041- Getting buy-in for brand investment

1* Getting buy-in for brand investment

These are the stories from 3 CMOs and how they approach their businesses to get brand investment buy-in.

3 different approaches, and 3 different takeaways, here is what you’ll learn.

Using the right data to tell the right story
Building your unofficial board
Introducing brand tests to get people comfortable with a shift in direction

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2* The real benefits of shifting from lead to demand gen

When marketers discuss a strategic shift, the approach and output are always the core focus.

Demand Gen = Long-Term Results | Lead Gen = Short-Term Vanity

This message is fine.

But I love this refreshing perspective from Alice heading up this movement over at Cognism.

Alice outlines how her time has shifted away from operational efficiencies to creative problem-solving.

This is a wonderful example of removing the shackles from real talent and empowering them to take on the real essence of a marketer's job, which is using creativity to solve business challenges.

Please read and share.

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3* To gate or ungate, the conversation comes full circle

The smart folks over at Refine Labs have led a sea change in how we think about B2B marketing.

This movement led marketers to rethink their GTM strategy, how outdated measurement was forcing bad marketing, and the role of “dark social” influencing how B2B buying is actually done.

This also entailed the view of ungating all your content and focusing on optimising towards content consumption.

This narrative makes sense within the Refine Labs general POV

But here is an example of how a company resisted the urge to jump on the bandwagon, and based on their business model and sales lead time, they were able in one example at least, prove the value of gating content.

It produces a lively debate of over 150 comments and lots of POVs that didn’t quite read the entire blog which will produce a chuckle and a few snappy comments.

Like every piece of advice, it always comes with caveats and the notion around it depends.

The only known in B2B marketing is there is no one size fits all. One strategy, tactic, methodology, or playbook can work for you, but be completely ineffective for your biggest competitor.

*Bonus