Digital Selling Strategy

Google says "Yes Number One, we've got every business paying for clicks but they're not getting any business from it". 

Marketo as the leader for Marketing Automation and spokesperson for Hubspot and Pardot says, "Yes Number One, we have convinced all the B2B companies to pay for our software every month and pay millions every day to Google for PPC, but they still don't know they're hiding all their content, so Google can't and won't index them on their search engine. 

The Reverse IP Look Up representative speaking for Lead Forensics, Candii and Demandbase beams to Number One and says "joining them Number One, we have convinced businesses they need to stalk their prospects by telling them who is visiting their websites and we give them the telephone numbers for them to keep cold calling, this is still working well with our ABM strategies that makes the businesses think they have to market to everyone in the company, massively increasing their workload but not getting any better results"

Number One says "I'm pleased to see that business are still cold calling, the fifty-year-old strategies are always the best.  What are the current cold calling success rates".

The Spin Selling & Miller Heiman spokesperson for sales people, BDR's and SDR's pipes up "It's currently 400-1 Number One and getting worse as more people work from home".

"Excellent" says Number One.  

Microsoft stands up and says "We have, Number One, maintained the illusion that B2B companies can achieve the same results as B2C and the requests for investment gets ever longer, this means our investor operatives are commanding a higher percentage of their new businesses before they've even started trading".

"Commendable Microsoft, as always", "Is there any other news to report?"

The Government Agent slowly stands to attention and says "Number One, I am pleased to inform you we have had a record number of business failures, even with futility of pandemic bail-outs we have exceed the average of 500,000 business failures this year and businesses are so focussed on survival they have failed to realise they cannot achieve any higher than the average of £120,000 per person per annum because of the collective system we have all put in place."

Number One, stroking his white cat, with his identity obscured by frosted glass concludes the meeting by saying, "Well done ladies and gentlemen, your regular bonuses will be transferred to your Swiss bank accounts as always", as the steel shutters roll down he bids them goodbye until next years gathering of the Big-Tech/Mar-Tech controllers! 

This illustration to show how a new operating system can be put in place in your Tech, SaaS or Services business that will reduce monthly costs,  increase exposure and flip profitability within months.  And it's not about more marketing software, it's about creating a system that your prospects and customers actually want and not a system that is reminiscient of the 1950's.

1. Create new or edit existing content to fit in to categorise in line with Primary, Secondary, General, Product and How-to-Buy categories.
2. Create multi-format content for each main theme. For example, if you have a thought-leadership piece, you do not know if your audience would like to read or listen to your content.  Yes, they can be forced to read, but you increase your chances of engagement if they have a choice, just like you have
   • Written – Online
   • Written – Downloadable
   • Video
   • Podcast
   • Live Stream – See Below
3. Ensure every content item has a call-to-action
4. Analyse existing conversion-rate-strategy to ensure prospects can order or buy online
5. If you have a high following on LinkedIn or Facebook, adopt Social 444: -
   • Create 120 adverts in advance, 5 adverts per main content item
   • Set up posting automation using SmarterQueue (£40 per month) or other
   • Schedule 4 adverts to be posted 4 times a day over 4 weeks = 444
   • 120 adverts are sufficient for 30 days, which means they can be repeated every month for as long as you choose, without social media cost
6. Un-gate your content by removing all marketing automation email forms and associated landing pages
7. Using Open Graph, categorise every item of content with Primary, Secondary, General, Product & How to Buy
8. Implement Google Tag Manager and Analytics to monitor relevant attributes of each content item, i.e., scroll-depth, video-watch-duration, download and so on.
9. Set up Google Data Studio, Tableau or other to automate daily/weekly report distribution

1. The Live Stream Show – coral salespeople and marketing personnel to contribute ideas to your new show
2. Create a name for the Live Stream show
3. Create a Live Stream graphic to appear on YouTube and website
4. Create Live Stream section on your website
5. Create the Live Stream marketing strategy; 1% of your total addressable market (TAM) are looking to buy right now!
   • Blend your existing CRM database with purchased data to define your TAM.
   • Upload your TAM email data to LinkedIn & Facebook if applicable
   • Create PPC banner advertising campaign to your TAM database now on LinkedIn
   • Email your TAM, send 4 x emails prior to first episode
   • After first show, maintain weekly emails, informing about previous weeks content and what’s planned for next week’s show.
6. Decide on a recording frequency, daily, weekly, or monthly
7. Choose the live stream technology: -
   • Cameras & Lenses or Motorised Pan-Tilt-Zoom
   • Switching Docks
   • Streaming Software
   • Super Source Templates and overlays (like you see on the news)
   • Microphones, Pop filters
   • Headsets
   • Microphone stands
   • Recording studio, whether to use a Green Screen, quiet room, set design etc.
   • Sound treatment: sound panels, blankets or stands
8. Pre-recorded intro and outro
9. Pre-recorded business adverts
10. Select an editing platform such as Adobe Premiere Pro
11. Housekeeping Rules – Do’s and Don’ts for guests

