Not sure about the headline! 

This week two different events led me to think about the role of content in sales.

First I listened to Tim Langley's excellent webinar 'Guide to marketing analytics' and he shared the slide below.  I was interested in the fact that there has been a massive increase in the number of times you need to get in front of prospects now compared to the past.

This certainly resonates with my experience.  Back in the 1990s we used to send out email shots (when email was pretty new) and all we really had to do was say 'we are selling this - do you want it?' and we got a great response with a few follow up calls.

That is no longer the case - obviously.  Tim was saying that more than 15 contacts are now needed.  

There is no way you can email and call that many times.  You'd be a stalker (and really annoying)! And that is where I think content comes in – especially regular newsletters.  

The second event was the excellent Raconteur ‘Marketing to the C Suite’ meeting held last Friday.  The panel was made up of Travers Clarke-Walker (CMO Fiserv), Titus Sharpe (CEO MVF) and Clare O'Brian (Internet Advertising Bureau). They discussed the time they spent meeting with vendors compared to the time they spent reading and researching about solutions.  They agreed that they spent five times as long reading about solutions than meeting or talking with the folk trying to sell the solutions. 

And that is where content comes in.  All panelists agreed that much of the content they were reading was vendor-produced but as long as it was specific, niche and authentic it was a very important influence for them. 

So hopefully this little post is at least one touch :)