The document provides an overview of content transformation and the shift from product-centric to audience-centric strategies in B2B marketing. It discusses research that shows most B2B organizations still struggle with audience clarity and aligning content to buyers' needs. The document also presents models for understanding buyer audiences and journeys. It analyzes challenges to becoming audience-centric like prioritizing content audits and measuring goals. Additionally, it shares a case study of how ADP improved engagement by focusing on audience research and inbound strategies rather than just products.

1. #B2BMX
Content Transformation:
The Back Story on Audience Centricity
Phyllis Davidson @PhyllisMusings @siriusdecisions

2. © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved
Content Transformation: The
Back Story on Audience
Centricity
Phyllis Davidson
Research Director
@PhyllisMusings
February 20, 2018

3. @siriusdecisions 3 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

4. @siriusdecisions 4 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

5. 5 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved@siriusdecisions
Seeking Signs of Adoration in a Digital World
…He opened my email, so he’s
interested ...right?
He retweeted my tweet today, so he’s
obviously thinking about me.
He’s following me on Instagram,
so we’re like soul mates.
I texted him goodnight and he texted me
back so he’s totally into me, for sure.

6. 6 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved@siriusdecisions
Seeking Signs of Adoration in a Digital World
…Three percent of my prospect targets
opened my email, so they’re interested
...right?
23 more prospects are following us on
Twitter, so that means we have a
successful social strategy...!
Everyone who watched our webinar
should convert, for sure!

7. 7 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved@siriusdecisions
Executive Summary
• Key issues
• What you will walk away with
• B-to-b organizations recognize that product-centric go-to-market strategies no longer capture
buyers’ attention and drive sustainable growth
• Despite the aspiration for audience-centricity, the b-to-b factory is engineered to build and
sell products, so organizations must evolve
• Content is a keystone in the shift to audience-centricity, but organizations still struggle to gain
clarity on the buyer behavior needed to fuel effective campaigns
• New data from multiple SiriusDecisions research studies, including the SiriusDecisions 2017
B-to-B Buying Study, the Global 2017 CMO Study and the SiriusDecisions Command Center™
• A model for understanding the shift from product- to audience-centricity
• A look at the ways in which organizations are demonstrating they “get” what their audiences
need to hear from them

8. © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved
This Way to an Audience-
Centric Go-to-Market
Strategy

9. SiriusPerspective:
@siriusdecisions 9 © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved
Market
Market: Multiple company
entities cluster around a
common market segment
attribute such as industry,
geography or enterprise size
Account Account: The buying entity –
where the contractual
relationship exists
So What Is the B-to-B Audience?
There are five primary levels called audience echelons that must be sized, defined
and prioritized to articulate a buyer audience.
Buying Center
Buying Center: A function or
department that the buyer
persona is associated withBuying Group
Buying Group: A collection of
personas involved in the
process to buy an offering
B-to-B Buyer Audience Echelons
Persona
Persona: An individual
characterized by job role

10. SiriusPerspective:
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The Audience-Centric Go-to-Market Model
Adopting an audience-centric go-to-market approach requires aligning offerings to
buyer needs rather than aligning needs to offerings.
SiriusDecisions Go-to-Market Architecture Model
Master
Brand
Business
Unit
Industry
Industry Region
Industry
Region
Region Account
Buying
Center
Persona
Persona
Persona
Region
Account
Buying
Center
Persona
Persona
Account
Buying
Center
Persona
Persona
Business
Unit
Business
Unit
Audience Framework
Need
CommonNeed
Product
Product
Product
Product
Product
Product
Product
Solution
Product
Product
Product
Product
Offering Map
Need
Need
Need
Need
Buying
Scenario
Buyer’s Journey Map
Buying
Scenario
Buyer’s Journey Map
Buying
Scenario
Buyer’s Journey Map
Buyer’s Journey
Map

11. SiriusPerspective:
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Campaign Hierarchy
When campaign hierarchies reflect the internal product roadmap or business unit
structure, themes slip into what the product does instead of addressing what the buyer needs.
Offering
Category 1
Offering
Category 2
Offering
Category 3
Campaign Theme
Value Prop Value Prop Value Prop
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Audience
Segment 1
Audience
Segment 2
Audience
Segment 3
Buyer Need Buyer Need Buyer Need
Campaign Theme
Value Prop Value Prop Value Prop
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Reputation
DemandCreation
SalesEnablement
Offering Map Offering Map Offering Map
Product-Centric Audience-Centric

