Don’t Let It Slip Away! Use Q4 Budget on New Content

by / Sep 24, 2019

Having extra budget at the end of the year might seem like any marketer’s dream. And sure, it’s better than running out of money in Q2! But if your situation’s like many, there’s no such thing as “rollover budget.” If you don’t spend your surplus before the end of the year, it’s gone. Suddenly, you’re facing a use-it-or-lose-it scenario. What’s a marketer to do?

Sure, you could pour your surplus into something fun — world’s greatest holiday party, anyone? But there’s no reason to waste your unspent budget on a champagne fountain. Instead, spend that money where it can do you the most good: on high-quality content.

Building a well-developed content library is crucial to driving brand awareness, engagement and sales.  According to Demand Gen Report, half of B2B buyers say they are relying more on content now than ever before to research and make purchase decisions. And there’s still time to do it in Q4! To decide what kind of content to spend your surplus on, think about your goals for next year, so you can find the best kind of content to achieve them.

Goal 1: You want more marketing-qualified leads (MQLs)

You know that not every potential buyer will be ready to talk to Sales from the get-go. To avoid wasting Sales’ time, it’s important to only forward them leads who are ready for that level of commitment. And an effective way to get more buyers to that point is through journey streams.

By creating customer-centric content and entering buyers into email journeys tailored to their issues and challenges, you can address their pain points, overcome their objections and educate them about your company in a way that that is meaningful to them.

To get your journey streams off the ground, of course you’ll need the actual emails and landing pages that make up the framework. But you also need content like videos,  webinars, blogs, white papers, brochures, product sheets and more to help you engage with your buyers at each stage of their exploration of your product or service offering. If you can create some of that content this quarter, your pipeline will be thanking you in 2020!

Goal 2: You want more engagement

There’s nothing more frustrating than pouring time and energy into a campaign that doesn’t drive engagement. It’s not an uncommon problem, though. Think about how many advertising messages your buyers are bombarded with every day. With information coming at them from all directions, it’s natural that they’ll start to tune things out.

To cut through the clutter and grab buyers’ attention, video is the way to go. Cisco’s report predicts that globally, IP video traffic will account for 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022. Vidyard’s 2019 State of Video in Business Report stated that Social Media platforms, such as Facebook had audiences gazing 5x longer at videos compared to static content. Plus, 51.9% of marketing professionals name video as the type of content with the best ROI. Think about how video could fill the gaps in your 2020 content strategy. There are plenty of video types you could start with, like recorded product demos or short commercials.

Other non-traditional content ideas you should be considering are podcasts and webinars. According to Demand Gen Report, 64% of B2B buyers said they prefer podcasts at the top of the funnel, while 48% said webinars were valuable to them in the mid-stage of their buying journey.

Goal 3: You want more MQLs to convert

Let’s say getting MQLs to Sales isn’t your issue. You have a steady flow of leads heading to your sales team on a regular basis. There’s just one problem — those leads aren’t converting. What’s going on?

Plenty of factors could be at play, of course, but here’s one of the biggest ones: For Sales to do their job effectively, they need the right tools. That means Marketing should be providing the content Sales needs to convert more leads. But if your marketing and sales teams still work in silos, how can one team know what the other one needs?

First things first: Sit down with Sales and talk about what they feel is missing from their resource library. Do they need new collateral? Phone scripts? Email templates? Direct mail? Whatever they need, creating it in Q4 is a great way to spend your budget surplus, and will get you the closed sales in 2020 to prove it.

Don’t let the end of the year scare you — you’ve still got plenty of time to turn your budget surplus into the quality content you need! And you don’t have to do it alone, either. We can help you get your most pressing content needs met before time runs out. Sound like a plan? Get in touch!

The Mx Group

B2B Insights, Staff Writer

The Mx Group is the second-largest independent, integrated B2B marketing agency in the U.S., with a mission to impact the marketplace for companies that impact the world. For over 30 years, we’ve created meaningful end-to-end buying experiences for B2B brands. Our clients are leaders and innovators in automotive, financial services, food, health care, legal services, oil and gas, industrial, packaging, trade associations, technology and SaaS who rely on our expertise to influence and grow their businesses. Our relationships with our clients and people are why B2B Marketing recognized us as Agency of the Year. Our headquarters are in Chicago, but our reach is global. Whether a client is an established or startup B2B brand, we have the people and perspective to be a strong partner that makes a difference.