10 Clever Strategies to Close the Customers You Actually WANT to Work With
In the wild world of sales, it's not just about closing deals—it's about closing deals with the right customers. You know, the kind of customers that make your business grow and make your professional life a whole lot more satisfying. So, buckle up and get ready to dive into ten brilliantly clever strategies that will help you attract and close those dream customers who align perfectly with your vision and values.
1. Unlock the Secrets of Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Before you go on a wild goose chase for customers, you need to define who your ideal customers actually are. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is like creating a detailed character sketch of the perfect customer who would benefit the most from your amazing product or service and bring you heaps of value.
Steps to Uncover Your ICP
- Play Detective: Analyze your current customer base and look for the characteristics of your most successful relationships. Take a close look at their demographics, purchasing behaviors, and overall engagement with your product or service. Pay special attention to those loyal customers who have stuck around and given you stellar feedback.
- Find the Common Denominators: Identify the common traits among your top customers—demographics, behaviors, needs, and everything in between. Categorize them into groups like industry, company size, location, and decision-making process. These common traits will help you pinpoint the types of customers who are most likely to thrive with what you have to offer.
- Create Your Dream Customer Persona: Develop detailed personas that represent your ideal customers. Dive deep into their pain points, goals, and buying behaviors. Make these personas as vivid as possible, covering everything from job roles to daily challenges to key motivations. Use these personas as your North Star, guiding your marketing and sales strategies to attract these fantastic customers.
Tools for Unveiling Your ICP
- Sneaky Surveys and Feedback: Get your current customers to spill the beans by conducting surveys and gathering feedback. Their direct input is like gold—providing you with priceless insights into what your ideal customers value most.
- Sherlock-Level Data Analytics: Utilize analytics tools to dive into your customer data. Look for patterns and trends that reveal the characteristics of your superstar customers. This data-driven approach ensures that your ICP is based on cold, hard facts rather than guesswork.
- Spy on Your Competitors: Take a peek at your competitors' customer base to identify gaps and opportunities. Understanding who they're targeting can help you refine your own ICP and discover untapped market segments. It's like gaining insider intel for your strategic advantage.
2. Sprinkle Your Messaging with Unicorn Stardust
Once you've cracked the code of your ICP, it's time to sprinkle some magic on your messaging. Your marketing and sales communications need to speak directly to your dream customers' needs, pain points, and aspirations.
The Art of Crafting the Perfect Message
- Unleash Your Value Proposition: Clearly articulate the unique value your product or service offers. Show off what sets you apart from the competition and why your solution is the absolute best fit for your ICP. Make sure your value proposition is concise, compelling, and consistently communicated across all channels.
- Address Their Pain Points: Dive headfirst into the specific challenges your ICP faces. Use language that empathizes with their struggles and demonstrates your deep understanding of their situation. By speaking directly to their pain points, you position your product or service as the ideal problem-solver.
- Shower Them with Benefits: Highlight how your solution brings unique benefits to the table. Focus on the tangible outcomes they can expect—increased efficiency, cost savings, improved performance, you name it. Bring these benefits to life with real-life examples and captivating case studies.
Channels for Maximum Messaging Impact
- Websites that Wow: Ensure that your website content is tailor-made for your ICP. Create targeted landing pages, insightful blogs, and product descriptions that speak directly to their needs and interests. A well-optimized website is like a magnet, attracting and converting ideal customers left and right.
- Email Campaigns that Rock: Develop email campaigns that deliver personalized, relevant content straight to your ICP's inbox. Use segmentation wizardry to ensure that each email addresses specific pain points and offers solutions customized to their needs. Your emails are like personalized love letters, enticing your dream customers to take action.
- Social Media Sorcery: Unleash the power of social media platforms to engage with your ICP. Share content that resonates with their interests and encourages interaction. Social media is the perfect playground for gathering feedback and priceless insights from your target audience.
3. Whip Up Irresistible Content That Casts a Spell
Content marketing is like a magic potion that draws your ideal customers closer. By creating and distributing valuable, relevant content, you'll attract, engage, and convert those dream prospects who fit your ICP like a glove.
Majestic Content Strategies
- Blog Posts and Enchanting Articles: Write about topics that make your ICP's heart skip a beat. Dive into industry trends, create how-to guides, and share thought-provoking pieces. Consistently publishing high-quality content establishes you as a wise and trusted authority, keeping your audience captivated.
- Spellbinding Case Studies: Showcase success stories that show off your value. Detailed case studies demonstrate the tangible benefits your product or service has delivered to customers just like your ICP. These stories have the power to sway potential customers by providing real proof of your effectiveness.
