by LIZ CHRISTO for Dear Stage 2 DEAR STAGE 2: I manage a 7-person outbound BDR team and want to roll out a new comp plan for the second half of the year. What are my options? Any recommendations on the best plans to use? ~New to designing comp plansSubscribe DEAR NEW TO DESIGNING COMP PLANS: Let’s start with some simple advice — don’t assume your comp plan is broken. Before you throw out the current plan, ask yourself… What’s NOT working? What’s changed? If the plan is mostly working, consider making small tweaks or layering in short term SPIFFs. But, if you need…
Is This Working? How to Know If Your Marketing Is Any Good
by Megan Noorman for Zen Media As a B2B CEO, it’s crucial to know if your marketing tactics are delivering results. The question: “Is my marketing working?” or “Is my marketing any good?” is one we hear from many CEOs—both clients and otherwise—who simply don’t know how to tell one way or the other. With the rise of digital marketing, there is a lot to track, but not all metrics or key performance indicators are created equal, and what’s “good” for one brand, may not be for another. So is your marketing working? Is it any good? That all depends on how…
You’re So Vain: The ‘Me, Me, Me’ POV—How to Avoid the Most Common Sin in Marketing
by John Furgurson for Marketing Profs I guess vanity's not technically a sin. It didn't make the list of the seven deadliest, anyway. But the "look at me" approach to messaging and copy is certainly one of the most common mistakes in marketing. How many times have you seen a social media post with a look-at-me selfie and a headline like "We just got our product on Amazon!" Or the equally meaningless "My book's an Amazon bestseller." (For a five-hour period in a tiny, esoteric category.) Who cares?! Many people would argue that's what social media is good for, but the "me, me,…
How To Write Like a Journalist (And Why It Matters in Marketing)
By Kyle Covino for Brafton.com The importance of good journalism can’t be overstated. Journalism is an art: It’s not just telling a story, it’s about helping the reader read it through to the end. Perhaps above all, it should produce positive results in society. To quote Andrew Vacss: “Journalism is what maintains democracy. It’s the force for progressive social change.” A free, democratic society is impossible without accurate and ethical journalism. But the qualities that make up this art can be extended to many other forms of writing — notably marketing — in a big way. How’s that? Read on to find…
8 WAYS TO SELF-DESTRUCT YOUR B2B CONTENT MARKETING
by Message Up A lot is written about how to succeed at content marketing. It’s a complicated thing to get right and there’s a how-to guide for every element. Marketing leaders and their supporting casts do their best to implement a practical subset of this advice, within inevitable resource constraints. Many of them do a really good job, getting a lot of things right. Until they don’t. Like the racing driver who is on a personal best lap, only to wreck at the penultimate corner, they make mistakes that undermine everything they’ve worked so hard to construct. In this week’s…
18 Expert Tips For Creating A Successful B2B Podcast
by Forbes.com As B2B companies continue to seek ways to expand their reach, many are turning to podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and connect with their target audiences. While starting a podcast may seem simple, creating a successful one that generates results requires careful planning and execution. As the members of Forbes Agency Council know, this applies to everything from booking guests to selecting topics the audience will find valuable and promoting a podcast. Below, 18 members share smart tips B2B podcasters can use to create compelling audio content that their target audience will look forward to hearing. 1.…
Boost Your Small Business With These Must-Have AI Tools
by Belle Wong for The Hartford In recent months, ChatGPT has shown the world how far artificial intelligence (AI) has come. But as AI developers and software companies release more and more AI tools on a near-daily basis, it can be challenging to know which tools are worth it for your small business. It’s worth digging deeper to learn more about the options available. By harnessing the power of AI, you can potentially compete with big businesses. Keep reading to learn more about the AI tools that can help take your business to the next level and beyond. 1. Chatbots Customers want…
Cost of Acquisition (CAC) trap.
by ELENA VERNA for Elena's Growth Scoop Cost of Acquisition (CAC) trap. And why you should optimize payback period instead. ELENA VERNA MAY 12, 2023 32 3 Share So many acquisition-focused teams tirelessly chase after reducing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or making it just one-third of the Customer's Lifetime Value (LTV). Yet, they often find themselves disappointed with lackluster results. Because in this "money doesn't grow on trees" economy, where every dollar counts, the real hero is the velocity of the payback period. ROI is back, baby. Where can CAC-reducing goals go wrong? Many acquisition teams are mandated to lower the…
Account Based What?
by KAMIL REXTIN for 42 Slash 42/ MINIS Account Based What? KAMIL REXTIN MAY 11, 2023 4 2 Share Marketers are doing mental gymnastics, trying to define and redefine ABM. Then vendors are falling over themselves to sell new technologies at 100,000 price tags so 'marketers can do ABM' - But... it doesn't have to be that complicated. ABM is simply 'selling to your top 10-50 dream accounts', and the irony is that marketing *is not* in the driver's seat. Sales is. Fluffy theory aside, if you are asked to *put together* an ABM campaign or plan by your CXO tomorrow.…
Stop Solving Problems
by SEBASTIAN CUERVO for 42 Slash Marketers love solving problems. If you spend more than 20 mins on LinkedIn or Twitter on any given day, you will notice a couple of clear story patterns that go something like this: I had a problem with this marketing process. I used this formula I developed or copied from top influencers to solve it. I found success. You can do it too. If you want to learn more, leave a comment (and chances are it becomes an endless spam sequence in your inbox). Or alternatively, you may also find the vulnerability pattern: I…