How Data Centers Compete in Local Markets

What can your data center do to compete in a mid-tier city?

For starters, you would need to conduct competitive analysis and identify your core market. Once you obtain a deep understanding of who it is you are trying to attract, you will need to provide customized content for each of your buyer personas.  

In a recent Q&A webinar, we addressed concerns of Data Center CEO’s, Sales Directors, and CMOs relating to sales acceleration, discussing this topic in depth. Interested in watching the webinar recording? If so, access it here: “Data Center Sales Funnel Acceleration Q&A Webinar.”

Competitive Analysis

Start off your competitive analysis by doing a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis evaluates your data center’s

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

Next, consider how competitive your company is in the modern playbook, which is needed for success. You are looking at things like:

• Traffic rank
• Google authority
• How many indexed pages you have
• How many different authoritative, relevant domains are linked to your website
• Your Twitter reach
• Your LinkedIn reach
• Whether your website is properly optimized
• Whether your website is mobile friendly
• Whether you have (and use) calls-to-action (CTAs)
• Whether you have landing pages to take visitors and convert them into leads
• Whether you have (and use) buyer personas
• Whether you personalize content tailored to your buyer personas

Content Development

Many data centers focus much of their time (and content) on late stages of the sales cycles. This final 30% of the buyer’s journey (the Decision Stage) is where prospects are thinking about locations, pricing, peering, managed services, and things like carrier-neutral. However, what about the first 70% of the buyer’s journey?

Allocating resources towards the Awareness and Consideration Stages (the beginning and middle stages of the buyer’s journey) can help data center compete more effectively in local, regional, and international markets.

To nail content creation in earlier stages of the buyer’s journey, understand and discuss challenges your buyers and market face.

Your business should really dig into and understand who it is you are trying to attract. Once you have identified your buyer personas, stop talking to them about everything under the sun. Instead, focus on their interests, pain points, challenges, goals, and other relevant information.

How is your data center competing in local markets? Let us know in the Comments below.

To learn more about data center sales acceleration, download the webinar recording Data Center Sales Funnel Acceleration Q&A Webinar.