How to Create a Resource Hub & Get Qualified B2B Sales Leads

By: Robert Hennessey

I.  Introduction

What now?
If you’re like many B2B marketers that may be what you’ve been asking yourself since implementing your latest marketing plan. So how do we generate more sales, and higher profits, while managing market-spend and increasing marketing ROI?

If you are promoting on social media all the time, you are likely struggling with feeding so many different social media platforms. And, generating likes and followers are good, but don’t pay the bills or make the bosses happy when they are focused on the latest quarterly numbers. Like:

• Lead Conversions down 70%
• The closing Ratio was 1:89
• CAC was up 119%
• Sales were down 25%

So, what’s next?
Why not focus your efforts on real relationship building. Start connecting with your potential sales prospects on a neutral, b-to-b platform where buyers go to find business solutions. Best practice b-to-b marketing isn’t about social interaction numbers it's about qualified leads & sales conversions. It’s about helping buyers buy with quality problem/solution content. This is how you can increase your brand equity, and having found your solutions motivate prospects to engage, this is when SALES PROSPECTS WILL ASK YOU TO CONTACT THEM! 

How Resource Hubs Engage B2B Prospects

What makes a Resource Hub different than a blog or your website to communicate your most important marketing messages?

• Blogs generally feature content based on time and the latest trends, they do not include problem/ solution content important to prospects.
  
  
• Websites take time to decipher navigation. If you’re a prospect you don’t want to waste time at 5 or 10 different websites and find that the content you seek may not even be there or be relevant. Also, many B2B websites still gate their content that drives potential prospects away due to privacy concerns. Serious buyers don’t want to play games they want to find solutions and you will either help them or be left out of their consideration.
  
  
• The best Resource Hubs are customer-centric with open access (no registration), no annoying ads, or privacy concerns. The content is easy to find and is meant to help prospects find solutions fast and accessible in various format choices all in one place. And, their sole purpose is to generate brand engagement & sales leads, not mailing lists. 

II.  B2B Resource Hub – Necessity in the B2B Purchase Cycle

Understanding the B2B Buyers Journey in Complex High-Cost Sales

Step 1. Problem Identification & Quantification

Step 2. Researching to Solve the Problem

Step 3. Determining Value of Internal Stakeholders in Problem/Solution

Step 4. Requirements Building in Defining a Solution

Step 5. Supplier Criteria & Evaluation Research

Step 6. Final Supplier Selection Process

Critical Factors Sellers Must Recognize

Each step requires the Buyers Internal Validation & Consensus

Sellers do not influence Steps 1-5

Sellers can be present in the Evaluation Research in Step 5 only with a B2B Resource Hub

Sellers can influence Step 6, only if asked to participate because they were helpful in step 5
 

Today’s B2B Purchase Cycle Realities

Sellers have little opportunity to influence customer decisions

The ready availability of quality information through digital channels has made it far easier for buyers to gather information independently, meaning sellers have less access and fewer opportunities to influence customer decisions.

Gartner’s research finds that when B2B buyers are considering a purchase‚ they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers. When buyers are comparing multiple suppliers‚ the amount of time spent with anyone sales rep may be only 5% or 6%. Source: (Gartner) 

The Need for “Provisioning Information” In a B2B Resource Hub

According to research conducted by corporate information services company Experian Marketing Services, marketing resource hub content is highly effective in the B2B marketing world.

• 53% of B2B marketing and sales decision-makers say marketing resource hub content has a high to moderate impact on purchase decisions.
  
  
• Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads (source)
  
  

• 60% of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading content about it (source).

• More than 70% of B2B marketers say they can demonstrate, with metrics, how content marketing has increased audience engagement and their number of leads (source).

B2B Resource Hub Buying Cycle Takeaway 

The B2B Resource Hub is a foundation component to a successful B2B marketing strategy. It engages buyers at exactly the precise stage of the buyer’s journey where vendor evaluation is occurring. It showcases quality problem/solution content in a neutral, unbiased platform where B2B buyers seek solutions.
And, the benefits are enormous.

• Builds Brand Equity
• Fosters Business Relationships
• Increases Qualified Sales Leads
• Increases Conversion Rates
• Increases ROI through Lower CAC and Market Spend
  
  

III. 4 Key Features of a B2B Resource Hub

1. Insures B2B professionals are not hassled in a neutral, unbiased, & no registration, no ads & no privacy invasion environment that showcases quality problem/solution content they need to find.
   
   
2. Displays only problem/solution, product/service specs, or product/service comparisons as the only content types used in a B2B resource hub.
   
   
3. Features a variety of communication types (audio, visual & written) so prospects can choose how they want to learn about your business solutions.
   
   
4. Facilitates the ability of B2B sales prospects to access & engage with your business solutions, with the single aim to convert them to B.A.N.T. quality sales leads. No contact forms for email follow-up.
   
   

IV. 5 Benefits of a B2B Resource Hub

1. Builds Brand Equity & Positions Your Firm as a Solutions Company
   Your B2B resource hub will attract b-to-b prospects who are looking for reliable problem/solution content to help them solve business problems.
   
   
2. Establishes the Industry Repository for Prospects Seeking B2B Solutions
   Your B2B resource hub needs practical content that will educate prospects about your business solutions & the best practices that they should adopt in solving their business problems.
   
   B2B buyers value suppliers that make it easier for them to navigate the purchase process to find your brand & business solutions fast without them having to waste time searching all over the Internet quality problem/solution content.
   
