"But the Contract Said..."

I've worked on numerous B2B content marketing projects. About a year ago, I was asked to join one for a big-name client spending 7-figures on content. They had two vendors: one for content creation and another for lead generation. Both vendors delivered exactly what their contracts specified, but...

…it was chaos, and the client was pulling their hair out!

The Problem

The client expected 500 “leads” from their content campaign. To them, a “lead” meant someone who:

1. Accessed the content,

2. Engaged with it,

3. Completed & submitted a form.

Instead, they got a list of 500 “names” of people who landed on the content after talking to an outbound call center. Out of those, only one person completed all three steps. Imagine ordering a pizza and getting only the crust!

Breaking Down the Mess

The Content Provider:

• I had worked with them before and they requested I join this project too.

• They were forward thinking, used robust analytics, and tried to be proactive where they could be.

• Analytics showed roughly 500 visits to the main page, but almost no one progressed further, concluding with just one form submission. I had never seen such a drop-off from their content before.

• I could only see the funnel and data flow to a point. There was no visibility as to how the leads were captured or what was communicated to them ahead of arrival.

The Client:

• Beyond purchasing the leads, they never defined what a successful outcome looked like and no one asked them to clarify their expectations before the project launched.

• They were clearly lacking a content success architect, but when you’re spending big bucks, who points that out?

The Lead Gen Provider:

• Initially dismissed the poor results as a problem from the content provider.

• Their definition of a “lead” matched the contract, but the contract didn’t specify the quality of the lead. Subtle, yet problematic.

• Essentially, they provided a list of names with very limited vetting.

The Solution

After participating in a thorough investigation, the main problems became evident, a lack of a clearly defined success outcome, lack of collaboration and a need for a content marketing success architecture.  The following revisions were made to move this to a successful outcome:

1. Re-established expectations

2. Shifted from a one-touch lead generation tactic to a multi-touch nurturing approach

3. Focused on lead quality and additional nurturing content

4. Fostered collaboration amongst all parties

5. Kept focused on the performance analytics

Final Thought

Jon and I get it—navigating the complexities of B2B content marketing can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re investing significant resources and not seeing the expected results.

It’s incredibly frustrating to follow all the right steps, yet still miss the mark.

But here's the thing: simply “buying” a tactic without understanding the path to success often leads to random acts of marketing and wasted money.

If you find yourself struggling to provide performance marketing insights for your content campaigns, you’re not alone—and it’s not your fault.

This stuff is complicated, but properly addressing it with performance marketing analytics & insights can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration. 

Chris