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#006: Please don’t make the same mistakes we did

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.

If you don’t want this newsletter, you can unsubscribe

💡 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

Stop always directing people to your website. The average click-through-rate of a cold ad on LinkedIn is ~0.4%. That’s a lot of people who could have consumed your message that scrolled right past it. Instead, focus on delivering value in the feed itself – without the user needing to click it at all! You get way more engagement, shares, it’s cheaper, and delivers more value.

📖 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:

  1. Listen to The B2B Playbook Podcast
  2. Subscribe to our Newsletter
  3. 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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I have been following some of your content on LinkedIn and started listening to your podcast. I really like the stuff you guys are putting out there.
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The main reason I love the podcast is I can get to know the B2B marketing mindset & experience. There’s tons of blogs/ courses online to talk about B2B marketing on strategies, tools, and models...but I found not many deliver the message of mindset to the audience. The mindset and experience are something you gained and tested from day-to-day work, and not easy to be googled.
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Honestly, I really like your podcast format. The breakdown and analysis angle of different companies B2B strategies mixed with your own framework and some tactical approaches is a B2B podcast mix that I haven’t stumbled upon other than yours and I really enjoy it. DG does mostly interview, Chris Walker has his Demand Gen approach, Metadata talks about what they do internally. And I enjoy all of them. But you two have figured out an interesting mix that brings something new and that’s not easy. You’ve got a routine listener here!
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Come 5am every Monday morning when I do my daily run, I tune into The B2B Playbook podcast. George and Kevin are excellent at distilling the many complex aspects of B2B marketing. And more importantly, giving away very practical advice on how to create a sound marketing strategy and execute it on a tactical level. As a bonus, George is a genuinely helpful, all around nice guy. He practices what he preaches. On LinkedIn you can see George doesn't just talk the talk - he does what he advises his audience should do. And shows how his playbook works for his business. It's true people! - Helpful marketing content leads to inbound opportunities that turn into revenue!
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The B2B playbook is just that - a practical guide to B2B marketing, providing endless tips, tricks, and insights. It's really practical. Particularly how to get experts to write for you. I'm in a pretty niche industry with tricky applications, so that helped a lot. Awesome stuff! Please keep it coming!
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Your podcast is such a great resource for us - wanting to make the change to Demand Gen, keep it up 🙂
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I am really enjoying your podcast and learning so much so big thank you
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Love the podcast George - plenty of epic wisdom, making massive impact - very much appreciated!
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Hi George I love your podcast, very interesting and easy to listen to!
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I have been listening to the B2B Playbook since George and Kevin launched it. The podcast episodes have such rich practical knowledge and they took one step further and created the B2B incubator. B2B incubator looks promising especially because they do not say “learn this, and you will be a millionaire overnight” it has a concrete strategy, how to learn from your mistakes, and the nitty-gritty of being a B2B marketer. Listen to their podcasts and also be a part of this program as I am sure like their podcasts their strategy is doable and will yield results. Remember, you have to implement what you learn from them!
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I was listening to your podcast. It's amazing. The 5 BEs framework, the way you diagnose educational content strategy... 💥🚀

I'm George, and I'm an embarrassingly passionate B2B marketer.

But it wasn't always that way. When I first got into B2B marketing, I actually found it so confusing. There was conflicting advice - and I kept pursuing the promise of "the one thing" that would work - with varying success.

With my own agency and working in-house, I tested different strategies and tactics to see:
(a) which ones could be done by a small marketing team
(b) which ones actually resulted in REVENUE for the business

We then turned the stuff that works into one cohesive strategy that I follow when I consult with B2B clients.

It's called our 5 BEs Framework.

And now we're dedicated to sharing it, right here, on The B2B Playbook.

We're giving away our 5 BEs Framework step-by-step, and creating the resource I wish I had when I first fell in love with B2B marketing.

When I say step-by-step - I mean it! Start the podcast at Episode 1, and work your way through.

If that sounds like too much, we give you the strategy, templates & tools in our 12 week program - The B2B Incubator.

Check it out here: https://theb2bincubator.com/

I'm also extremely active and share much of our framework on LinkedIn - so please feel free to connect with me there and say hi!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-marketing-expert/

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