008 - If you’re waiting for intent data, you have already lost
1* “If you’re waiting for intent data, you have already lost”
A strategy focused purely on capturing demand exposes the longevity of a brand and the long-term effectiveness of its marketing.
“Having a comprehensive strategy to create new demand and then capture existing market demand is what companies should be striving for.”
Understanding the distinction between Dark Social & Dark Funnel and modern-day B2B buying is vital for 2022 marketing success.
Understanding where your buyers are spending their time and how they use those platforms is pivotal for optimal marketing success.
B2B buying is happening in dark social and WOM.
Communities, Internal Company Comms, Podcasts, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, Third Party Event Platforms, the list goes on. Channels that are often hard to attribute, but it’s where the modern-day B2B buyers spend their time. This is where buyers come to learn, consume content and educate themselves.
The dark funnel is where someone has intent. They have a problem, they’re smart and informed, and they turn to Google to research the brands they have in mind (those winning in the dark social), they check out review sites, company sites, conduct a demo/free trial and make an informed decision.
We, as marketers, can overcomplicate the buyer's journey at times. The reality is it’s not that complicated. The chances are you have 3-5 brands in mind when you want to purchase software or a B2B service/product, and the steps outlined above are typically the ones most buyers will follow.
Check out Chris Walker’s evolving view of the dark funnel and dark social
2* The trouble with using personas
Charles & Ozzy, a perfect representation of why you should tread carefully when using persona’s when targeting your ICP.
One of our main jobs as marketers is to understand everything about our ICP. What do they care about, what’s going to get them fired, promoted, what’s their biggest challenge with their role, what are they trying to accomplish, what’s their favourite sandwich and so forth.
Personas have a purpose and can be a useful addition, but in isolation with no supporting context or collateral, they at best play a useful addition, at worst they can send you down the wrong path and cost you 100s of thousands in advertising spend and resources.
A really simple solution is to pick up the phone and speak with your customer. Simply asking good questions and listening can help extract an invaluable amount of knowledge that will inform your marketing decisions.
Alternatively, speak with your sales team. The likelihood is they will use tools like Gong, which record sales calls, and this can be pure gold dust with picking up the language your customer is using, the challenges they discuss and questions they ask.
This insight can help inform the channels you use, content you create and the copy you put together.
If you need a framework to help guide those questions, consider the really smart “Jobs To Be Done” methodology. More on this next week.
3* Leaving customers on the table, because you don’t know how to speak to them
I can’t give credit to this positioning framework, but I believe it was distributed on the DGMG group.
This is a really simple, yet comprehensive framework for positioning.
“Even a world-class product, poorly positioned, can fail”
This couldn't be truer.
No amount of marketing can save you if your positioning isn’t resonating with your ICP.
If you have high churn, a longer sales cycle vs your category average, you’re under price pressure, new customers don’t understand your product and what you stand for, then it’s likely you have a positioning problem.
Follow this guide on the steps you need to take to tackle your positioning problem.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sUB6mPDSZv_4AxChLG-LhFjtRaHZHMzC_dfXtCu0GF8/edit
4* The unsung heroes of marketing
Marketing ops often vilified when things go wrong and often forgotten when things go smoothly.
Darrell has a refreshing post with a simple recommendation to make your ad ops teams day.
5* Optimal LTV:CAC ratio
“Why hold back any spend when you'll recover your investment in less than a year and generate returns for 10+ years”
A suboptimal LTV:CAC ratio will hold back growth. Understanding your Payback Period and your optional LTV:CAC ratio will help inform your investment, whether aggressively scaling growth with marketing, or doubling down on customers to help establish PMF
Bonus
Each week I share a tool I have used, plan to use or I find interesting.
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