Data centers should strive to be discovered early in their prospect’s buyer’s journey.
A buyer’s journey refers to a business's considered process before purchasing. The buyer’s journey consists of three stages:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Decision
In the awareness stage, the prospect becomes aware of a problem or opportunity.
In the consideration stage, the prospect has identified their problem/opportunity and is conducting research to learn more about it.
In the decision stage, a prospect has settled on a solution and is using comparatives (vendors, prices, etc.) before finally making a purchase decision.
Early discovery gives data centers a massive advantage over competitors, allowing vendors to prove their value, influence, advise, and educate their prospects.
So how does one gain early detection in the sales cycle?
Establishing a thought leadership committee and adopting inbound strategies will boost a business’s visibility and help attract the right data center clients.
Thought Leadership Committee
A thought leadership committee is a group of experts armed with years of industry knowledge and skill.
More than likely, these highly-skilled individuals do not have the time to consistently sit down, transcribe their knowledge, and produce content.
However, they understand the value of their content and could arrange a time to meet with a resource partner or internal marketer for a brief interview.
“It’s not much different than if a local business journal or trade publication called one of your experts to interview them on a hospital security breach or DDOS attack,” says Joshua Feinberg, VP and Co-Founder of SP Home Run, “Instead of needing to interview 3-4 different people and multi-sourcing the article, your expert will be the only one featured in the article.”
As a bonus, conducting the interview internally bypasses any journalistic agendas, and businesses can control the entire process of developing, creating, and distributing helpful educational content.
Inbound Strategies
Inbound strategies focus on attracting prospects to businesses, not vice versa.
Inbound marketing uses highly relevant content to attract prospects. Inbound marketing should be practiced in conjunction with buyer personas and the buyer’s journey.
Buyer personas are fictional characters representing a business’s ideal client. Buyer personas are developed by directing interviews within your client base (past clients and prospects included) and conducting extensive industry research.
When developing a buyer persona, businesses should look for correlations in:
- Goals
- Challenges
- Demographics
- Job titles/roles
- Responsibilities
- Networking hubs (online and offline)
- Company size
- Career paths
Once buyer personas are developed, businesses can channel their focus into creating content to appeal to each of their personas.
Use correlations uncovered in the persona research to determine which subjects and topics to address.
When businesses promote material relevant to their prospects and appropriate to their stage, it is a winning combination that will inevitably attract the right clients.
How does your data center find the right clients? Let us know the comments below.
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