The New Playbook for B2B Marketing & Growth - Ferdinand Goetzen
0 likes159 views
The document outlines strategies for B2B marketing and growth, highlighting the need for companies to adapt to changing customer journeys and prioritize understanding their ideal customer profiles (ICPs). It emphasizes the importance of standing out as thought leaders, recognizing that the lines between product and marketing are blurring. Key principles include focusing on demand generation, creating memorable content, and building a predictable growth engine.
![TGS
Umbrella opinion: B2B Growth starts with getting
the fundamentals right, but most B2B companies
ignore that.
Joliene: Poor B2B growth is rooted in bad
management. We promote the wrong people and
give up responsibility too late.
Ferdinand: B2B growth is about the how, not about
the what.
Toby: B2B Content Marketing is broken, because it
chases keywords instead of what buyers are in
[OLD SCHOOL METHOD] IS THE PAST.
[UNIQUE SOLUTION] IS THE FUTURE.
STOP [DOING NORM],
START [DOING UNIQUE SOLUTION].
[OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION] SHOULD BE
AVAILABLE FOR
EVERYONE WHO NEEDS IT.
[OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION]
IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN
ANY OTHER FACTOR.
IT SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD
FOR [TARGET MARKET] TO GET
[OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION].
[CATEGORY] HAS FAILED
[TARGET MARKET].
WE’RE HERE TO FIX IT.
Some Umbrella Opinion format options:
Building your umbrella opinion (Example)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/4-241018030906-8e8a2973/85/The-New-Playbook-for-B2B-Marketing-Growth-Ferdinand-Goetzen-41-320.jpg)
More Related Content
Similar to The New Playbook for B2B Marketing & Growth - Ferdinand Goetzen (20)
More from DigiMarCon - Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conferences & Exhibitions (20)
The New Playbook for B2B Marketing & Growth - Ferdinand Goetzen
- 1. MASTER CLASS The New Playbook for B2B Marketing & Growth Ferdinand Goetzen FOUNDING PARTNER THE GROWTH SYNDICATE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS ~ SEPTEMBER 12 - 13, 2024 DIGIMARCONEUROPE.COM | #DigiMarConEurope DIGIMARCONNETHERLANDS.NL | #DigiMarConNetherlands
- 2. The New Playbook for B2BGrowth Digimarcon Europe 2024 13thSeptember 2024 Ferdinand Goetzen Founding Partner @ The Growth Syndicate
- 3. The way companies market themselves needs to change
- 4. It’s never been so easy to build a product The MarTech Landscape in 2011
- 5. It’s never been so easy to build a product The MarTech Landscape in 2024
- 6. 75% of buyers feel overwhelmed marketing messages 35-55% drop in LinkedIn organic reach in 2 years 40-50% increase in CPC on Google Ads in 5 years 27% decrease in email open rates in 5 years Channels are increasingly saturated Optimal range Linear response Saturation - over investment ROI Money Spend
- 7. AI is about to level (or break) the playing field
- 8. And VC funding has declined significantly
- 9. Linkedin Post Coworker mentions it Event CEO shares it on Slack Sees an ad on Linkedin but doesnʼt click Mention in a podcast Comment on Linkedin Paid Search Qualified Lead What your CRM shows Touchpoints you canʼt track Marketing attribution feels like a lost cause
- 10. We’re going back to the roots Before 2005 Brand is King 2005 – 2020 Digital Marketing Baby! Today – Demand Generation Big budgets One-to-many Limited intent-targeting Limited data Strong brand, stand out Know your ICP Lotsof low hanging fruit Easy to target high-intent (SEA) Plenty of data, easy to track Greenfield for content marketing Grey hat SEO Huge organic social reach High intent channels too expensive Generate demand, not just capture Create touch points across the journey Thought leadership Strong brand, stand out Really know your ICP
- 11. 1. Customer journeys aren’t linear…and we need to adapt. 2. It all starts with finding your best customers. 3. Successful companies stand the **** out. 4. Companies need to be thought leaders. 5. The lines between product and marketing are blurring. 6. Growth doesn’t have to feel random. 6 principles for growing a B2B company today
- 12. Customer journeys aren’t linear…and we need to adapt.
- 13. “Our jobs as marketers are to understand how customers want to buy and help them do so.” Bryan Eisenberg, CX Expert.
