It’s important to recognize that content syndication leads are not like most sales leads. When someone registers to download a white paper or podcast or case study about the business challenge that your product solves, he or she is expressing an interest in that topic, not necessarily in your product. (That individual may well be a great candidate for your product, it’s just that he/she doesn’t know it yet.)
Furthermore, that individual hasn’t downloaded that content from your Website, and may not even be familiar with your brand or even remember your company’s name from the white paper they downloaded mere days ago.
If you hand off content syndication leads to your sales force without setting these expectations, your program may be doomed to fail. You will immediately start to hear feedback from sales along the lines of:
“They’re not interested in our product – they only wanted the white paper.”
And once your inside sales team or lead development group concludes that a set of leads aren’t up to snuff, forget it: you’ll have a very difficult time convincing them otherwise.
In contrast, if those same reps are coached or scripted to inquire after the underlying issue, challenge, or topic that the white paper addresses, then you could be setting the stage for some very fruitful conversations. Here’s an example of a sales email that is adapted specifically for content syndication by doing the following:
1. References the specific content asset
2. Invites the prospect to call or email with any questions
3. Introduces additional resources or a further call to action
Hi [First Name],
According to our records, you recently downloaded our white paper “(Title of White Paper)” from one of our media partners. I’m following up to learn:
1. If you have any questions that I can answer regarding the content, about (white paper topic) or about Flash Storage solutions, and
2. If there’s anything we can do to assist you with your storage initiatives or challenges.
Please don’t hesitate to call or email me directly if I can help in any way. In the meantime, here’s another resource that you may find of interest – a case study showing how a leading university deployed our hybrid storage system to support increased productivity for thousands of students, teachers, and staff. You can access the document here: [link].
By far the best approach to content syndication leads, however, is to bypass sales altogether, and instead direct those leads into a series of nurturing emails designed to identify (via further engagement) those prospects that indeed merit direct sales follow-up. For tips on setting up an effective autoresponder program, see this earlier post.
Adapted from the white paper, “8 Tips for Content Syndication Success.”
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: A Follow-Up Strategy For Content Syndication Leads
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