Developing an impactful content strategy for demand generation and go-to-market success is one of the most complex challenges marketers face. It’s no longer enough to write a few blogs, launch generic campaigns, and hope for the best. Instead, as discussed by Ben Belcher and Stephen Lowisz in this GTM Secrets podcast episode, winning with content requires deliberate strategy, sharp execution, and the ability to anticipate the unique needs of your audience throughout their buying process. Below, we explore actionable insights from the podcast to help marketers and sales teams create a lasting impact.

Start with the Buyer’s Journey in Mind

One size does not fit all in content strategy. The most impactful marketing begins with a deep understanding of your audience, their challenges, and their buying process. Ben emphasizes the importance of tailoring your content to match where prospects are in the buyer's journey—whether they’re just becoming aware of their problem, evaluating solutions, or ready to make a purchase decision.

Key Questions for Strategic Planning

Before producing a single piece of content, ask yourself the following:

• Are we solving for awareness, consideration, or decision stages?
• What problem is our target audience actively trying to address, and how does our solution fit?
• Are we creating content for a known problem, a new pain point, or just a superior option to existing tools?

Practical Example

If your business sells advanced AI-driven identity resolution tools and your potential customers aren’t fully aware of their problem (e.g., missed opportunities with anonymous website visitors), start with educational content. For example, a blog titled “5 Ways to Capture Leads Hiding in Plain Sight” can address their challenges subtly while introducing solutions.

For customers familiar with the issue but unsure about solutions, create comparison-style content, like detailed breakdowns of how your solution provides better results than competitors in terms of speed or accuracy.

Action Step

Map out your customer’s information needs at every stage. Work with your sales, product, and marketing teams to determine which type of content would truly resonate. Tools like customer interviews, surveys, and past buyer feedback can provide clarity.

Intent Data is Your Secret Weapon

Understanding who is actively researching solutions like yours—and their intent to buy—provides a massive competitive edge. Rather than relying solely on inbound efforts, Ben advises leveraging intent data to uncover which companies and stakeholders are in-market for your solution.

Intent Data in Action

Tools like your CRM or specialized platforms can provide key insights. Imagine logging into your system and seeing that users from Home Depot are engaging with your competitors. While traditional tools might show only the account- or location-level information, modern identity resolution platforms allow marketers to uncover specific individuals engaging with their websites or campaigns.

Here’s a breakdown of how you can put this data to work:

1. Identify Top Prospects
   Use account-level data to see who in your target audience is actively engaging online. Tools like 6sense or Demandbase can highlight which companies match your ICP (ideal customer profile).
2. Unhide Anonymous Visitors
   Leverage identity resolution technology to reveal names, email addresses, and roles tied to those visitors. Instead of guessing which decision-maker belongs to a company, you can directly craft outreach strategies for individuals.
3. Provide Personalization at Scale
   Analyzing intent data will also help you understand what topics resonate most with your audience. Tailor emails, ads, and even sales calls accordingly. A simple shift from “I’d like to demo our product” to “Here’s how we help manufacturing companies improve lead conversion by 30%” can move the needle significantly.

Pro Tip: Integrate intent data into your marketing automation platform (MAP) to trigger highly personalized campaigns based on demonstrated behaviors.

Choosing the Right Content Formats

Your content format should align with your audience's preferences and decision phase. Understanding which formats engage prospects most can make your marketing more effective. Ben shares specific recommendations for different stages of the funnel, emphasizing high-value, digestible content.

Matching Format to Funnel

• Top-of-Funnel (Awareness): Programmatic display ads, partner-sponsored publications, or blog articles highlighting pain points. Use wide-reaching formats to introduce your brand to new audiences.
• Mid-Funnel (Consideration): Case studies, comparison grids, or interactive calculators that help prospects evaluate options and see measurable ROI.
• Bottom-of-Funnel (Decision): Demo invitations, one-to-one consultations, and highly targeted email sequences that nudge prospects to make final decisions.

Example of Tactical Execution

Many enterprises have found success with interactive, engaging assets rather than static whitepapers. Visual formats like personalized landing pages or even interactive quizzes (“Find the hidden value of your audience in 30 seconds”) help users self-identify the problems your product solves.

Action Tip: Map your SEO keywords and paid search campaigns to match user intent. Write blog posts or create videos that educate and document clear takeaways.

Amplify Distribution with Powerful Partnerships

Distribution is just as important—if not more—than content creation. Instead of spending years building an email list, partner with niche publications and media outlets your target audience already trusts.

Practical Example

Stephen mentions getting pursued by TLDR, an email platform focused on startup founders. Rather than ignoring them, use their network. Paying for ad placement in a trusted outlet ensures your content is getting in front of a relevant audience without needing to rebuild a community from scratch.

How to Make Partnerships Work

1. Pinpoint Trusted Sources
   Identify which newsletters, blogs, or platforms dominate your target audience’s industry. For example, in cybersecurity, you might partner with ThreatPost; in e-commerce, you might look to Shopify blogs.
2. Co-Brand Your Authority
   Collaborate on guest articles or sponsored reports, emphasizing your innovation or thought leadership in the field.
3. Track Performance
   Always analyze ROI from partnerships. Track key metrics like post-campaign CTR or email open rates to assess whether the outlet is delivering valuable leads.

Pro Tip: Test multiple partners simultaneously to see which audiences are more responsive to your message. Double down on the winners.

Don’t Forget the Phone

While there’s much discussion about digital outreach, Belcher reminds us that the phone remains an underrated but highly effective tool for sales teams, especially for mid-funnel prospects. Direct calls build rapport faster—provided you’re using accurate contact data.

Tactics for Phone Outreach

• Leverage Mobile Numbers: Invest in data providers that enrich your CRM with mobile numbers, particularly since remote work has drastically reduced reliance on office phones.
• Combine Calls with Content: Reference a case study or infographic during follow-ups to provide immediate value instead of pitching straight away.
• Empower Sales Reps: Equip them with the insights they need from marketing—such as which assets a prospect downloaded or the specific topics they’re exploring online—so every call is meaningful.

Stat to Consider: Every time a sales rep places a failed or inefficient call, it could cost you up to $40 in lost productivity per touchpoint.

Streamline Attribution for Results

Attribution is one of the thorniest issues in demand generation. While multi-touch attribution (MTA) models attempt to distribute credit across campaigns, these can often be overly complex. Instead, Ben suggests tracking high-level results—like conversion rates and sales velocity—across ABM groups with and without marketing interactions.

How to Simplify Attribution

• Focus less on which specific ad or email drove action and concentrate more on the net impact of combined marketing and sales efforts. Did campaigns shorten the sales cycle or increase deal sizes?
• Conduct controlled “split tests” with ABM accounts. Analyze which group performs better when exposed to both sales and marketing touches.

Deliver True Value with Every Interaction

Successful content and demand generation boils down to delivering value at every step. Whether through insightful blogs, compelling case studies, or personalized phone outreach, your audience should feel like they’re benefiting before they’ve even become a customer.

It isn’t about creating content for content's sake—it’s about crafting an insightful, tactical roadmap that moves your prospects closer to a solution. By implementing these strategies, you’ll stay ahead of competitors while empowering your team to deliver measurable results.

Content isn't just about creating visibility—it's about creating opportunity at every stage of your customer’s decision-making process. Build it well, and your audience won't just visit—you'll lead them through the entire buying cycle.

‍