Content has Changed
We may one day look back at this era and think, “It was strange how every SaaS company had a library filled with rehashed Wikipedia content on their website.”
We have grown so accustomed to educational blog content and resource centers that we often assume they are an inherent part of the user journey and digital marketing. However, this is not the case; these resources are products of specific incentives created by one company, Google. And those incentives are disappearing.
We created these pseudo-blogs because it was incredibly lucrative to do so. A few pages of basic Wiki content paired with some Unsplash stock images were historically sufficient to generate thousands of visits. Ignoring large-scale content creation would have been unwise; it was the most predictable, reliable, and profitable marketing channel.
However, the incentives are changing. The rewards are shifting; if this trend continues, it would be just as unwise to persist in the same type of content creation.
Google does not favour the “necessary evil” of sending traffic to publishers. In its ideal world, searchers would cycle endlessly through Google properties and Google ads. Sending traffic to a third-party website is seen as a failure because it takes users out of Google’s ecosystem.
Traffic was a necessary incentive to encourage content creation that fueled the Google machine. We created content, Google ranked it, and rewarded us with a share of their search demand. However, with the advent of large language models (LLMs), Google is now rich in information. It has reached a point where it no longer needs to incentivize content creation. As evidenced by its indexing slowdown and measures against programmatic content, Google wants to REDUCE content creation. Now, content creation threatens the search experience rather than benefiting it.
Due to Google’s search features and advertising, traffic has suffered from gradual cuts for years. But this time is different. Like you and me, Google’s social contract with publishers has been broken, with LLMs delivering the final blow.
Content will remain inherently valuable for helping potential customers. Some topics are worth writing about, even if they generate zero search traffic. It is crucial to explain your company's existence, cover the essential information needed to understand your product features, and help customers use it effectively.
However, this will only lead to a relatively small content library if done well. Most content marketing today has expanded beyond these boundaries, venturing into topics irrelevant to the company’s products and beliefs. It has devolved into mere information arbitrage, and LLMs excel at that far better than we do.
Whatever the future of content marketing holds, it does NOT look like corporate wikis covering every imaginable “how-to” and “what is” topic. Content will remain central to marketing, but anyone who believes they can navigate the next few years without significant changes to their strategy is in for a shock.
We need to think bigger.
Marketing’s Challenge
You've realized your company needs a marketer, or maybe you have one of two people "doing" marketing, and it's time to get serious about it.
You hire an experienced marketing leader (maybe a VP or a CMO) to take over marketing and turn it into a revenue driver. You may want them to leverage AI and figure that out for your business. Should spending all this money be able to add 30% to the pipeline by the end of the year? For many experienced marketers, this job sounds exciting.
Then, after the first few months, several issues are raised:
Huge martech debt
Siloed departments
Not enough resources
Marketing is sales support at best
New initiatives take forever to roll out
C-level doesn't understand what marketing does
Marketing has never measurably contributed to business metrics
In today's digital transformation phase, companies can expect challenges that significantly impact their return on investment timeline. Many marketing leaders experience a disconnect between the anticipated outcomes and the time required to develop effective marketing strategies.
This disconnect is one reason marketing leaders tend to have shorter tenures, averaging around three years. They often face burnout, choose to leave, or get dismissed because achieving quick ROI is unrealistic.
Companies must realistically assess their current marketing performance and understand what results can be reasonably expected. Pursuing fleeting trends, such as artificial intelligence, or holding unreasonable expectations, like a 30% increase in pipeline growth, can lead to continuous disappointment and frustration.
ABM is a Strategy
ABM is a strategy, not a channel, and you don’t need to spend $100,000 on software to implement a new strategy.
Here's how you can start running an ABM program without purchasing expensive tools like 6sense:
Let me clarify—ABM tools can be extremely valuable. However, it frustrates me when marketers say they want to implement ABM but are simply waiting for their CMO to approve new software. Building a solid ABM foundation begins well before you invest in software.
Here are 3 things you need to run an ABM efficiently:
Target account list alignment
The best ABM teams spend significant time choosing accounts and defining their account list criteria. Everyone in the team understands exactly why they are working with their specific list of accounts, going well beyond basic criteria like employee size and region.
It's crucial to understand the unique reasons customers choose your solution. Before making any major investments in ABM tooling, invest time in listening to prospect calls, engaging with the sales team, and thoroughly understanding these customer motivations. These triggers and firmographics naturally then become part of your targeting and account selection process.
Lean in on creative ways to build relationships.
ABM at its core is about building one-to-one and one-to-few relationships with target accounts. While many think of ABM as just personalizing landing pages and ads, it can be much more dynamic. Creative teams are increasingly using various engagement methods like podcasts, webinars, and event programs to forge meaningful connections.
This diversified approach not only makes ABM programs more efficient but also more enjoyable for the team to execute. After all, no one wants to spend their time endlessly personalizing the same page or ad for hundreds of different accounts.
