The ‘Right’ Marketing
In my two decades of marketing experience, I've often summed up the essence of marketing with a simple phrase: "tell the right person, the right story, at the right time, in the right place." While this concept seems straightforward, executing it effectively, especially in the realm of B2B technology, is a complex endeavor.
Each element of this seemingly simple phrase becomes a multifaceted journey for experienced marketers. To shed light on the marketer's mindset, I've created a five-part blog series delving into each of these areas:
Tell the Right Person: Targeting, Segmenting, ICP, and Persona creation.
The Right Story: Positioning, Competitive Eco-systems, Value Propositions, Messaging.
At the Right Time: Demand Creation, Buyer's Journey, Industry Trends, Event Triggers.
In the Right Place: Marketing Vehicles, Inbound, Outbound, Guerrilla.
But before we dive into people, stories, timing, and location in marketing, we must clarify a recurring word – 'right.' What does 'right' mean in the context of marketing strategies and their effectiveness? So, let's begin with blog #1 in this series: The Definition of 'Right.'
In marketing planning, 'right' can be distilled into key principles, with customer obsession at its core.
Understanding your buyer, customer, and market is paramount. Effective marketing requires a deep understanding of your target audience, including their behaviors, preferences, and pain points. Are your Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies aligned with the customer's needs?
Having a clear vision of your target buyers is indispensable. Develop Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP), detailed buyer personas, and the right market positioning. These elements tailor your marketing to resonate with your audience.
Once you understand your customers and developed the bespoke tactics they may respond to measuring becomes key. Tying all marketing activities to revenue-based metrics is crucial. It's not just about generating leads or creating buzz, but about how these activities translate into revenue and business growth. Being able to baseline your metrics and then see how your activities move the needle let you get beyond a the subjective praise of a customer and help understand how the entire market is responding.
Once you have those metrics, you must always be hungry for improvement. Constant testing is fundamental. Marketing is dynamic, so maintaining a culture of experimentation and optimization is essential. Testing helps you refine your strategies and get closer to what's 'right' for your customer and organization.
In marketing planning, finding the 'right' people, stories, timing, and vehicles means aligning GTM strategies with a deep understanding of your customer, tying activities to revenue metrics, and maintaining a culture of continuous testing and improvement. If you are doing these three things, you’ll be able to discern when you’ve got it ‘right.’