Martin Zarian’s Post

Too often there is an over reliance on performance marketing and data with branding and long term strategies pushed to the side or totally disregarded. Over reliance on performance marketing is like trying to fly with one engine. We can only drive real long growth and success when we bring these two prongs together in a way that resonates with customers.

🚨 Are We Chasing the Wrong Numbers? Thank you Martin Zarian, for highlighting a critical point: too many B2B companies focus on leads, clicks, downloads, and form, while the real goal, building trust and meaningful relationships, often gets overlooked. From my experience, chasing numbers can feel productive… until you realize those leads rarely convert into loyal customers/followers. 💡 Lesson learned: Focus on relationships first, leads will follow. Martin, I’d love to hear your thoughts: how do you balance short-term lead metrics with long-term relationship building? #RelationshipMarketing #CustomerRelationships #B2BMarketing #TrustBuilding #LongTermGrowth #MarketingStrategy

Performance alone is a short-sighted sugar rush. 🍭 Brand without performance is wasted potential. 🗑️ Good article -> even more impressive carousel from Martin Zarian reminding us all to stop 🛑 choosing between performance and brand. The companies that integrate both stand out and scale.

Absolutely agree 👍🏻 In today’s crowded B2B space, it’s not about choosing between performance or brand — it’s about blending both. Performance Branding is the smart balance between short-term results and long-term value.

Exploring innovative marketing strategies is key for manufacturing companies looking to thrive in a competitive landscape. As customer demands evolve and digital transformation accelerates, it's clear that a fresh approach can make all the difference. Successful businesses are focusing on creating industry-relevant content that addresses the knowledge needs of their buyers, establishing trust and long-term relationships in the process. Video marketing has also emerged as a crucial tool, with senior executives leaning towards video as their preferred content format. This not only enhances brand recall but simplifies complex concepts for buyers. Email marketing remains a staple for customer engagement, where personalized and conversational communication can effectively convey value. Moreover, utilizing account-based marketing helps in target acquisition and retention, allowing for tailored engagement with high-value accounts. LinkedIn offers an unparalleled platform for B2B networking, and maintaining an active presence can lead to significant opportunities. By focusing on the buyer's journey and their unique challenges, manufacturing companies can cultivate a more effective marketing strategy. What marketing strategies have you found effective in overcoming challenges? Sharing your experience can inspire others on this journey. https://lnkd.in/gk6KB2Jf

𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝟮𝗖 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. Having spent a large part of my career in B2B marketing and sales advisory, I’ve often seen the B2C playbook being directly applied to the B2B world. And honestly, that’s where many brands stumble. While some marketing metrics overlap, the 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁, 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 in B2B are vastly different. Recognising and acting on these nuances is what separates effective B2B brands from the rest. I’m starting a short series of posts to share a few learnings from my journey in this space, and I’d welcome perspectives from other professionals and brand custodians along the way. Will start with one of the most critical, and often misunderstood, aspects of B2B: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. Traditionally, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 have been viewed as the core currency in B2B — the logic being, the stronger the funnel, the stronger the business. And yes, while metrics matter, the numbers alone rarely capture the depth of a relationship or the strength of conviction behind a decision. A business partner might be engaged, but not yet confident. They may have doubts, unanswered questions, or simply too much internal noise clouding their judgment. That’s where the true B2B nuance comes through. Unlike B2C, the B2B buying process is 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 — involving multiple stakeholders, technical and commercial assessments, and ultimately, a decision made on behalf of the organisation, not the individual. Thus, effective B2B marketing isn’t just about filling the funnel. It’s about 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. It’s about: • Building 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁, not just awareness. • Simplifying 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 and reducing 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸. • Giving buyers the 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 to say “yes” on behalf of their organisation. Here’s an example of this playing out in real life. A developer announced a mega project — seemingly a dream opportunity for top architectural firms. Yet, there was surprisingly little interest. When we investigated, the reason became clear: 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁. The firms were sceptical because of the developer’s history of incomplete projects. The risk of association felt too high. That hesitation had nothing to do with marketing reach — it was entirely about 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸. In essence, B2B marketing goes beyond the metrics to delivering clarity, credibility, and trust at every touchpoint. This transforms metrics into engagement, leading to long-term relationships. What has been your experience with B2B marketing – any best case examples that you can think of? #B2BMarketing #B2BBranding #MarketingStrategy #BrandBuilding #Engagement

