Content Activation At Work

By now you’ve (hopefully) heard about Content Activation and how it uncovers a brand new class of data that will transform your marketing outcomes. But just in case you haven’t, Content Activation is a proactive form of marketing that gives prospects a clear path-to-purchase by always providing them with a next step and minimizes barriers like forms and gates.

Now, it’s time to see Content Activation in action. These performant marketers have put their content to work for them by activating it in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:

Free trial to paid

It’s easy to get free triallers to sign on with no commitment. Getting them to take the plunge and convert to paid? Much, much more challenging. There’s no guarantee that free trial users will find the content they need to make an informed decision before their time is up. And that clock is a-tickin’.

Content Activation can help those users gain the confidence they need to move from the free version to the paid by helping them access the information they need faster and easier than they could otherwise.

How TIBCO Software boosted SQLs by 92%

TIBCO’s trial-to-conversion rate was low, partially due to a one-email-per-week policy that put serious constraints on the marketing team’s ability to reach their installed base. The MQLs that were generated often didn’t progress to SQL status. Plus, they had no way to measure the success (or failure) of trial content, which added a whole other layer of confusion to the mix.

Content Activation to the rescue! TIBCO now sends trial prospects a single email with a collection of relevant, sequential content assets (we refer to these as Content Tracks) they can consume at their own pace. Using PathFactory’s analytics, they also have insight into which pieces of content are consumed and for how long. Focusing on time spent allowed them to really uplevel their lead scoring. As Mervyn Alamgir, Senior Director of Digital Marketing puts it:

“We now score leads based on their engagement with assets rather than simply relying on clicks or downloads–and we’ve seen impressive lifts in our lead funnel performance.”

As a result, TIBCO increased the amount of sales qualified leads (SQLs) by a whopping 92% and experienced a 3X lift in opportunities created from engaged leads. Overall they saw leads fly through the funnel 40% faster than before they activated their content.

Accelerated purchase journeys

Content Activation is like a liquid plumber for any blockages in your pipeline. From waking up dormant prospects or kicking already-interested ones into high gear, sending targeted content tracks to specific segments streamlines the nurture process.

Kareo doubled conversion rates by delivering more content per click

The Kareo marketing team was pumping dollars into PPC campaigns that weren’t working. Prospects who clicked on a Kareo display ad were sent to a demo request or free trial sign-up form and then fed directly to sales. It was a little too soon to ask so much of prospects and many leaked out of the funnel as a result.

Kareo activated their passive content experience and now, rather than filling out a form or speaking with sales right away, buyers can self-educate at their own pace with relevant information personalized just for them. Using PathFactory’s Engaged Intent data, they know when leads are hot based on the amount of content consumed and can send them to sales when they are truly ready.

As a result, MQLs converted to SALs 2.3X faster, and they saw 2.4X greater average opportunity value generated. At the end of the day, Content Activation helped Kareo win an additional $1.2M in revenue.

Installed-base customer marketing

Considering 70-95% of revenue comes from cross-sell and upsell, it’s important to make sure your customers are getting the maximum value out of your solution, and adopting new products and features quickly. Content Activation helps customers self-educate faster by bunding helpful content together.

How Cisco boosted adoption by increasing content engagement

Cisco knew that their customers were 80% more likely to renew if adoption takes place in the first 30 days. They needed a way to help buyers realize the full value of their products faster.

Maureen Robbs, Digital Experience Architect, and the Cisco marketing team launched a series of always-on content tracks so customers could binge on educational content. According to Maureen, the key to successful Content Activation was personalization:

“By combining data with effective tools like PathFactory, we’re able to have more than 100,000 highly personalized conversations with our customers to guide them on their path to success.”

The Cisco marketing team was able to link better content engagement to a 3.5X lift in adoption and also experienced a 24% increase in closed-won revenue.

Account-based marketing

When creating bundles of content (we call them Content Tracks) is scalable and easy, you have the time and resources to customize them right down to named account and user. Take it a step further and set up alerts so account executives know when engagement from specific accounts is on the rise and can reach out in a timely manner.

How Invoca tripled engagement from target accounts

Invoca’s sales cycle requires a lot of education. The traditional B2B approach of sending a weekly nurture email that drives prospects to a single, gated landing page wasn’t doing the job fast enough. The Invoca marketing team wanted to provide target accounts with a better experience – one with fewer gates that encouraged as much content consumption as possible with each visit.

By incorporating a Content Activation approach to their ABM strategy, Invoca evolved from relying on gated, single-asset landing pages to a frictionless, customer-centric approach. Now, target accounts are served fully customized content experiences that put the “next best asset” at their fingertips, regardless of where they are in the buying cycle. As a result, prospects self-educate faster and have more productive conversations with sales.

Invoca realized a 3X lift in target account engagement after moving to a Content Activation model. They also saw average deal size increase by 2.5X.

These results are not a-typical for smart marketers who have chosen the Content Activation life. Check out this new eBook: An Introduction To Content Activation for even more benefits and effective ways to implement it into your overall marketing vision.