- Mystic Whitepapers and Enchanting E-books: Provide in-depth insights that solidify your expertise. These pieces of long-form content can delve into complex topics and offer valuable information that helps your ICP make well-informed decisions. Offering these resources in exchange for contact information can also help you build a magical list of qualified leads.
Channels to Spread Your Enchanting Content
- SEO Sorcery: Optimize your content with wizard-level search engine optimization. Use relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and backlinks to boost your search engine rankings. A powerful SEO strategy can whisk your content to the top of search results, attracting those perfect customers like moths to a flame.
- Social Media Spells: Spread your content across social media platforms to reach a wider audience. Tailor your posts to each platform's unique audience and engagement style. Use captivating visuals, bewitching hashtags, and interactive elements to increase visibility and engagement.
- Email Marketing Magic: Use email newsletters to distribute your delightful content directly to your ICP. Segment your email list to ensure that each recipient receives content that matches their interests and needs. Regularly sharing valuable content keeps you in their minds and hearts.
4. Let Social Proof Work Its Magic
There's nothing more persuasive than social proof. When your prospects see that others like them have achieved success with your product or service, they'll be itching to jump on board the magical train to customerhood.
Unleashing the Power of Social Proof
- Glorious Customer Reviews: Make some noise with positive reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews by making the process a breeze and offering rewards. Highlight these sparkling reviews on your website and marketing materials to build trust with potential customers.
- Captivating Testimonials: Gather personal endorsements from your happy customers. Use surveys, interviews, or direct requests to collect testimonials that provide credible and relatable proof of your value. These endorsements are like sparks of magic that ignite trust and propel your prospects toward a favorable decision.
- Bewitching Case Studies: Dive deep into how your solution helped specific customers. Craft detailed stories that showcase the challenges faced, the solutions provided, and the measurable outcomes achieved. Case studies wield great power, proving your expertise and the real-world impact of your offerings.
Gathering and Displaying Social Proof
- Customer Feedback Wizardry: Put programs in place to regularly gather feedback from your customers. Use surveys, follow-up calls, and feedback forms to collect testimonials and reviews. Keeping your social proof fresh and up-to-date ensures its relevance and impact.
- Showmanship on Multiple Platforms: Display your social proof across your website, social media, and marketing materials. Use visual elements like videos, images, and captivating infographics to make your testimonials and case studies even more irresistible.
- Third-Party Wizardry: Make use of endorsements from industry experts, influencers, and reputable organizations. These third-party endorsements add an extra layer of credibility and trustworthiness to your social proof, like a magical stamp of approval.
5. Embrace the Art of Soft and Nurturing Sales
A soft and nurturing sales process focuses on building relationships rather than forcing a hard sell. This approach works wonders when it comes to attracting and closing the right customers who genuinely appreciate what you bring to the table.
Master the Art of Nurturing Leads
- Enlighten and Educate: Provide valuable information that helps prospects make informed decisions. Use webinars, workshops, and educational content to enlighten your audience about your product or service. An informed prospect is more likely to recognize and appreciate the value you offer, leading to confident purchasing decisions.
- Listen Like a Pro: Actively listen to understand your prospects' needs and concerns. During sales interactions, prioritize listening over talking. Use open-ended questions to encourage prospects to share their challenges and goals. Showing genuine interest in their perspective helps you tailor your approach to meet their unique needs.
- Build Bridges of Trust: Establish trust through transparency and authenticity. Be honest about what your product or service can and can't do. Share real-life examples and case studies to back up your claims. Building trust takes time, but it's absolutely essential for closing deals with the right customers.
Techniques for Cultivating Magical Relationships
- Personalized Follow-Ups: Engage your prospects with personalized follow-ups that show you're invested in their success. Customize your communications to address their specific needs and interests. Regular check-ins demonstrate that you value their business and are committed to helping them achieve their goals.
- Value-Driven Interactions: Make sure every interaction brings value to the prospect. Whether it's through sharing relevant resources, offering expert advice, or solving their problems, ensure that your communications are always relevant and beneficial. Value-driven interactions create goodwill and position you as a trusted advisor.
- Long-Term Love Connections: Focus on building long-term relationships rather than chasing short-term sales. Stay connected with prospects even if they're not ready to buy right away. Nurturing these relationships can lead to future opportunities and referrals as the magic of connection works its wonders.
6. Unleash Your Inner Growth Hacker
Growth hacking is all about using innovative and cost-effective strategies to acquire and retain customers. These spellbinding techniques will help you attract those perfect customers without breaking the bank.
Enchanting Growth Hacking Strategies
- Spark the Magic of Referrals: Encourage your existing customers to spread the word. Offer incentives like discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to motivate them to refer others to your business. A well-designed referral program turns satisfied customers into powerful brand advocates.
