G’day you B2B folks!
Excuse any typos on this edition – Kevin is busy galavanting around Europe (actually – he’s working and travelling there for the next 6 months 
), so he hasn’t proofread it.
It’s actually been a BIG last 2 weeks at The B2B Playbook. Which means lots of new juicy content for you time strapped B2B marketers. Much of it is sharing mistakes that Kevin and I have made when it comes to reporting, taking on new channels, and using agencies.
So plenty to learn from!
You should be able to read today’s issue in 5 minutes or less.
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3 B2B Strategy Tips
1) The 3 tiers of reporting you need to show your boss: Kev and I have been tackling the age old question of: how can I measure whether or not my b2b demand marketing is working??
Well, demand marketers like yourselves are always trying to drive revenue, not just leads. But it takes time to get there. So we created 3 tiers of reporting for you to work towards, with each one getting marketing closer to business outcomes.
Tier 3: Channel level KPIs
Tier 2: Early indicators to revenue
Tier 1: You are impacting revenue
We share exactly what they are and how to measure them in Episode 72 of The B2B Playbook podcast.
2) Ask yourself 3 questions before taking on a new channel: It’s so tempting to chase the first mover advantage to new(ish) platforms like TikTok, discord or any new form of influencer marketing. We’ve made the mistake of jumping the gun and investing time and money in a channel before considering these 3 questions:
1/ Is it the right time to invest in a new channel?
(Signs to look for: customers tell you they’re elsewhere, your customer acquisition cost is increasing, your pipeline is slowing, you’re only investing in demand capture channels)
2/ Where is your Dream 100 hanging out?
Your Dream 100 is other influencers that your customers are gathering around. Are they on the platform you’re investing your time and energy into, or are they somewhere else?
3/ Who owns the platform and what is their objective?
For example, LinkedIn exists to serve businesses, and has made significant investments in the e-learning space for people to advance their careers. This aligns perfectly with our own objectives.
Kev and I discuss how to work through this framework to determine whether it’s time to test a new channel (plus mistakes we’ve made you should avoid!).
3) Don’t outsource your demand programs to agencies: I know you’re time and resource strapped, and it’s tempting to engage an agency to help you create demand for your business. But the truth is, to create demand properly you need to have (a) a very deep understanding of your customers (b) to feature your customers (c) to collaborate with other businesses (d) a tight feedback loop with customers.
Agencies would need to charge you an arm and a leg to do that properly, because they need to be so deep in your business. And most don’t – and the results are terrible.
Our recommendation is to dedicate 20% of your time to launching a demand pilot program inhouse. We’ve created the strategy, templates and tools for you to do it. You can always scale this with an agency later down the track.
Doodle of the Week
3 Articles and Resources
1) How to evaluate if your lead generation is working: Is lead generation the right strategy for your business? We show you how to evaluate whether it’s supporting a sustainable marketing strategy, and some of the lesser known pitfalls of pursuing a lead gen strategy.
2) We made a dedicated page for our newsletter: Rather than losing the work we’ve put into this newsletter each time it’s sent into the ether, we’ve started publishing it on our website too. It makes it more accessible, plus all the juicy interlinking between content we’ve created is great for SEO.
3) The Elements of Value: If you’re struggling to define your unique value propositions in terms of the value it brings to the customer, check out this article on The Elements of Value. We highly recommend that marketers find which elements of value are most important to their customers, and nail down the top 3 or 4 to create raving fans.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to The B2B Playbook podcast.
Strategy, Templates & Tools To Drive More Revenue With Marketing
Our 5 BEs Framework teaches b2b marketers exactly how to drive more revenue with your marketing.
We share our Framework step-by-step every week on The B2B Playbook.
There’s 3 ways you can learn and implement it in your own business:
- Listen to The B2B Playbook Podcast
- Subscribe to our Newsletter
- Apply for The B2B Incubator
(P.S. The B2B Incubator gives you strategy, templates and tools you need to implement this in your business over 12 weeks. Click here to find out more or apply now).
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