- 14. It’s important to understand buyer decision-making
- 15. Demand Leads Users Revenue Engagement Education Research Evaluation Justification Purchase Adoption Retention Expansion Advocacy Growth And a cross-funnel approach is key to success
- 16. Awareness Acquisition Activation Retention Revenue Referral But this is not how customers buy
- 17. Levels of awareness Problem Aware = Do they feel & understand the problem? Solution Aware = Are they exploring possible solutions? Brand Aware = Do they know /like your brand? Product Aware = Do they get the value of your product? Marketing & Growth = Ushering ICP buyers through their journey.
- 18. The Dark Funnel Linkedin Post Coworker mentions it Event CEO shares it on Slack Sees an ad on Linkedin but doesn’t click Mention in a podcast Comment on Linkedin Paid Search Qualified Lead What your CRM shows Touchpoints you can’t track
- 19. Nearly Impossible Fuhgeddaboutit. Dark social Linkedin prevents analytics tools from seeing which URL resulted in a click and this post didn’t include a direct link anyway because sharing links results in less reach. Word of mouth Even if perfect tracking had occurred to this point, the introduction of a new person & devices would undo attribution. Trackable but misleading The type-in visits to the website could mislead us into believing this was “brand”. Conversion Technically trackable but ludicrously hard to attribute to the video posted on Linkedin. What can I track?
- 20. It all starts with finding your best customers.
- 21. The key to growth is simple: find out who your best customers are and go get more of them. The Growth Syndicate ;)
- 22. ICP vs. Personas in B2B and B2B2C Ideal Customer Profile The sort of company that buys your product. E.g. B2C tech companies with 50-500 employees. Personas A key person in the company’s decision making journey Decision Makers (e,g, CPO, VP HR) Users (e.g. recruiters, HR managers) Gatekeepers (e.g. finance, founders)
- 23. Superficial personas aren’t enough! ● 75 years old (born 1948) ● British White male ● Self-employed ● Married and remarried, with children ● Owns a mansion ● Lives primarily in London ● Interests: sports cars, travel and dogs
- 24. Understand your best customers ● Who experiences the problem the most? ● Who is easiest to close? ● Who was easiest to onboard? ● Who has the best ROI (in terms of commercial spend and effort)? ● Who leaves the most (constructive) feedback? ● Who has the best retention? ● Who uses our product the most? ● Who are the hand raisers (i.e.proactively engage with you for more)? ● Who promotes you and refers others?
- 25. Focus on Ideal Customer Profiles Ideal Customer Profile. Customer Profile Ideal Customer Profile Customer Profile This iswhere you need to focus: ● Main messaging ● Homepage copy ● Social campaigns ● Content strategy ● Outbound sales ● Dedicated landing pages ● Long-tail SEO ● Low prio content ● Outbound sales ● Dedicated landing pages ● Long-tail SEO ● Low prio content
- 26. Focusing on your best customers allows you to: Niche down and stand out more Create more specific, engaging messaging Filter feedback and requests more effectively Prioritize better and decide what not to do Create a coherent set of marketing touch points →Every additional ICP or segment essentially doubles your workload.
- 27. The power of ICP – InSided’s story 2010 InSided is founded 2016 InSided raise €6m Series A 2018 InSided refocus their ICP 2022 InSided is acquired by Gainsight “So what we did is we made a strategic bet to focus on one specific customer profile only. And for us, that was B2B SaaS companies. And we decided to focus on customer success”. “The valuation was created in the last three years because of the move to B2B SaaS companies, the focus on customer success.” “We were selling to energy banks, financial associations, and software companies, in multiple countries. We were spread way too thin – in terms of roadmap efforts, in terms of sales efforts, in communication, in messaging on our website, in everything.” 0-€5m ARR €5-€10m ARR 75% team lay-off
- 28. Successful companies stand the **** out
- 29. “Positioning is not what you do to your product. It’s what you do to the mind of the prospect” Al Ries, Positioning Pioneer
- 30. Positioning is all about standing out ● What problem are you solving for your best customers? ● Do you solve it in a unique way? If so, how? ● Why should customers choose your solution? ● What alternatives does a customer have? ● Why would somebody stop using an alternative? ● What makes your solution better than the alternative?
- 31. The true competitive landscape
- 32. Understanding the 4 forces
- 33. Who are your BEST customers? What problems do we solve for them? What are the alternatives to your product? What are your unique differentiators? What are their most likely objections? What proof points do you have? Key positioning factors
- 34. How Adam Robinson s RB2B stand our
- 35. Companies need to be thought leaders
- 36. Generating B2B Demand means changing how someone works means they need to change their perspective. Creating B2B demand = Changing our customer’s perspective.
