John Assalian, CEO

Hello, I'm John Assalian, Through my experience conducting long-term strategic initiatives for leading marketing organizations worldwide, I am in a unique position to share my insights. These strategies will help your marketing department achieve better sales ready leads, more effective lead nurturing strategies, and sustain competitive advantage.

Here's the deal: In today's business world, prospects need to be engaged through a consultative and conversational selling process. The best way to do this is through using — and here comes a mouthful — "non-interruptive, value-added social content" that gives them a reason to engage. Why? Let's take a look at the current state of the "buyer's cycle" for hi-tech selling:

• Buyers take longer than ever to purchase.
• Buyers often decide by "committee" – sometimes requiring multiple decision makers to approve even small budgets.
• Buyers have access to unlimited amounts of information to make purchase decisions.
• Buyers work in organizations that have complex technical interoperability issues, often resulting in further decision by committee.
• Buyers can choose a large number of people to buy from (resellers, direct, VARs, service influencers, etc.).

These changes in the buyer's cycle require a new type of marketing, one that can nurture leads before they get to your sales team. You need a marketing strategy that informs your prospect and builds a positive relationship with them before they go to purchase, and certainly before they go to a competitor.

Look at some of this data:*

• Seventy-five percent of purchase decision makers say they feel better about the company when they receive published, consultative product information.
• More than two-thirds say that companies that provide useful information about their products help them make better purchase decisions. Two-thirds also say they are likely to buy from the company that provided them with custom informational content.
• Eighty-percent of purchase decision makers say that they don't mind the sales message inherent in business content, so long as the content is filled with useful information.
• Eighty-percent of business decision makers look outside of advertisements for their first source for product information.
• Seventy-two percent of IT decision makers use online video to research tech solutions.
• Seventy-percent of web marketers indicate optimization and distribution of online content is a high priority in 2009.

The data is overwhelming, and the message is clear: Your business needs to develop and execute social content that is so intrinsically valuable that it moves your prospect to champion you.

Social Content Marketing Can Help

Viewstream creates valuable and scalable content to attract, acquire and engage your targeted audience. The effectiveness of this non interruptive approach goes beyond traditional "chest beating" style marketing into a new world of business storytelling.

Attract and Retain More Customers

Smart marketers know that there is no better way to reach online prospects than with the creation of valuable content and conversations. Help customers solve problems by educating them about your industry, about possible solution choices, best practices, and the right questions to ask. Start delivering indispensable information before they ever walk through your door. And once they are through the door, allow them to join the conversation. Be a trusted content source. In this way, you start an advisory relationship that will make it easier for them to buy from you when the time comes. That's what social content marketing is all about.

Types of Social Content Marketing

Providing an array of engaging, informative content across social media platforms is a way to share valuable information that will resonate with more customers. You can engage more prospects using:

• Content Rich Online Resource Centers
• Educational Programs
• Videos and Product Demos, such as How-Tos, Top Reasons, Top Ten Tips & Tricks, etc.
• Webcasts & Webinars
• Virtual Trade Shows & eSeminars
• eBooks, White Papers and Interactive PDFs
• Digital Magazines
• Business Blogs & Microblogs
• Social Video and Facebook/Wiki Marketing
• Twitter Marketing with Viewstream's Chatline Technology

Why Viewstream?

Viewstream is a leading social content marketing firm providing highly effective customer acquisition strategies. Our integrated creative and technical services rapidly expand sales-ready leads, build loyalty, and drive sales. The Viewstream team has been providing marketing solutions for leading corporate clients since 1999.

Want to learn more?

See the slide deck from my recent webinar, Your Prospect Is Your Champion: Content Marketing For Sales Ready Leads. In this presentation, we share our experiences in content marketing, and offer insider tips to help your marketing department achieve better sales-ready leads, execute more effective lead-nurturing strategies and sustain competitive advantage. Come learn how to integrate diverse marketing content into your lead generation system!

To find out how Social Content Marketing can generate sales-ready leads for you, contact us today.

What do I do next?

Next steps to find out more about Viewstream's Social Content Marketing:

• Project Inquiry
• Talk to an account manager by dialing (888)404-8686 x204.
• See our Content Marketing slideshow

*Sources:
Roper Center for Public Opinion
Google/TechTarget Research Project: How IT Pros Search Online During the Purchase Process
The Aberdeen Group — Maximize Business Results Online: How Web Content Management Technology is Transforming Digital Marketing