How can you stay focused in B2B Marketing Strategy?

Creating your B2B marketing strategy that aligns well with company priorities, creates great content that resonates with your customer journey, and is integrated across channels, is only the start. Once you enter the execution phase of your strategy, the fun isn't over. I've seen it many times. The strategy is presented to stakeholders and then filed away to gather digital dust. The strategy should be a living and breathing document, guiding each conversation with stakeholders, be referred back to, and used to report results. You can create a timeline/tracker, you can enter tasks into a project planner, but you also need champions of the strategy as spokespeople throughout. Thus why it's important to gain stakeholder buy-in from the start.

Setting clear objectives and KPIs is fundamental for steering your B2B strategy. Regular team check-ins, particularly with the sales unit, and leveraging B2B tech tools will help swiftly adapt to market shifts and streamline efforts. Actively seeking customer feedback and being agile in responding to real-time data analysis are key for fine-tuning your strategy and prioritizing impactful activities. Fostering a culture of accountability, celebrating small wins, and occasionally bringing in external B2B experts for fresh insights can keep the strategy focused and poised for success.

People overcomplicate SMART goals as much as they overcomplicate B2B marketing strategies. in simple terms make sure that any goals or objectives follow these rules: - You have a quantifiable target (usually in number form so you either reach it or don't, no ambiguity) - There is a deadline, an end date (again, no ambiguity) - Make sure it's not beyond the possible (foolish to do so) And THAT'S IT!

Develop a framework to test your different channels and strategies to identify the marketing mix that you can scale. Your plan should be dynamic. I prefer reviewing quarterly -- removing programs and tactics that aren't working and adding new experiments.

I think that strategy comes first and your SMART goals are part of your plan. In nearly all instances strategy benefits from being simple, straightforward and easily expressed. The model Rumelt uses is 'Good Strategy/Bad Strategy...' is useful and he also provides some excellent examples of simple, effective strategies. The 'kernal' or core of his model being; 1) a diagnosis, 2) a policy or approach and 3) a set of coherent actions. For an overview check out this summary: https://youexec.com/book-summaries/good-strategy-bad-strategy#:~:text=Rumelt%20defines%20the%20'kernel'%20of,the%20stage%20for%20focused%20action.

Marketing strategy is hugely overcomplicated by most and usually misunderstood by others. Strategy - The overall direction you are going in. The North Star of your marketing plan Tactics - The detail of the strategy, the actual 'how the heck you're going to achieve the goal' Plan - A Marketing plan is a comprehensive piece of work that documents everything you need to make solid judgements, carry out your strategy and implement your tactics.

Don't be so foolish as to think you're going to get everything right the first time and your plan won't need to be adjusted or tweaked. Keep monitoring your implementation and tailor it according to what is working and what isn't. If you've planned correctly you won't need to make major changes.

Implementing the most important part of any marketing plant. You can come up with the best plans, SMART goals, and strategic planning documents but without an execution strategy, they do no good. Along with goal planning ensure that you take into account the energy, ability, team, and budget to execute appropriately and at the highest levels. I would suggest that when you create your SMART goals, add information about execution so that you also know whether or not you are able to properly execute on the strategies you're suggesting. It also gives you evidence for increased budgets, headcount, or resources.

If there's one thing I say multiple times a week, it's that marketing is trial and error, regardless of how many times you've tried something. Audience preferences change, platforms change, algorithms change - and you have to adapt. Keep referring back to your audience and market research. There's nothing wrong with trying a tactic or platform out and not getting the pay-off you were expecting. It's simply a chance to learn from what happened and try again the next day.

Communicating the impact you make as a B2B player is of vital value. 3 points to make note of: - Make sure the impact that you communicate is aligned with your strategic goals. - Do not miss out to leverage your achievements as a B2B brand to further your business collabs. - Use the insights and data from your achievements to fuel your strategic decisions further!

Automation is your friend when it comes to reporting your results. Although it can be tempting to fall into the same routine of manually adding data to a spreadsheet and presenting this back to your stakeholders, take advantage of automated reported tools, like Looker Studio.

Regularly track your progress and communicate your results to your stakeholders. This will help you stay on track and make adjustments to your strategy as needed.

In B2B marketing, productivity pursuit can often lead to burnout, diminishing returns, and loss of focus. Instead, embracing work-life balance can enhance concentration, motivation, and overall well-being, leading to sustained productivity. By prioritizing time for rest and personal pursuits, marketers can foster better work habits, reduce stress, and improve teamwork and communication skills. This will contribute to a more effective marketing strategy. Remember, a balanced marketer is an effective marketer.

B2B marketing can be demanding, so it's important to make time for yourself outside of work. This will help you stay refreshed and focused when you are working.

Consider these overlooked B2B marketing methods for focus: Maintain Data Quality. Segment Customers Precisely. Build Long-Term Relationships. Minimize Competitor Focus. Prioritize Content Quality. Cycle Sprint and Rest. Embrace Feedback Loops. Cultivate Audience Empathy. Test Hypotheses Methodically. Adopt Holistic Strategy. These strategies set you apart and maintain your marketing focus effectively.

Most important is communicate your strategy and goals of the strategy to all stakeholders within the organization. Too often the strategy is created in a vaccum, tracket in a vaccum and never shared outside of marketing. This drives dissonance in the ability to execute the strategy because others along the customer journey such as sales, customer service, operations as an example might have goals that might not help you stay focused towards achieving your strategic initiatives. Engage cross collaboration early on and you have an opportunity to ensure that through alignment you can keep focus on your marketing strategies.

Avoid short-termism. Typical B2B sales cycles are, on average, 4/6 months long. Short-term and surface-level goal settings like traffic and top-of-the-funnel leads are virtually useless for measuring the actual value of a campaign. If you plan a revenue marketing campaign (demand generation, lead generation, and lead nurturing), set a goal to measure attributed and influenced revenue pipeline and generated revenue.