- 37. 95% not in market 5% in market Resourcesfocused oncapturingdemand Resourcesfocused on building demand and brand. B2B companies focus 95% of their resources on just 5% of buyers.
- 38. New Way: Perspective-Driven Old Way: Theme-Driven Content Pillars Brainstorm, Keyword Research Content Creation Result: Exchangeable, generic content. Content pillars are arbitrary & inside-out Research gets stale and we don’t stay “on top of things” Pull (Search) focused content production Easy to imitate = No memorability, personality, branding effect Perspective Idea Engine Content Creation Result: Original content with strong brand recognition. Perspectives are a focal point for your brand Hard to imitate, original content Consumption-focused content production for all channels Creates a connection = Strong memorability, personality, branding effect The challenge: Thereʼs a gap between brand strategy and content execution.
- 39. A Perspective consists of 2 elements: Your Are of Interest and relevant topics related to that (e.g. the rise of fractional work). Your Opinion, consisting of your Umbrella Opinion (e.g. “the nature of work is changing”) and your spark opinions (e.g. “fractional professionals aren’t just freelancers”). Area of interest Relevant topics Umbrella Opinion Sparks Perspective = Focus Area + Opinions
- 40. Broad Narrow “Economy” “Business” “Sales” “Product Marketing” “Website Messaging” Large target audience Low engagement % More budget + competition Small target audience High engagement % Lesscompetition Area of interest (examples)
- 41. TGS Umbrella opinion: B2B Growth starts with getting the fundamentals right, but most B2B companies ignore that. Joliene: Poor B2B growth is rooted in bad management. We promote the wrong people and give up responsibility too late. Ferdinand: B2B growth is about the how, not about the what. Toby: B2B Content Marketing is broken, because it chases keywords instead of what buyers are in [OLD SCHOOL METHOD] IS THE PAST. [UNIQUE SOLUTION] IS THE FUTURE. STOP [DOING NORM], START [DOING UNIQUE SOLUTION]. [OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION] SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE WHO NEEDS IT. [OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION] IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OTHER FACTOR. IT SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD FOR [TARGET MARKET] TO GET [OUTCOME OF UNIQUE SOLUTION]. [CATEGORY] HAS FAILED [TARGET MARKET]. WE’RE HERE TO FIX IT. Some Umbrella Opinion format options: Building your umbrella opinion (Example)
- 42. Building your spark opinions Spark opinions support our perspective and are conversation starters. What is the high-level, strategic mistake your target audience makes regarding your niche? Who’s at fault for this mistake? How does that mistake manifest itself? …internally, through colleagues’ perception? …personally, through feelings? …through metrics and business outcomes? …through external perceptions? What change needs to happen to address this mistake? How does that change manifest itself? …internally, through colleagues’ perception? …personally, through feelings? …through metrics and business outcomes? …through external perceptions? What is holding organizations back from adopting to this change? What core piece of wisdom do most people in your industry seem to have forgotten? What new, shiny thing should your audience ignore? What is considered “best practice” that should be avoided or fought against? So why is now the best time to address the problem you help solve? What is the traditional approach to doing things and why is that broken? What concepts/frameworks/approaches do your customers need to be protected from? What is the unsolvable problem your clients face and what approach should they take deal with it? Which legacy institutions threaten to undo the change work you’re helping your clients create? What are their weak points? What is the constant struggle your customers will have to battle through, and why is itworth it? What is one action your clients could take to move closer to a goal you can help them achieve? What problem are your clients victim to - and what’s one thing they can do about it today? If you were to explain what you do to a ten-year-old, what would you say? What “quick wins” should your clients avoid? What piece of wisdom do you need to keep reminding yourself of? What is something most people think is important that they can skip entirely? What approaches are way over-rated? What approaches are criminally under-rated?