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Detour Ahead: CMOs
Navigating the Path to
Audience-Centricity

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Growth Strategies
(relative weighting scores)
Rank the following growth strategies in terms of importance to your organization over
the next two years.
Question
Acquisition (10.6)
Productivity (20.0)
#5
#4
Note: New Markets Ranked #1 and New Buyers Ranked #2 in 2016
Source: SiriusDecisions 2017 Global CMO Study, n=253
New Offerings (21.7)
New Markets (23.5)
New Buyers (24.2)
#3
#2
#1

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5.5
7.3
8.3
8.8
9.1
9.6
10.8
12.2
13.3
15
Implement account-based marketing
Revise the marketing planning process
Brand investment and differentiation
Add or revise routes to market
Measure marketing's contribution to key business objectives
Shift from product-centric to audience-centric
Enhance partner/channel marketing capabilities
Adapt to changing economic conditions
Address changing buying behaviors
Enhance customer experience
Priorities Influencing Marketing Strategy: 2017
Source: SiriusDecisions 2017 Global CMO Study, n=108
Which of the following priorities have the most influence on your marketing strategy
over the next two years?
Question
23
(relative weighting scores)

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Priorities Influencing Marketing Strategy
Which of the following priorities have the most influence on your marketing strategy
over the next two years and what are your biggest challenges?
Question
Prioritizing growth•
opportunities
Generating high• -
quality leads
• Organizational
readiness
• Insufficient data
• Developing content that
satisfies buyers' needs
throughout their
decision-making process
• Lack of buyer insights
Top
Influences
onStrategy
Two
Biggest
Challenges
Enhancing the
customer experience
Address changing
buying behaviors
Adapting to changing
economic conditions
Source: SiriusDecisions 2017 Global CMO Study, n=108, Customer n=84, Buyer n=80, Economics n=77

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Execution Innovation: 2017
What marketing trends do you plan to implement over the next two years?Question
3.9
4.8
7.3
7.5
9.6
10.5
10.5
10.7
11.0
11.1
13.2
New business models
Account-based marketing
User-generated content
Predictive analytics
Data-driven marketing
New technologies
Personalization
Use of social channels
Customer communities to drive customer engagement
Marketing for mobile devices
Interactive content/visual storytelling
Source: SiriusDecisions 2017 Global CMO Study, n=90

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Beware of Obstacles:
Plotting the Path to
Audience-centricity

18. SiriusPerspective:
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Prioritizing Content Audit
Too few b-to-b organizations have completed a full content audit -- critical for
delivering up-to-date, findable, relevant content that meets targeted audience needs.
8%
17%
33%
26%
16%
7%
16%
25%
36%
16%
We have not undergone a content audit
We have audited a portion of our content
We have done a full content audit
We are currently in the process of a content audit
We are planning a content audit in the next 6-12
months
Marketing Content
Sales Content
Source: SiriusDecisions Command Center

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30%
47%
17%
7%
32%
47%
15%
7%
0%–30%
31%–60%
61%–80%
81%–100%
Content Aligned and Tagged to Audience and Journey
While best practice for b-to-b organizations is to map the majority of their content to
audiences and journey stages, only 7 percent are achieving this.
Source: SiriusDecisions Command Center
Audience
Journey

20. SiriusPerspective:
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Investing in Content Technology
Increasingly complex content requirements demand technology investments to
automate, scale, customize, govern and measure content more effectively.
58%
53%
48%
44%
43%
41%
26%
Content marketing
Business Intelligence tools
Digital asset management
Marketing resource
management
Search engine optimization
Sales asset management
Translation/localization Technology Type

21. SiriusPerspective:
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Achieving Plan Goals
Too little b-to-b content is achieving plan goals, which suggest misalignment with
audience, persona and buyer journey needs.
3%
1%
13%
24%
30%
19%
11%
4%
1%
9%
14%
24%
34%
15%
I don't know
0%
1%–20%
21%–40%
41%–60%
61%–80%
81%–100%
All Content
Last 12 Months

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Welcome: The Content
Teams’ Office for
Audience-centric Content

