Satisfy your craving for better B2B marketing results.
#1 A fun "out of office" email written by Icelandic horses
While most folk already took their vacation over the summer, some of us are still getting 'round to it. You're actually reading this while I take vacation (and some business development) down in Atlanta.
So here's something a little different to delight readers when they reach you while you're away: OutHorse Your Email. Not a typo: Visit Iceland's adorable campaign involved horses stepping across (really big) keyboards to write the perfect OOO message.
Got a good chuckle out of me! Hat tip to Josh Black for telling me about the horsies.
My question to you: how can you add more brand flavour to the seemingly mundane touch-points prospects and clients have with your company?
#2 How to get authenticity in your videos when directing non-actors
It's fantastic that we're at a stage with video content that we don't have to be highly polished to get engagement and move viewers into action. Especially for nimble marketing teams that have to do DIY video marketing out of necessity.
That said, unless you came from film school, it can be a challenge to direct people in your case studies, impact stories, interviews, and even educational content. Especially when those folk are volunteers and/or other team members willing to be filmed.
Daniel Sagona, a production strategist for social enterprises, B-Corps and non-profits has some pretty effective directing advice for us all:
This helps non-actors feel comfortable and more natural, lets you work the space the filming takes place in, and can even add visual interest to shots.
My question to you: is perfectionism holding you back from showcasing the good your company puts out into the world through video?
#3 Use LinkedIn's Products listing to perform audience/market research
Did you know that LinkedIn has a mega list of products sorted by industry, where you can see relevant brands' profiles and the people that state they use that brand in their profiles?
This is a bit specific, but if you're aware of a specific SaaS brand your ideal audience uses or engages with, you can search for them in "Search Products". It will show you what other brands use it, who works/supports it, and provides an overview of features. You can even filter down based by title of people that use it (CEOs vs specific job titles such as accountants or project managers, for example).
So what to do with this information? Use it to see what sort of content the brand is getting engagement on, especially in the comments. You can also create a prospecting or research list by visiting and examining profiles of folk who seem extra engaged. Instant audience research gold!
Hat tip to Kevin Pettie for putting this feature on my radar.
My question to you: what are other "tangential spaces" that your ideal audience hangs out at/uses/trusts that you could pay attention to in order to refine your marketing message?
#4 Design Thinking templates and guides to help with everything from branding to project planning
IDEO ORG has an incredible resource called "Design Kit" where they've made various human-centered design Methods accessible to come up with "new answers to difficult problems".
Design Thinking is a very powerful way of working as teams. One way to describe it is "non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. (Interaction Design Foundation)"
Why do I have it in this B2B marketing newsletter? Because the following guides are powerful (and needed!) when you're looking to align your goals with your marketing:
Not all marketing problems are solved with publishing more content or running more ads. There is great value in pausing to reflect on the intent behind the doing. And since Design Thinking focuses on the cause and effect of actions on humans, it's a fantastic process to get out of the weeds and realign your team on what matters most to attract them. My question to you: do you have a system you use to map business goals to marketing outputs to sales? Or are you sorta... winging it?
You can't do it all, but you can do more when you have less
(Imma use LinkedIn for this bit, but please swap that out for whatever marketing channel is bothering you at the moment).
A case for quantity HELPS with quality on LinkedIn:
If you want these results from Linkedin: <-------------------->
But only by putting in this amount of effort: <--->
Don’t be surprised that you’re getting this back: <--->
This is not me shaming anyone for “not posting enough on LinkedIn”. It ain't about that.
Rather, this is a tough love reminder that by doing things more often, you get better at them.
And when you get better, you find flow. And when you find flow, you find those “aha” moments:
You get faster at putting content together.
You get clearer in what you want to say at a deeper level.
You get more feedback from folk you hope turn into prospects and collaborators.
If you find yourself juggling too much “marketing stuff”, you can totally drop something you’re putting 20% of your effort into. Then you can add that to LinkedIn where you currently have 40% effort.
Now you’ll have 60% of your awesomeness on there: betcha you’ll see lift from that trade!
Case in point: I ditched Facebook and Instagram.
But how did I know it was time to dump them?
I reviewed my marketing roadmap. That thing is my strategic North Star. I reviewed my business goals and my ICPs. Then I looked at my capacities and was honest with myself:
I could try to be “OK” in different 3 places to reach my goals, or go frigging all-in as a B2B marketing weirdo on 1.
So I doubled down on LinkedIn.
And my business (and revenue) hasn’t missed FB or IG at allllllllllllllllllllllll.
That's the point of referring to your marketing roadmap/strategy when you feel like all you’re doing is random acts of marketing. It doesn’t just tell you WHAT to do. It helps you decide WHY and WHEN you should do it.
Ready to work with a consultant that understands the nuisance in roadmapping your goals so they weave seamlessly into your B2B marketing/sales? Reply with “roadmap” to see if my process is a good fit for you!
What if you built a bridge across your marketing and sales gap instead of filling it with random stuff?