Navigating the Complexities of B2B Marketing: Essential Perspective for CEOs' Company Success Today’s B2B marketing landscape is more complex than ever before. As a CEO, understanding these complexities at a high level can help you make informed decisions around your best first steps when it comes to making a more serious investment in marketing and choosing the marketing model that best fits your company. Here are some of the ways B2B marketing today is more complex than ever before: >>The explosion of B2B Marketing Channels:  The sheer number of marketing channels now available – from traditional print and broadcast media to digital platforms such as social media, search engines, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, and more – can be overwhelming. Each channel requires its own strategy, approach, nuances, and understanding of best practices. Plus, the technology and requirements of each of these channels are constantly changing and evolving, and what worked last year may no longer work this year. >>Constantly Evolving B2B Marketing Technology:  New tools and technologies are continually emerging, each promising to transform the way you do marketing. However, with so many options, it can be challenging to decide which ones are right for your business. Moreover, integrating these technologies and ensuring they work together efficiently is a task in itself. >>Heightened Customer Expectations:  Today’s B2B buyers are more demanding than ever before. They expect personalized, relevant experiences that align with their unique needs and preferences. Meeting these expectations requires a deep understanding of your target audience and the ability to deliver the right message at the right time. >>Changing Buyer Behaviour:  The way B2B buyers prefer to consume information and move along the buyer’s journey is changing. This means that marketing methods that worked even one year ago may no longer work today. It also means that every small marketing detail is very important. It’s tough to keep up with these changes and understand what’s working today, what’s not working, and why. >>Skill Gaps:  Modern marketing requires a wide range of skills, from strategy development and positioning to data analysis to content creation, SEO, social media management, and more. Building an expert team that covers all these areas can be time-consuming and expensive, and evaluating these skills can be challenging as well. >>Regulatory Challenges:  As privacy concerns rise globally, understanding and complying with regulations like GDPR and CCPA become critical. Non-compliance can lead to penalties or damage to your company’s reputation. Let us help: https://bit.ly/3E0EjcN #fractionalCMO #b2bmarketing #newtomarketing #marketingstrategy

📊 Hard v.s. soft metrics in B2B Marketing: HARD METRICS - Marketing-sourced Revenue = revenue generated from opportunities created by marketing activities. - ACV: the average yearly value of contracts generated through marketing efforts. - Sales-cycle Length = the amount of time it takes to close a marketing-sourced deal. Marketing-sourced (e.g. inbound) opportunities tend to have a shorter sale-cycle than e.g. outbound opportunities, as the buyers have already been educated about your solution, and gone through the initial research and comparison. - Win-rate: This is the percentage of marketing-sourced deals that result in a successful sale. Marketing-sourced opportunities should have a higher win-rate, as buyers have already "qualified themselves" and you're likely in their short list of vendors. ... But does this mean that we should ask, "What's the ROI of this?", for every piece of content or any marketing activity? No, because lots of activities such as brand awareness act as multipliers for ROI of direct response actions. That's why we also need "SOFT METRICS": 1. Foundational activities (e.g. customer research, buyer journey, IC, strategic narrative...) have no immediate impact on revenue, but impact the ROI over the long terms. Example: - Message-buyer fit. E.g. use customer research & messaging validation tests with ICP buyers (e.g. with Wynter) - Does you content resonate and make impact on your target buyers? Repeat engagement from target buyers + buyers mentioning your content in private messages or sales calls. - How close are our inbound opportunities to our ICP? Do we see a positive evolution? 2. Early signals measuring new programs's impact with hard revenue metrics from the start is like evaluating a sapling by the fruit it bears. It takes time for the sapling to develop into a fruit-bearing tree. When starting a new program, look at the qualitative, early signals first. E.g. engagement and conversations with the right people at the right companies. 3. Not each program or activity can be evaluated with the same metrics. Take for example, programs aimed to build brand awareness and trust. Because, after all, buyers buy from people and brands they know, like and trust. And trust is built over time and accross many touchpoints in the buying journey. Example: - ICP account website visits that last longer than 5 minutes. - What's your brand awareness with target accounts? How engaged are target buyers with our website and demand gen programs? Are we losing deals because we're an unknown brand? --- By now, we all know that measuring marketing by MQLs and leads drives wrong behaviors. Vanity KPIs can easily be gamed. But only measuring revenue can make it difficult to evaluate new programs, and activities that are important, but don't have a direct revenue impact. And sometimes, it's just clear when something's working.

