We know itâs been a rough year for marketers. Acquisition costs are rising, budgets are tighter, and competitors are fighting for a shrinking market. To help with your marketing strategy for the next year, we had the privilege to speak with ten CMOs and gain their exclusive insights. This was their best advice.
Tear down the gates â Ilana Shabtay, Fullpath
In 2023, we ungated everything and the truth is, it helps with a few different things. It helps with just creating value and making sure that youâre the resource for the shopper. Because if they can get that somewhere else, they will. Also, it really helps with our SEO.
Since MQLs are commonly used as a KPI, marketers are reluctant to ungate content. How will you get leads if you donât collect email addresses?
Fullpath is a customer data and experience platform for the automotive industry, and it stands out as a thought leader in the category, offering valuable data that canât be found elsewhere. However, Shabtayâs team found that putting high-value content behind gates limited their audience. Many were unwilling to give their email address to download an asset and didnât even take the time to consider its value.
The Fullpath team took the bold move to ungate everything on their website, and they are committed to keeping it that way. Theyâve already begun to see amazing results: â[After we ungated everything] there was a month where everything dropped, which we were prepared for. And then we actually saw MQLs start to go up significantly, which was really exciting.â
Ungating content is a risk initially, but it pays off in reaching a wider audience.
Focus on high-level goals â Michael Freeman, Airbase
We donât start with our goals in marketing. We start with the executive level, company-wide goals, and then continue to cascade down to how we can contribute to those things. And so that really helps simplify the prioritization process in the first place. Because no matter what else we do, if we donât hit those objectives, then itâs hard to claim that we had a success.
Traditional marketing methods arenât working like they used to, so the old targets, e.g., number of MQLs, also may not translate into revenue like they did in the past. Overarching company goals, like bringing in revenue, however, wonât change. Freeman recommends focusing on those overall goals and adapting marketing programs to meet those objectives most efficiently.
Airbase is a procurement platform with a long sales cycle. Companies donât change their software that often, and many potential buyers are not currently in the market. Freeman notes the distinction between urgent and important, and drawing a balance between those. Urgent short-term goals must have resources allocated to them, but long-term investments like demand creation are also important to continue growing pipeline for the future.
Pinpoint the most urgent pain â Ken Chow, Qrvey
You really have to get them to elicit what their pain specifically is. We used to call it the 8am inbox problem. They come in Monday, at 8am, the first thing they do is check their inbox and their email. What is the thing that theyâd just go, âOh, Iâve got to deal with this again this week.â
Many potential buyers arenât in the market for a solution because they donât know they have a problem. Their most frustrating pain point is often something they just accept they have to live with.
Chow emphasizes the importance of understanding human behavior and engaging on a personal level. People who arenât looking for a solution are unlikely to read a long white paper on a high-level topic, so he recommends using short, attention-grabbing content to draw them in.
Showing empathy and using humor help build personal connections among audiences who are unaware. That human connection makes an impact that other B2B companies arenât making.
Build awareness among new audiences â Matt Amundson, Census
Thereâs starting to be a shift more towards the top of the funnel content, much more so than what weâve seen in the past and focus on creating brand identity and brand experience more so than what Iâve seen in the past.
The current market is saturated, especially for SaaS products. So, rather than competing in this overcrowded market, it makes sense to reach further, to those who arenât in the market.
Matt Amundson of Census, a data activation platform, puts extensive resources into building a community around the brand and providing educational thought leadership content: âWhatâs important to us is not just the fact that weâre closing every deal imaginable, but that weâre actually driving the category forward from a thought leadership perspective.â
Becoming known as a trusted source of advice and information keeps a company top of mind for those who arenât yet in the market. Then, when they gain awareness of their problem and are ready for a solution, theyâll go for the one that they know.
Think long term in your strategy â Marla Malkin, Attivo
The importance of a sale is not just in that momentary sale, itâs in the long-term, residual value of a customer.
Retention and adding value is just as important as acquiring new customers. With higher acquisition costs, you want to make sure that each customer you gain is a good fit and stays with your solution. In addition, customers can be one of your best assets for building trust and expanding your reach by word of mouth, testimonials, and case studies.