1. Select a Show Theme: Pinpoint a central theme or series concept that resonates with your audience and aligns with your brand.
2. Structure Your Show: Decide on the level of structure, whether to keep it open-ended or guide conversations towards specific objectives.
3. Curate Your Guest List: Bring on a diverse mix of guests including customers, industry influencers, suppliers, your team, and executive leadership to enrich discussions.
4. Segment Your Show: Organise the show into distinct segments, such as industry updates, introductions to new team members or clients, technology highlights, and product news.
5. Develop Content Guides: Prepare a list of questions and topics to ensure a smooth flow of conversation and engagement throughout the show.
6. Prep Your Guests: Utilise pre-show time, possibly in a 'Green Room' setting provided by some streaming platforms, to acquaint guests with the show’s format and tech setup.
7. Kick Off the Show: Start by setting the stage for what's to come in the episode.
8. Introduce Participants: Officially welcome your guests to the audience, showcasing their expertise or roles.
9. Launch with an Impact: Open with a compelling question or statement to immediately engage viewers.
10. Preview Upcoming Content: Tease future episodes and guest appearances to build anticipation.
11. Encourage Engagement: Prompt viewers to follow your LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook channels for updates and more content.
12. Promote Interaction: Invite your audience to subscribe and participate in discussions across your digital platforms.
13. Enjoy the Process: Perhaps most crucially, ensure you and your guests have a good time – it’s infectious and contributes greatly to the show’s success.

This long-term problem creates an undiscussed division based upon control and finance, i.e., CEO's and sales on the control side and CFOs on the finance side. 

CEOs believe they know the marketing process and visualise it through the lenses of sales.  Sales and selling is supposed to be the ultimate challenge and so commands the highest reward. However, when marketing, presales and a raft of Internet content is brought into the equation, not to mention ABM, then the act of selling is minuscule. But because of its perceived importance it allows sales directors and CEOs to be dismissive of marketing as salespeople believe their jobs are infinitely harder.

The CMO, having demanded the largest budget has no choice but to provide the ultimate sacrifice of falling on their swords for poor performance, with the CEO and VP of sales looking for another martyr.

And so the poor turnover per person per annum continues because selling/sales maintains a one-to-one ratio of staff to contact and orders and marketers keep plying their consumer-based strategies. 

Finance on the other hand is dispassionate towards the employees, i.e., 1+2=3, and if 3 is not sufficient and it often isn't, then the CFO and investors are left shaking their heads as to what's going wrong.

Naturally the blame is focused on the CMO for not providing enough marketing qualified leads to be handed over to sales. My background is in selling telecoms, voice over IP and CRM and having sold millions of pounds worth of hardware and services I know that doing an appointment and closing a deal has nothing to do with marketing except of course finding the willing prospect in the first place.

The above scenario has nothing to do with marketing and selling in 2022, so why on earth is the tenure of a CMO 18 months or less?

The answer is, the CMO is responsible for refusing to read or research what is happening at the moment. It only takes a few minutes to join the dots, however, there is too much to lose: - 

• Salespeople will lose their jobs
• Existing CMOs will cease to hide behind a Mar Tech stack
• Marketing people need to learn new skills or lose their jobs
• CEOs will have to relinquish the control mentality

CFO is will simply say I told you so...

It is essential you forget what everyone around you is saying. New business development will not work it never has unless you are prepared to give away your company and watch it change hands.

Investors want to earn out of you and if you don't make it happen and demonstrate progress and growth, you're out.  If the average tenure for CEOs in all Fortune 500 companies is 60 months, that equates to about three CMOs!  How many are you up to?

You, your business, sales and marketing are intrinsically linked, if one goes you all go. That's why there are so many start-up and private equity focused recruitment companies servicing the churn.

Some facts to consider, in the first, second and third years of trading 20%, 30% and 50% of all businesses go bust. By the tenth year 91% of businesses are gone. And for those who do obtain investment, 40% go bust, 75% fail to achieve their own targets, and 90% fail to achieve an ROI for their investors.

There's no shortage of money and no shortage of seeking out unicorns, but boy oh boy are there some casualties. Don't be one of them!

Marketing automation is not lead automation and if you're not producing the content your customers want to read, and engaging at scale via live streaming, your competitors will.

It’s time to change your marketing operating system and start making acceptable levels of profit, without the stress.