- 43. Building your idea engine Your Idea Engine is your constant source of inspiration for new content creation! Actionable Motivational Analytical Contrarian Observation X vs. Y Spark opinion Spark opinion Spark opinion Spark opinion Spark opinion Spark opinion
- 44. Role (Personal): What Do I Get From You? Role What I Get Example Entertainer Entertainment, Fun, Laughter, Excitement Meme Accounts Teacher Education, Learning, Applicability Neil deGrasse Tyson Thought Leader Ideas, Opinions, Thoughts Tom Goodwin Celebrity Personality, Sub-Culture Kardashians Activist Cause, Purpose Dan Price Spokesperson Company Brand Satya Nadella, Robert Vis Traveler Taking me on a journey Melissa Kwan
- 45. Example: Anthony Pierri Are of Interest: Messaging and positioning for early stage B2B startups. Umbrella Opinion: Marketing fails when it is unclear. Role: Teacher & Thought Leader
- 46. The lines between product and marketing are blurring
- 47. “You canʼt buy engagement. You have to build engagement.ˮ Tara-Nicholle Kirke, Founder of SoulTour
- 48. E-commerce and the blurring of lines – who owns the website?
- 49. Key commercial metrics come down to product /reemium, /ree Trial Product positioning Engagement Education Research Evaluation Justification Purchase Adoption Retention Expansion Advocacy Product Marketing User experience, In-app onboarding Product features Engagement Activation Usage Adoption
- 50. User behaviour tracking in-product (events, screen recordings). Customer feedback loop. Focus on driving outcomes. Cross-functional teams made of marketers and product people. Operational pre-requisites
- 51. Key PLG levers Product Experience User Onboarding Free Trial, Freemium, Reverse-Trial Product Marketing Pricing In-App Referrals / Growth Loops
- 52. Reverse Trial Example – Trello Free Trial, Freemium, Reverse-Trial
- 53. In-App Onboarding Example – Asana User Onboarding
- 54. In-App Referals Example – Miro Templates In-App Referrals / Growth Loops
- 55. Growth doesn’t have to feel random
- 56. Common problems companies face Execution on Growth Strategy No Predictable Commercial Engine Unstable Foundation
- 57. Average marketing / sales setup Sales Outreach B2B Decision Maker Sales Follow Ups Google Ads SEO Blog Articles Retargeting LinkedIn Posts Tradeshow Product Case Studies Lead Magnets
- 58. B2B Decision Makers B2B End-users Building a predictable engine (Automated) Outbound & Nurture Webinars & events SEO B2B Influencers Google Ads Thought Leadership Sales Outreach Product LinkedIn Ads Dedicated landing pages, case studies Product Marketing PLG
- 59. 4 core b2b growth pillars Marketing-assisted Outbound (ABM) Thought Leadership Search Engine Marketing Product-Led Growth Tapping into existing search activities and intent through SEA (Google /Bing Ads - short term) and SEO (Organic Search - long term), supplemented with paid display advertising. Building a strong brand and expanding mindshare through thought leadership content including LinkedIn, Long-Form Content, PR, Lead Magnets, Community, Events and Branded Ad Campaigns. Scaling outbound sales activities through an Account Based Marketing approach with relevant automation and dedicated materials such as case studies, webinars, content, priming social ads and email nurture. Leveraging existing demand more effectively through improvements to product experience product marketing, pricing and nurture activities such as email marketing and retargeting.
- 60. Linkedin Post Coworker mentions it Webinar CEO shares it on Slack Sees an ad on Linkedin but doesn’t click Gets a personalized email from sales Comment on Linkedin Sales Opportunity Responds to a LinkedIn outreach Just because the customer journey is messy, doesn’t mean your marketing should be
- 61. Find / Capture Engage / Nurture Convert Google / Bing Ads LinkedIn Ads Marketing-Assisted Outbound Email Nurture Events & Webinars Retargeting Ads Dedicated Landing Page Thought Leadership Journey-based growth engine
- 62. The higher the ACV-potential, the more you can invest Revenue Potential €500K+ Effort €100K €10K < €5K Highly automated, low investment Highly customized, high investment Thought Leadership Google Ads Manual outreach / cold calling €50K LinkedIn ads Advanced ABM play Dedicated events & partnerships PRStrategy
- 63. Marketing assisted outbound, example Step 1: Create target companies list. Step 2: Prime list with LinkedIn Ads Step 3: Automate cold Linkedin outreach Step 4: Personalized emails & cold calls Step 5: Continuous value creation Logo A simple headline that stands out when scrolling! {Product Image}
- 64. 1. Customer journeys aren’t linear…and we need to adapt. 2. It all starts with finding your best customers. 3. Successful companies stand the **** out. 4. Companies need to be thought leaders. 5. The lines between product and marketing are blurring. 6. Growth doesn’t have to feel random. 6 principles for successful B2B growth
- 65. Find out more about what we do! Scan me! https://linktr.ee/thegrowthsyndicate
- 66. Questions?