Simplify tracking
One of the biggest pitfalls in ABM is over-complicating tracking. Keep it simple by focusing on a few key metrics before starting your ABM program. These should include measurements like account-level engagement and pipeline growth. The key is to get everyone aligned around the same metrics and utilize your existing technology stack.
For tracking and measurement, you have several options. If you're using HockeyStack, you can quickly set up an ABM dashboard using their templates. Otherwise, leverage your existing web tracking technology and create a basic dashboard in your BI tool to measure account-level metrics.
Treat ABM like any other strategy. Start small and don't rush to invest $100K in technology. Take the time to build a solid foundation first.
Begin by addressing the fundamental questions of ABM: Are marketing and sales aligned on WHY we're targeting specific accounts? This alignment is crucial for success and ensures everyone is working toward the same goals.
The next step is to clearly define WHAT those target accounts look like. Create detailed profiles and criteria that will help identify the most promising opportunities. Then, determine HOW you'll build meaningful relationships with them, focusing on personalized approaches that resonate with each account.
Only after you've confidently answered these questions and established a working process should you consider investing in sophisticated technology. This approach ensures you're making informed decisions about your tech investments based on real experience and proven needs.
What is attribution?
What people think attribution is:
Many organizations have misconceptions about attribution, viewing it primarily as a way to assign credit for sales and marketing outcomes. This often leads to teams focusing on individual touchpoints, trying to identify a single decisive channel, or simply attributing success broadly to "the team." These approaches can create unnecessary competition between departments and reduce attribution to a simple ROI calculation for budget justification.
This narrow view of attribution misses its true value as a strategic tool. When teams get caught up in claiming credit or obsessing over individual metrics, they lose sight of attribution's real purpose: understanding and optimizing the customer journey to drive better business outcomes.
What attribution actually is:
Attribution starts with understanding the complex patterns in buyer journeys, campaigns, and revenue paths. This foundational knowledge helps teams map out how different touchpoints contribute to success.
Organizations need to analyze data through multiple models to build this understanding and conduct incrementality testing. This creates a complete picture of attribution rather than relying on simplistic single-touch models. When combined with both qualitative and quantitative data, teams can make more informed strategic decisions.
The insights gained from proper attribution enable smarter execution across marketing activities. Teams can improve their outbound campaigns, account-based marketing (ABM) initiatives, list-building processes, and ad bidding strategies. They can also design and measure experiments to continuously optimize their approach.
Most importantly, effective attribution helps align all teams around revenue goals. Rather than creating silos or competition, it provides a shared understanding of how different efforts contribute to overall business success.
If you're fighting over credit or trying to track everything, you're doing attribution wrong.
Early involvement of marketing is crucial
Shaping Product Development
Marketing provides valuable insights that can guide product development from the start. By understanding customer needs, market trends, and the competitive landscape, marketing helps ensure the product aligns with market demands. This prevents wasting resources on features customers don't want and focuses development on solving real pain points.
Building Brand Identity
A strong brand identity is essential for startups to stand out in a crowded market. Early marketing efforts help define the company's values, personality, and unique value proposition. This foundational work informs all future marketing and communications, creating a cohesive brand image that resonates with the target audience.
Attracting Investors and Partners
Systematic marketing efforts signal quality and potential to investors, which can help funnel more capital into the startup. A well-crafted marketing strategy demonstrates that the company understands its market and has a growth plan, making it more attractive to potential investors and partners.
Creating Demand and Awareness
By starting marketing efforts early, startups can begin building awareness and generating interest in their product or service before launch. This helps create a receptive audience and potential customer base, making it easier to gain traction when the product is ready for market.
Informing Business Strategy
Marketing research and analysis provide valuable data that can inform overall business strategy. Understanding the market landscape, customer preferences, and competitive positioning helps startups make informed decisions about product features, pricing, and go-to-market strategies.
Cost-Effective Growth
Early-stage startups often have limited resources, making cost-effective marketing strategies crucial. By focusing on organic growth channels like content marketing, social media, and SEO from the beginning, startups can build a strong foundation for growth without significant upfront investment.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Many startups fail due to a lack of market need or poor marketing. By involving marketing early, startups can validate their ideas, refine their value proposition, and ensure there's a market for their product before investing heavily in development.
Early marketing involvement is not just about promotion; it's a strategic approach that informs product development, shapes business strategy, and lays the groundwork for sustainable growth. By prioritizing marketing from the start, startups can significantly improve their chances of success in a competitive landscape.
Marketing is an Investment
Marketing should be viewed as an investment, not an expense, representing a significant mindset shift for management. This shift, while challenging, holds the potential to significantly boost product visibility, drive sales growth, and contribute to overall company success. Yet, it often faces budget cuts due to a lack of perceived value and tangible ROI by top management.
To bridge this gap and demonstrate the strategic importance of marketing:
Align your marketing strategy with business objectives by emphasizing revenue-driven outcomes rather than vague goals. For instance, instead of focusing solely on increasing webinar engagement, highlight how webinars contribute to lead generation and sales conversion.
