Corporate Visions Survey Reveals the Insight-driven Content Companies Use Most Often in Marketing and Sales Messaging is Also Believed to be the Least Effective

LARKSPUR, Calif., Sept. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate Visions, Inc., the leading marketing and sales messaging, tools and training company, today announced the results of a survey that polled 400 business-to-business (B2B) marketing and sales professionals worldwide regarding the use of "insights" in their marketing and sales assets. Interestingly, results revealed that the type of insight-based content created most frequently is believed to be the least effective in generating engagement and closing deals with prospective buyers.

Insights are defined as context-based facts specific to a prospect that companies use to shape their marketing messages and sales conversations, and differentiate from the competition. Overall, the survey found that 81 percent of respondents use an insight-based approach as part of their marketing and sales strategy. 

The four specific insight types include:

• "Anecdotal" insights – Content that is created in-house and focuses on more tactical day-to-day issues such as best practices, lessons learned, and features and functionality.
• "Authoritative" insights – Content that leverages the work of respected third-parties, such as analysts and external subject matter experts, and is used to reinforce key company messages around trends, problems, challenges, risks, opportunities and requirements.
• "Current" insights – Content that centers around original research and surveys that are produced by the company as supporting facts for campaigns and selling messages.
• "Visionary" insights – Content that leverages in-house expertise but looks to the future of the industry and defines what is next.

Respondents were also asked to review and rank these four insight types based on how frequently they appear in marketing collateral and sales tools. The rankings resulted as follows:

1. Anecdotal insights
2. Authoritative insights
3. Current insights
4. Visionary insights

Respondents were then asked to rank those same insights in order of how effective they believe they are at generating more engaging conversations and driving sales decisions. Surprisingly, the rankings fell in the exact opposite order of those in the previous question:

1. Visionary insights
2. Current insights
3. Authoritative insights 
4. Anecdotal insights

"What's surprising about the survey results is that the insights marketers and salespeople feel are the most effective are exactly the opposite of the insights they believe their companies produce," said Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer for Corporate Visions. "Regardless of the category, however, the real power of an insight comes from using it in proper context – identifying relevant market data points and then interpreting that information to make it meaningful to the challenges prospects are facing. In order for companies to be truly successful, they must take these insights and turn them into provocative questions and a distinct point of view that breaks the status quo bias and differentiates their solution."

About Corporate Visions, Inc.
Corporate Visions is a leading marketing and sales messaging, tools, and skills company that helps global B2B companies create more sales opportunities, win more deals and increase sales profitability by improving the conversations salespeople have with customers. Companies engage Corporate Visions to help in three key areas:

• Developing compelling messages to break the status quo, differentiating their solution, justifying a purchase decision and protecting margins;
• Deploying that message through tools and visual stories to enable salespeople to engage multiple decision-makers across the buying cycle; and
• Delivering sales skills training that helps salespeople confidently use these messages and tools to create, elevate and capture more value in their customer conversations.

Corporate Visions helps clients such as ADP, Motorola, Philips, UPS, Cisco and others align marketing and sales with a repeatable approach for developing and delivering winning customer conversations. For more information about Corporate Visions, visit http://corporatevisions.com/ or call 415-464-4400 or 800-360-SELL.

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SOURCE Corporate Visions, Inc.