23. SiriusPerspective:
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The SiriusDecisions Content Model
The SiriusDecisions Content Model depicts a common vocabulary and framework for
effectively managing, measuring and optimizing the cross-functional b-to-b content ecosystem.
Insight Creation Activation Optimization
ArchitectAudience DesignIdeation Build CustomizeDeliver MeasureCurate
Campaign
Framework
Messaging
Framework
Buyer’s
Journey
Market
Segments
Buyer
Personas
Seller
Personas
Influencer
Ecosystem
Demand
Type
Sales Process
Customer
Lifecycle
Creative
Concept
Templates
and Modules
Primary
Format(s)
Objective-
Setting
Information
Artifacts
Sales
Requirements
Local
Requirements
Third-Party
Sourcing
Derivative
Formats
Agency
Interlock
Creative
Production
Workflow/
Approvals
Testing/
Validation
Licensing
Third-Party
Curation
Translation
Adaptation
Local
Origination
Paid
Earned
Enabled
Shared
Owned
Utilization
Productivity
Impact
Inventory
Systems and
Taxonomy
Maintenance
Activity or Process
Content
Strategy
Audience
Framework
Content Brief
Messaging
Components
Brand
Guidelines
Localization
Guidelines
Content
Blueprint
Content
Dashboards
Content Audit
Key Deliverable
Content
Strategy

24. SiriusPerspective:
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The SiriusDecisions B-to-B Buying Decision Framework
The 2017 buying study validated findings revealed in the 2015 study: that b-to-b
buying behavior must be understood at the persona, buyer’s journey and primary buying scenario levels.
Decision is
made that
there is a
reason for
change
Education
Period of Status Quo
The buying entity is
not a current customer
of any provider
Period of Competitor
Experience
The buying entity is
a current customer of
a competitor
Period of Customer
Experience
The buying entity is a
current customer
Solution
Decision is
made on
how to
approach
change
Selection
Decision is
made on the
vendor of
choice
Why? How? Who?
TRIGGER INFORM DIFFERENTIATE CONFIRM

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State of Personalization
Organizations are starting to view personalization as more than a buzzword, with
investments and importance increasing over the next 12 months.
Personalization Use
Source: SiriusDecisions 2017 Personalization Study n=207
46%Sales 71% Marketing
Future Spend
49%plan on increasing
their spend
greatly or
significantly
Activities
Pilot Program
• Social Media
Marketing
• Email
• Direct Mail
Full Program
• Web Site
• Online
Advertising
• Landing Page

26. SiriusPerspective:
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Personalization Defined
Personalization is the act of delivering the right message to the right person at the
right time in a scalable way across a variety of delivery mechanisms.
Right Strategy
The right goals and
audiences for a
personalization
approach
Right Design
The right types and
amount of content
and data needed to
reach your
audience
Right Delivery
The right ways and
the right time to
deliver a
personalized
experience
Right Return
The right metrics to
understand the
performance of
personalization
within a program

27. SiriusPerspective:
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The SiriusDecisions Personalization Deployment Model
A set of program elements is required to deliver on the promise of the four R’s, with
each element being integral to effective personalization.
Right Strategy
Goal Setting
Audience
Segmentation
Right Design
Content Strategy
Data Usage
Right Delivery
Delivery
Mechanism Mix
Rules
Timing
Right Return
Measurement and
Reporting
The right goals and
audiences for a
personalization
approach
The right types and
amount of content
and data needed to
reach your
audience
The right ways and
the right time to
deliver a
personalized
experience
The right metrics to
understand the
performance of
personalization
within a program

28. © 2018 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved
Winning Content
Programs Ahead

32. SiriusPerspective:
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Audience-Centricity Case Study: ADP
ADP was developing content through a product-centric and company-centric lens –
and it wasn’t attracting or engaging target audiences.
Audience-Centricity
PeopleProducts

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ADP Case Study: Critical Success Factors
Persona research, content marketing, talent acquisition and a new inbound marketing
strategy were important prerequisites for audience-centric success.
Persona Pre-
Work
Customer
Interviews
Market
Research
Sales
Feedback
Search Engine
Data
Social
Intelligence

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ADP Case Study: Critical Success Factors
Persona research, content marketing talent acquisition and a new inbound marketing
strategy were important prerequisites for audience-centric success.
Inbound
Marketing
Strategy

35. SiriusPerspective:
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ADP Case Study: Impact
Audience-centric content strategy paid off with increased Web site traffic and
engagement, and a new respect for content marketing.
“By the time someone is
ready to talk product, you’re
either already in the deal or
not. By aligning closely with
audience needs, we get
permission to engage earlier
and build relevance for ADP
before the purchase journey
begins.”
Three new audience-
centric blogs launched
10% month-over-month
traffic growth
3x time-on-site
than rest of Web site
Less than 20% bounce
rate on new blogs

37. Thank you!