Cultivate relationships with key stakeholders, including management and sales teams, by educating them on the value of marketing and involving them in decision-making processes. Having internal advocates can help elevate the perception of marketing within the organization.
Emphasize meaningful metrics that align with business goals, present data that links marketing efforts to revenue generation, and use storytelling to contextualize performance. Transparency in reporting results, both successes and setbacks, builds credibility and fosters trust among decision-makers.
Ultimately, to shift the perception of marketing from an expense to an investment, marketers must demonstrate tangible value and return on marketing investment (ROMI) and foster trust with management. Marketers can drive positive organizational change by adopting a strategic and transparent approach.
Role of B2B Marketing
Marketing transcends sales and should not be mistaken for mere lead generation; it certainly isn't designated to aesthetics alone. Nor should it operate under the directive of merely executing orders from sales teams.
In many B2B contexts, marketing is mistakenly relegated to:
Generating an arbitrary number of leads
Executing sporadic marketing initiatives as dictated by sales and executive teams
Enhancing the aesthetic appeal of materials
Such a misalignment squanders time and financial resources and substantially limits the potential of both the sales and marketing functions. In an effective business model, sales and marketing should act as complementary forces—akin to hunters and farmers, which are both essential for collective survival and prosperity.
Effective B2B Marketing Operation Should Encompass:
Revenue KPIs:
Focus on marketing-sourced revenue through inbound opportunities that evolve into business deals.
Avoid evaluating every initiative solely on immediate ROI; consider the long-term impact and value of market segmentation, thought leadership, and customer engagement strategies.
Strategic Ownership:
Clearly define the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) using detailed, current customer insights.
Map the buyer's journey and influence it effectively through precise positioning and messaging.
Select and prioritize channels, partners, and communities that align with strategic goals.
Awareness and Demand Generation:
Implement full-funnel marketing strategies to enhance awareness and generate demand.
Employ content hubs and nurturing programs tailored to address the needs and behaviors of targeted buyers.
Demand Capture:
Leverage high-intent channels for targeted campaigns.
Offer seamless experiences for inbound leads.
Utilize engagement thresholds and intent data to initiate strategic account interaction early.
Alignment between Sales and Marketing:
Coordinate on goals, metrics, and targeted accounts.
Unify around the ICP, including qualification criteria and segment-specific value propositions.
Campaign Orchestration:
Ensure marketing activities span the entire sales funnel.
Collaborate closely with sales and customer success teams to optimize timing and tactics for campaign intervention.
Analysis and Optimization:
Conduct thorough reviews of past campaigns to refine strategies, targeting the disqualification criteria, content, and messaging.
Recognizing that marketing is neither an extension of the sales team nor a mere aesthetic enhancer is critical. Marketing must be viewed and utilized as a strategic, dynamic force capable of considerably scaling an organization's market approach. This strategic positioning aligns with current best practices and sets the stage for sustained long-term growth and profitability.
LinkedIn Ads Strategy for B2B SaaS
Developing strategies that effectively generate and convert demand is crucial. Here's a structured approach to achieving this:
1. Educational Content Strategy
Firstly, focus on educating your target audience. High-quality content should:
Illuminate fundamental industry problems and solutions, mainly targeting those at the initial stages of the customer journey.
Drive traffic through engaging multimedia content, optimizing for both visibility and audience retention.
Establish a foundation for more targeted interactions, preparing audiences for deeper engagement.
2. Product Explanation
Ensure potential customers understand your product's unique value:
Introduce your product comprehensively, using both introductory and more detailed content layers.
Enhance product awareness through strategic content in the preliminary stages.
In the retargeting phase, demo videos can help you explore specific product features, reinforcing the product's utility and expertise.
3. Building Trust
Trust is the cornerstone of conversion:
Display social proof, such as testimonials and case studies from reputable companies, to validate your claims.
Guide potential customers to detailed stories on your website that showcase successful outcomes and underline the credibility of your product.
4. Conversion Tactics
Seamlessly guide prospects through the conversion funnel:
Engage individuals interested in your brand with targeted, compelling offers.
Use sophisticated lead generation forms to capture and convert interest efficiently, ensuring these prospects are quickly integrated into your CRM for follow-up.
Effective Techniques on LinkedIn Ads
In leveraging LinkedIn Ads, specific unconventional methods have proven effective:
Product Screenshots: Direct visuals of the product can enhance transparency and attract interest.
Demo Request Ads: Effective even for those who need to be deeply engaged with your brand.
Creative Design: Contrary to expectations, less polished creative designs can yield higher engagement due to their authenticity.
Lead Generation Forms: These are vital for capturing high-intent leads but require a robust follow-up system to be effective.
Through educating potential customers, building product understanding, establishing trust, and deploying targeted conversion mechanisms, businesses can enhance their market presence and customer acquisition rates. Consistently applying these strategies leads to long-term success, as they align with the ongoing digital transformation in the global payments landscape.