   
3. Reduce Marketing Spend
   No need to constantly feed the content beast. Remember it’s about quality, not quantity. No need to constantly produce new content. Use any of your existing marketing content materials or repurpose existing content to populate your hub.
   
   
4. Increase Qualified Sales Lead Conversions
   B2B sales prospects find your business problem/solution content in the critical window of evaluating solutions for their business problem before they select a vendor.
   
   
5. Increase Sales & ROI
   A B2B Resource Hub platform like IndustryArchive offers no upfront cost, & Pay-for-­Performance sales lead model. They verify the contact info of every sales lead and you get a lead preview to decide if you want to purchase each sales lead. This guarantees you only pay for the verified, sales leads that you want.
   
   

V. How Should I Build My Resource Hub?

Getting Started What’s The Process

1. Hosting your marketing hub on a global neutral, platform that exclusively serves b-to-b business professionals is a good start. Also, avoid sites where people are unprofessional trying to promote non-business agendas, like politics, religion, and social media fluff.

Why not your website, well because your website is not:

• A Neutral Platform
• Unbiased
• Likely to Offer Product/Service Comparisons
• The Start, But the End of the Buyers Journey

1^st buyers identify & define their problem

2^nd they research for potential solutions

3rd they build the requirements to solve the problem

4th they research for the best possible solutions

The last step is to evaluate suppliers

2. Assemble Your B2B Resource Hub Building Blocks

In the pix below are the types of content mediums you should employ to engage your prospects. The subject of all your resource hub content needs to be problem/solution-focused. Save your vision, industry projections, and other non-problem/solution content for your website blog. Below are some more content tips.

• Quality is Paramount not Quantity
• Establish the problems you solve best &
  build your content around that  priority
• Use a variety of message mediums – (text,
  audio podcasts, videos, & webinars)
• Create new or repurpose existing content
  to  keep the cost down
• Rewrite or update older content, that is
  still audience relevant
• Important! Videos are powerful persuaders and great for how to’s & comparisons

70% of B2B marketers always or frequently 
prioritize delivering content quality over 
content quantity (source).

3. Content Types to Use in Your Building 

Most Useful Content Types to Generate Qualified B2B Sales Leads*

The only way to build brand equity & a loyal customer following is by providing quality, relevant, problem/solution content. 

* 99Firms.Com - Source: Focus Vision

4. Promote Your Resource Hub

A Marketing Hub is an integral part of your marketing strategy. Make sure your contacts in your business community are constantly informed of any relevant content that adds to your resource hub that can lead directly to more qualified leads. You can also promote Your B2B Resource Hub & business solutions using these outlets too. • Your Website & Blog • Existing Customers • Twitter • Instagram • LinkedIn – Appropriate Industry Groups

You will also benefit from 2nd and 3rd-tier exposures that impact the value of your brand & products/services creating a potential reach into the hundreds or possibly thousands of new potential prospects depending on the size of the industries you serve. Reaching the buyers in the industries you serve on a targeted basis is key to the success and managing the cost of your marketing spend.

VI. Measuring B2B Resource Hub Success

Measuring the performance of your B2B Resource Hub is easy. The KPI’s below will help you evaluate its performance and how it can be improved.

Resource Hub KPI’s 

• Visits to your Hub

• Views of Individual Content Pieces

• Number of sales leads generated

• Number of sales leads purchased

• Closing Rate - Number of purchased lead conversions to sales

• Sales Dollars generated from closed leads

• Market Spend - Cost of Hub promotion & maintenance

• Hub ROI

• Hub CLV

Managing Your KPI’s

A B2B Resource hub at IndustryArchive.Org provides a dashboard with tools to create, post, and track your business solution content and qualified sales lead performance.

Visitors can also leave reviews and comments regarding your content in your marketing hub. This is valuable feedback that provides another opportunity to respond and begin a dialogue about your visitors’ business problems and how they are going about finding a solution.

Tracking results is easy. You can track the leads your hub is creating also you can monitor which content pieces are responsible for those leads. This way you can create more content of a similar nature or repurpose that same content in different mediums that will spur further successful results.

Metrics provided:

 • Visits to your Hub

• Views of Individual Content Pieces

• Number of sales leads generated

• Number of sales leads purchased

Measuring Results

Measuring Success of a B2B Sales Leads

1) Number of qualified leads generated

2) Number of qualified leads converted into customers

3) Number of qualified leads not converted into customers

4) Percentage conversion rate

5) The average revenue per customer

Resource Hub ROI

  Hub cost + maintenance + promotion
________________________________
             Annual Total Sales

Customer Lifetime Value

CLV = Average Transaction Size x Number of Transactions x Retention Period

Important - Since the B2B purchase cycle is at least 6 months long it will take time to promote your Resource Hub & see results.

Note: If you already have 6-8 content pieces, you can get up and running quickly with your B2B Resource Hub for no cost at IndustryArchive.Org. And, with their Pay-for-Performance leads you only pay to your satisfaction eliminating any upfront costs.

VII Next Steps

Understanding the B2B Buyers Journey and knowing that helping the buyer buy is the most important underpinning of creating qualified B2B sales leads is paramount.

Commit to a B2B resource hub as a central component of your marketing plan setting you apart as more than “just another supplier.”

Create quality problem/solution content that will get you noticed to participate in the final vendor selection step.

Focus on how to help your sales prospects, not annoy them, by sharing your expertise as a business solution partner.

Track results of your content to generate qualified sales leads, and put yourself in a position to achieve increased sales and ROI success.

We Showcase B2B Solutions & Resources for B2B Companies with No Hassles

* No Registration Required * No Annoying Ads * No Privacy Invasion

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