Since Attivo ERP is subscription-based, they rely on customers staying for the long-term. Many potential buyers are already using other software and are reluctant to switch, so theyâre not in the market. However, Attivo targets those who may be dissatisfied with their current software and offers them temporary solutions to use with it. This starts a relationship, so when theyâre ready to switch, Attivo is their first choice.
Building trust with potential buyers before theyâre in the market begins a valuable relationship that needs to be nurtured. Continuing to offer resources keeps them interested until they eventually become customers who are likely to stay for the long term.
Cut through the noise â Thi Thumasathit, Gleen
Cutting above the noise is always a challenge.
With a new product in a competitive industry, standing out above the rest is a challenge. Buyers are bombarded with messages from all sides.
In a new startup in the chatbot industry, itâs tough to be heard among larger competitors. Thumasathit is aiming to grow the companyâs audience with large volumes of targeted content created with the companyâs own AI generator.
Another way to cut through the noise is to take a challenger positioning strategy, one that canât be ignored. This approach enables smaller brands to emerge as leaders with a strong message appeal.
Prioritize positive brand association â Stefanie Di Trocchio, Smartease
Being present in the minds of those end customers, and having positive brand associations with us, is becoming more and more important as our audiences get bigger.
A study from the Ehrenberg-Bass institute shows that mental availability is a key factor for buyers. If theyâre aware of the brand, theyâll prioritize it when they are looking for a solution.
Smartease is an Australian payment solutions provider for energy-efficiency and smart tech companies. As it sells mainly through channel partners, marketing to a wider audience hasnât been as much of a priority, but now, thatâs changing. As theyâre expanding into the UK, itâs necessary to build brand awareness, which theyâre doing through PR and media efforts.
Insightful data and newsworthy projects attract the attention of the media and get a brandâs name out there. Even for companies working with channel partners, having a positive association with end customers gives the business an edge.
Do thorough audience research â Allie Collins, Centime
You need to be constantly researching and polling the market, really good at strategizing around what content would resonate with that group (the 95% of your audience who arenât currently in the market for a solution).
Knowing your audience thoroughly, what motivates them and what signals show they might be about to enter the market is a huge advantage.
Centime is a cash flow management platform, and Collinsâs team has been working to grow demand for the solution with targeted content. Collins looks for signals that a company may be about to go into buying mode, for example, a change in roles or possibly cuts that mean a need for efficiency, and creating content that speaks to those needs and offers timely advice for adapting to those changes.
Research informs strategy to create successful campaigns that reach those audiences who arenât in the market yet. Developing buystander personas can help you organize that research and make a case for campaigns.
Donât just target âbuyersâ â Katie Hollar, Clutch
When youâre only interested in talking to prospective buyers, who have all of this figured out up front, youâre really missing out on the majority of potential leads that you could be generating for your business.
Focusing on buyers currently in the market is a losing battle. Itâs best to look further out to the wider potential field available.
Clutch is a platform that matches businesses with service providers, but theyâve found that many business leaders are uncertain of the kind of services they need. Theyâre not looking for a specific service, but rather for advice. To reach them, Hollarâs team develops educational content and tools to help businesses better understand their problems and requirements.
The majority of potential buyers for any business are not in the market. Once you understand that, youâre on the way to gaining a competitive edge.
Find new ways to measure effectiveness â Sarah Bugeja, Mavrck
Data and attribution are tough. Thereâs a lot of limitations based on browsers and cookies and what we can and cannot do as advertisers. It makes measuring effectiveness that much more difficult. It also presents an interesting opportunity to be creative.
Marketers are often measured on the ROI of their campaigns, but with attribution challenges, ROI is difficult to prove. This requires more creative strategies.
Bugeja says that for Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform, sheâs had to find new ways to measure the success of campaigns. She focuses on the big-picture outcomes, evaluates in terms of revenue and works backward to determine whatâs affecting those outcomes. While it may not be possible to pinpoint the exact actions buyers took, marketers can measure behavior in other ways like share of voice and how the business is growing compared to competitors.
The nature of demand creation makes it more challenging to attribute, but itâs measurable when you look at long-term success.
Apply insights to your 2024 marketing campaigns
Weâre grateful to the marketing leaders who shared their advice and experiences. Theyâre boldly making changes to adapt to this volatile environment and succeed in reaching new audiences and meeting revenue goals.
Applying these principles to your marketing strategies will put your business on the path to success. If you need help implementing them, contact us for a free consultation today.