Navigating the Complexities of B2B Marketing: Essential Perspective for CEOs' Company Success Today’s B2B marketing landscape is more complex than ever before. As a CEO, understanding these complexities at a high level can help you make informed decisions around your best first steps when it comes to making a more serious investment in marketing and choosing the marketing model that best fits your company. Here are some of the ways B2B marketing today is more complex than ever before: The explosion of B2B Marketing Channels: The sheer number of marketing channels now available – from traditional print and broadcast media to digital platforms such as social media, search engines, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, and more – can be overwhelming. Each channel requires its own strategy, approach, nuances, and understanding of best practices. Plus, the technology and requirements of each of these channels are constantly changing and evolving, and what worked last year may no longer work this year. Constantly Evolving B2B Marketing Technology: New tools and technologies are continually emerging, each promising to transform the way you do marketing. However, with so many options, it can be challenging to decide which ones are right for your business. Moreover, integrating these technologies and ensuring they work together efficiently is a task in itself. Heightened Customer Expectations: Today’s B2B buyers are more demanding than ever before. They expect personalized, relevant experiences that align with their unique needs and preferences. Meeting these expectations requires a deep understanding of your target audience and the ability to deliver the right message at the right time. Changing Buyer Behaviour: The way B2B buyers prefer to consume information and move along the buyer’s journey is changing. This means that marketing methods that worked even one year ago may no longer work today. It also means that every small marketing detail is very important. It’s tough to keep up with these changes and understand what’s working today, what’s not working, and why. Skill Gaps: Modern marketing requires a wide range of skills, from strategy development and positioning to data analysis to content creation, SEO, social media management, and more. Building an expert team that covers all these areas can be time-consuming and expensive, and evaluating these skills can be challenging as well. Regulatory Challenges: As privacy concerns rise globally, understanding and complying with regulations like GDPR and CCPA become critical. Non-compliance can lead to penalties or damage to your company’s reputation. Let us help: https://bit.ly/3E0EjcN #fractionalCMO #b2bmarketing #newtomarketing #marketingstrategy

After spending time in both B2C and B2B, I’ve realized how much crossover there really is and how consumer marketing principles can spark new thinking in B2B. B2C marketers are experts at earning attention, stirring emotion, and making people feel something. Their campaigns are built around connection, not just communication. They obsess over the audience journey, but also over the moments that make that journey memorable: a line that sticks, a visual that delights, a story that feels personal. In B2B, we often trade emotion for information. We aim for credibility, consistency, and clarity (which are all important), but sometimes we lose sight of the fact that at the other end of every email, ad, or campaign is still a human. That’s why I think B2B marketers should look more closely at what consumer brands do so well. ✔️ You can bring personality into your email campaigns. ✔️ You can use humor to make an ad campaign memorable. ✔️ You can tell stories that create a sense of belonging. ✔️ You can even build anticipation the way an entertainment brand would before a big launch. These aren’t just creative exercises. They’re strategic levers. One of my favorite examples is how some B2B brands are starting to use storytelling frameworks typically seen in consumer marketing. Instead of leading with the product, they lead with a moment of tension or transformation. Think about a cybersecurity company framing its solution not around “threat detection,” but around peace of mind for the people protecting what matters most. That’s a consumer insight translated perfectly for B2B impact. Or take email marketing. Consumer brands know that tone and timing are everything. They build messages that feel like they’re written for you, not at you. Even paid campaigns can benefit from consumer-inspired energy. A touch of playfulness or a more creative visual identity can make a brand stand out in a sea of sameness. We underestimate how quickly people form impressions. Even in B2B, the first few seconds matter. But the real opportunity here isn’t about borrowing tactics. It’s about adopting a mindset. Consumer marketers start with why it matters to the person. They think about emotion as a driver of action. They measure not just clicks or leads, but affinity. The most effective B2B marketing leaders I know have one thing in common: they think like storytellers. When you take that approach, everything becomes sharper. Campaigns feel cohesive instead of disjointed. Messaging becomes more natural. Sales conversations flow more easily because the story has already been told in every touchpoint before it. Bringing a bit of B2C mindset into B2B isn’t about making things flashy. It’s about making them human. And when marketing feels human, the outcomes follow. Because at the end of the day, even in B2B, we’re still marketing to people. #marketing #marketingstrategy