Marketing Sandwiches..yum

Question: If you could have the gift of either having all industry information or the ability to see the buyer journey, which would you choose?

My mentor in marketing has been instrumental in helping me apply the old adage of "marketing mix." We often complicate the simplest concepts and lose sight of the purpose of marketing.  Marketing has become so broad but through it all it's always about..

Being in the business to  promote our service and research prospects.

I'd like to speak more so on B2B marketing and how aspects of marketing are sandwiched.

"Email marketing is not enough"

There used to be a time where all you had to do was write great copy and send it out via automation tools.  That's still important but we've upped the ante!  Emails that follow a template for every single customer are no longer as effective.  There are useful email tools that track open rates and click-throughs which is good, but they don't effectively measure who responds to the mails.  There's more layers being added for effective email marketing that addresses deliverable objectives. 



Answer: I'd hope you choose the second option.  Companies from 20-30 years ago had the ultimate advantage in controlling information that their customers couldn't see.  The leverage B2B companies had is dwindling and lately, the focus has been on truly understanding their customers path to purchase.

"If you are talking digital now, you're already behind"

It's simple.  Older industries like manufacturing are just now realizing the benefits of leveraging "digital" resources to get more appointments, revenue, and sound strategy.  They are also behind and by the time they get caught up, there will be another wind of sound practices they will need to implement.  According to a survey from Gartner, CMO's do not use the term "digital" as much anymore.  8-10 years ago SEO was the buzz term (that made a lot of marketing companies money). Then everyone remembered how "Content is king."  Now you have all these tools and practices that sandwiched together, create validity and end results. 

"Sandwiches with various ingredients"

I LOVE sandwiches... ice cream sandwiches...BLT's, chicken sandwiches, etc.  The point is there are so many different ingredients in each sandwich but the end result is something tasty and filling. All the marketing strategies discussed have various ingredients added that create something so good and authentic.  Results from marketing can come from anywhere.  There's no need to complicate an already complicating process.  Think of marketing as a sandwich created by a sandwich artist.  If you appreciate a good sandwich, it never hurts to look at how others make their sandwich.

S&M: Are you a Liger on defense and offense?

Cheesy sports analogy  aside,

Are you?



 Some people love to score and create plays.  Some people can't score  but excel at stopping others.  We have rare Ligers(my term for "unicorn") that can do both. As business professionals, we all have been involved in the process of gaining a customer.  The presentation can be nerve wrecking-especially when you meet the C-suite decision makers that can give the simple yes or no.  Even if you are in a completely different industry from the next person, we agree that:

1. You have had to sell yourself and your services to that prospect.
2. Chances are your prospect needs a final sign off for approval of your services.
3. There's a final showdown(meeting) where your fate will be determined.

In your first meeting presenting your services/solutions, you will have to play offense and defense to win the client over.

Offense (Presenting, selling the value)

Offensively, you need to show what you think is important to them and magnify it with valuable information.  You will most likely deal with more than one person and each person has motives or drivers that trigger saying yes.    Think of your PPT, voice, and references as the offense needed to weaken their defense.  If you need a good reference for the do's and don't of PowerPoint slides, look here-amazing examples.  

Defense (Answering tough questions, negative responses)

In an ideal situation, we get to play offense all day and receive a yes.  Not so fast...

It just doesn't work that way.  Typically the prospect will let you play offense and then will be ready to test your defense.  By testing your defense, they are looking for how you handle situations they fear could happen.  They could also want to see if you press when stressed, or if you show calmly how your service/product can help them.  Objections and disagreement are their defense mechanisms prompting you to defend your reputation and product/service.

"Offense wins games.  Defense wins  championships"

When I refer to winning the game, it means getting the meeting and attention.  For them to agree to the meeting obviously shows they respect you enough to use their time to listen to you.  The more games you win, the higher the chances you have of getting to the 'ship!  If you can address their concerns and handle their attempt to trap you, you will win in the big picture.  Being a two-way player is good because sometimes you will have to play defense(especially if the offense isn't good enough.)