What does good look like?

Bruce Henderson, founder of Boston Consulting Group, was sending executives strategy perspectives way back in 1964. So, content marketing for consultancy services isn’t new.

Today’s challenge, for our time starved prospects, is the sheer volume of content and perspectives available to them. Blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics, articles, ebooks, case-studies … phew! How do they sort out what’s worthwhile from what’s not?

Just take a look at a big consultancy website you’ll find a jumble sale of insights to choose from. Craigslist is probably better organised if you’re looking to find something specific!

One exception is Gartner, the global research and advisory firm. Their website is crisply designed, well curated, and easy to navigate … they lead prospects through the content, making it easy to find what’s highly-relevant for them.

Like many things, once you’ve seen what good looks like you start wondering why firms would do it any other way. Here are 5 things they’ve done:

1. Insights are sorted by business function (finance), not topic (digital transformation). This is client friendly thinking. Select ‘Finance’ and you’ll be channelled to content relevant to your function.
2. Well-crafted short headlines talk to the prospects needs and desires. ‘CFOs drive business growth’; ‘Future of finance’. More client friendly thinking, confirming that I’m on to something.
3. Compelling descriptions are attached to the headlines, selling the rewards of consuming the content that’s available. Making me want it. “As digital technologies continue to disrupt industries and markets, the finance function must also transform to leap competition.Discover 10 trends identified by Gartner that are shaping the future of finance with ...
4. A clear and simple call to action which is client specific … ‘Download the CFO insights.’
5. The download is a well-designed presentation of research based insights. And, within this are links to more useful client side-up content. Things like ‘Leading the Next-Generation Finance Workforce’ and ‘How to Excel at Strategy and Execution: A Finance Perspective’.

All of this takes prospects further down the rabbit hole and showcases the quality and value of Gartner’s research, insights, and services.

It’s simple. It’s good. Take a look at the website for yourself. In my opinion this is what good looks like.