Content marketing - Implementeringen av den moderna säljtratten och relaterad strategi

Sammanfattning: The global spread of the Internet has enabled busniesses and consumers in all industries to be better informed. Consequently, the buying process has appeared to become different from what tratditional models implies. As the buying behaviour among customers is evolving, selling companies are responding to this change. This thesis evolves around the consequences that the developing relationship between buyer and seller in business-to-business companies has led to. The topic in focus is the buzzword and phenomena "content marketing" with its marketing and selling strategy. The reseach was conducted with a qualitative approach where several companies were interviewed to get a deeper understanding for the practical use of a content marketing strategy and the implementation of the related technology. Moreover, the thesis discusses the prevailing problem of not reaching a fully successful implementation of a content marketing strategy. Analysis based on the empirical data implied a relationship between the social structures within an organization, and positive outcome in terms of internal efficiency; to be able to fully enjoy the positive outcome of a content marketing strategy, companies should adapt their way of thinking of the lead generation funnel as well as fully embrace the potential of the software tools, i.e. marketing automation systems. The companies scrutinized in this thesis use marketing automation systems since a few years back. However, three of the companies have only used the tool to a limited extent, which is why its utility ought to be questioned. The implementation of this technology has, in this thesis, been explained by the AST-model, which enabled certain clarification to the inadequate use that some companies showed example of. In the analysis the AST-model, in combination with the modern lead generation funnel, helped to identify the importance of measurements and KPIs in both the implementation process as well as in the continuous use of a content marketing strategy. The gathered data illustrates how continued measures could potentially lead to a more complete adaption of the strategy and, as a result, provide better efficiency and return on marketing investment.