By Nick Nelson

In baseball, it’s technically true that games in April matter just as much as those in September. Each win and loss ultimately carries the same weight, no matter when it’s recorded.

Still: every player, coach, and person involved will tell you they feel the added pressure of late-season games in a close pennant race. More than ever, decisions are scrutinized and moments are magnified. It’s where the stars take center stage.

The approaching end of the year invokes similar vibes for marketing leaders – especially here in the year 2022, as we gaze ahead into an uncertain future, burdened with the likelihood of a looming recession.

Now is the time to play your best cards, make the most out of the remaining budget, and launch into 2023 with momentum. Much like a baseball team scrambling for a postseason berth, the pressure is on and focus needs to be dialed up.

Here are three pointers to help you make your push and finish strong.

Home Stretch: 3 Key Content Marketing Priorities

It’s no secret: the bar is raised for B2B content experiences. Marketers must elevate their craft in kind to meet it. Here’s where the industry is setting its sights to keep brands growing and demand flowing.

1 — Take me out with the crowd: Tune into your audience

In a recent editorial at CMSwire, Integrate’s director of content strategy Marcia Trask went to bat for a buyer-driven approach, challenging B2B marketers to better adapt to shifting dynamics.

“Despite all the significant changes to buyer behavior, the B2B marketing approach has remained essentially the same,” Trask wrote. “In the current purchasing climate, this is a big miss. Marketers need to pay attention to buyers, empathize with their problems or opportunities, speak their language, understand the underlying business or technical needs to be addressed and articulate how their solutions provide value to the purchasing organizations.”

She urges B2B marketers to take a step back and connect the dots by asking themselves the right questions:

1. To whom do you sell?
2. Why do they buy?
3. Who makes the decision?
4. How do you reach them?
5. What do you deliver?

Answer them as honestly, objectively, and thoroughly as you can. Simply working through these thought processes can help you get realigned with your audience and its current state.

When addressing 3 Trends That Will Shape B2B CMOs’ 2023 Planning at Forbes earlier this month, Forrester remarked that “CMOs must insist on rigor to connect marketing efforts designed to drive reputation, create demand, drive post-sale engagement, and provide a personalized experience.”

2 — Moneyball: Harness data to gain an edge

Once the final stretch of the season comes around, data becomes all the more powerful to a baseball team. By now, managers have almost a full season’s worth of information to guide their decisions. And they need it, because the stakes are high.

Marketing leaders can’t afford to lean solely on guesswork or intuition when planning …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog