Cogo Strategy Blog

In order to build a better customer profile, you need a clear definition of your target customer. This may seem obvious to some businesses, but the reality is, it’s an overlooked aspect of B2B lead generation and building your business in general.

Putting together a better customer profile will not only give your business stability, it will also provide a better engagement and return to help the bottom line. But building your customer profile the wrong way can have negative long-term and short-term consequences. While you may have an ideal customer profile on paper from a financial standpoint, the best customer profile may come from other measurables you can’t find on a financial statement. These benchmarks could also provide more sales lead generation in the future, which will lead to more business and a stronger customer base.

According to DemandGen Report, 95% of buyers chose a solution provider that "provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process". A new approach to your website can be a total game changer for you.  If you want better results you’ll have to do things differently.  Reconfigure your thinking and use targeted channels to create forward momentum. The key to turning your web site into a sales tool is to anticipate your customers’ objections with the answers they need to hit the ground running. Keep all channels open and engaged with these simple and quick to implement tactics.

As you’re developing a marketing plan, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first: It’s 2017. Your website is now the center of your marketing universe. It is the most valuable marketing asset your company has, and your plan should incorporate it to full effect. Next, your plan needs the ability to scale if necessary. Keep your company’s goals and objectives in mind. Over the next year, where is your business headed? Think about the markets you’ll exist in, the markets you plan to enter, the products or services you already offer and the ones you’ll introduce over the next 12 months. From there, figure out what success looks like, both to you and to those running your business. Can your marketing plan scale up for success beyond that? If it can, and if you can get your marketing plan to align with your executive team’s goals, selling them on it will be a much simpler task.

Communicating a Value Proposition that Resonates

All companies have a value proposition, but many make the mistake of creating a value proposition that doesn’t work very well for customers.  How does this happen?  Companies become internally focused and create value propositions centered around their own goals and priorities, not on their customers’ needs.

Many content marketing metrics are used for determining the success of gaining new traffic and customers. While these are definitely important considerations, some businesses make the mistake of not serving the customers they already have. Many customers -- 68% according to Socially In -- will find a new place to purchase their products or services if they feel you’re indifferent to their status as a customer. Others may think they’re getting a better deal elsewhere. These can lead to high churn rates and lost profits.