sometimes referred to as BD, is the precursor to sales. It is a strategic process that aims to identify, nurture and, in many cases, acquire new customers and business opportunities that drive organizational growth and profitability. Typically, the business development process works in three stages:
- Attract potential customers, partnerships and referral sources
- Engage meaningfully with target audiences
- Convert connections into customers or business opportunities.
For business development to be successful, BD teams must understand their products, services and target markets thoroughly. This includes all stages of the buyer’s journey. From there, they need to tailor engagement for every potential customer or relationship. This is where content plays a critical role.
To maximize every interaction, BD teams need resources that deliver the type of information and engagement the prospect needs to facilitate a purchase. These resources must include content that effectively introduces products or services to customers, showcases brand thought leadership and establishes expertise.
Five Questions to Ask When Creating Business Development Content
To create content that facilitates the business development process, gather input from all levels of an organization and ask the following five questions:
- What customer pain points does the content address? Understanding target markets is an essential first step for building resources that resonate with prospects and customers. When the buyer’s perspective is at the center of content, it will empower the business development team to identify and provide meaningful and relevant solutions.
- What stages of the buyer’s journey require targeted resources? The right piece of content for a prospect will be different depending on the prospects, their needs and their stage in the buyer’s journey. It is essential BD teams understand the buyer’s journey and how the appropriate content propels them through the sales funnel. Leverage sales and customer data to best address each stage. Sometimes a sales brochure will work for an introduction. Other times, a prospect might need a specific solution or be in a highly specialized industry, so a relevant case study can be valuable. More promotional content can be provided closer to the end of the sales funnel. This content may include company specs, service and product catalogs, testimonials and fee schedules. To ensure audiences receive the content they want in the medium they desire, develop a variety of formats including social media posts, chatbot conversations, blogs, emails, newsletters, bylined articles, white papers, case studies, video and podcasts.
- How does content reinforce your brand? Thought leadership content should provide valuable insights to target audiences without being self-promotional. At the same time, it should reinforce your brand in terms of vision, mission, values and corporate image. When creating resources for the BD team, make sure the content links to your website and social channels. Include a phone number and email address so prospects can reach a team member quickly and easily.
- What data and research reinforce this message? When teams collect and analyze data together, they’re able to make decisions collaboratively. Seek insights from sales, marketing, customer service and BD teams about customers and prospects. Gather information from CRM tools, social media monitoring, website analytics, surveys and other sources. Based on that information, create strategic and customer-centric content that will enhance the customer journey through personalized offers, segmented email campaigns and targeted resources.
- Are sales resources up-to-date and easily accessible? Strategically designed business development content won’t accomplish anything if BD, sales and marketing teams don’t have a clear path to those materials. Business development teams need to be able to access key sales materials quickly when a lead is hot. Ensure resources are distributed across departments and maintained in a shared location. Provide direction on how to best leverage content for each audience at every stage of the sales funnel. Review and update materials regularly to reflect changes to products or services. Ensure alignment with your brand image and messaging in your content.
Unite Teams for Business Growth
When executed successfully, business development represents a united effort that intersects with sales and marketing teams to stimulate continued growth for a company. One essential piece to the puzzle is strategic content. Armed with vital sales information and customer-centric marketing messages, business development teams can leverage content to create meaningful prospect engagement. Rather than developing content simply for the sake of adding more to your website, keep business development top of mind to create effective messaging that prioritizes meaningful and relevant engagement that fuels business growth.