- Create Viral Spells: Craft shareable content that spreads like wildfire. This could be in the form of entertaining videos, interactive infographics, or mesmerizing social media posts. The goal is to create content that resonates with your audience and compels them to share it with their own networks.
- Master the Art of A/B Testing: Continuously test and optimize your marketing efforts. Use A/B testing to compare different versions of your campaigns and identify what works best. This data-driven approach ensures that you're always improving and maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing magic.
Channeling Your Inner Growth Hacker
- Harness the Power of Magical Tools: Make use of growth hacking tools and software to automate and optimize your strategies. Tools like CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and analytics software help you manage and measure your growth hacking efforts like a true sorcerer.
- Collaborate with Influential Allies: Partner with influencers and industry experts to amplify your reach. Influencers help you connect with a larger audience and build credibility through their endorsements. Choose influencers who align with your brand values and have a strong connection with your ICP.
- Obsess Over Customer Experience: Ensure that every touchpoint in the customer journey is optimized for a delightful experience. Happy customers are more likely to refer others and become repeat buyers. Regularly gather feedback and make improvements to enhance the magical experience.
7. Embrace the Magic of Permission-Based Sales
by Justin Lim (https://unsplash.com/@justinlim)
Permission-based sales is like a magical dance between you and your prospects. By obtaining their consent before engaging with them, you create a space for more meaningful interactions and higher conversion rates.
How to Work Your Magic with Permission-Based Sales
- Captivating Opt-In Forms: Use forms to capture your prospects' consent to receive communications from you. Make sure your opt-in forms are clear and concise, explaining exactly what they're signing up for. Offer something magical in return, like a free resource or exclusive content, to encourage sign-ups.
- Respect Their Communication Preferences: Honor your prospects' preferences when it comes to how often and through which channels they want to hear from you. Respecting their preferences shows that you value their time and creates a foundation of trust.
- Deliver a Dash of Value: Ensure that every interaction you have with your prospects brings value to their lives. Whether it's through educational content, personalized recommendations, or exclusive offers, make sure your communications are always relevant and beneficial. Consistently providing value keeps your prospects engaged and interested.
The Magical Benefits of Permission-Based Sales
- Spellbinding Engagement Rates: Prospects who have given consent are more likely to engage with your communications. They've shown interest in your offerings and are more open to receiving your messages.
- Building Enchanting Relationships: With permission-based sales, you focus on building relationships rather than blindly chasing quick sales. Keeping in touch with prospects, even if they're not ready to buy right away, cultivates a sense of trust and allows for future opportunities and referrals to magically appear.
Now that you're armed with these ten clever strategies, go forth and conquer the customers you genuinely WANT to work with. May your sales be smooth, your relationships be magical, and your business soar to new heights. Best of luck, intrepid salesperson! ✨🔮✨
Social Media Strategy That Works
Social Media Strategy That Works
When I started out as a Social Media/Marketing Manager I realized right away that you need to be organized to an extent I wasn’t prepared for. Winging it only makes things take longer and makes you stress out. As part of the marketing team at @revenue, I have learned some handy strategies for not only laying out campaigns but how to make them take flight.
Let’s talk about Campaigns.
Campaigns are a whole different animal from regular social media posts, which are usually one-off posts not pertaining to an ongoing awareness campaign or event. Campaigns are preplanned, precalculated, and usually, a series of social media posts thought through to the maximum extent. A well-thought-through campaign includes the goals of the posts, specific target audience, and message. Campaigns make reviewing the metrics all that easier, too. Helping you track what’s working and what’s not. And you know how we love to try it, track it, and change it- especially when it comes to the ever-changing world of social media.
Here are some basic steps to creating an effective social media campaign.
- The first part of laying out a social media campaign is to do some deep thinking on the goals and objectives. What is the purpose of the new campaign? What does your client have going on right now that would make a good campaign? Are they offering a workshop or class in a couple of months? Then now’s the time to get started with planning. They say that you’re 40% closer to reaching your goals when you lay them out and get specific, so try to use SMART goals when creating a new campaign.
- The 5 W’s - When creating a new campaign, you want to make sure you are answering the basic “Ws” of Who, What, When, Where & Why’s of the campaign. These fundamental 5 W’s cover all the bases.
Why - why are you creating the content? What is your goal? How will this benefit the business?
Who - is your audience? Being as specific here as possible is key.
What - do you want this content to achieve?
When - when and how are you going to develop the content, and how long will the campaign run for?
Where - are we going to publish, and on what platforms? Remember that each platform has slightly different strategies so make sure you customize your content for each.
- Next, you’re going to want to get very clear on who your audience is, what tone your messaging will take on, and the time frame - including the start and end date of the campaign.
- Then you delve into the nitty-gritty, such as what hashtags you’ll use to get the campaign the most exposure, and what link and CTA you’ll be using. You might be thinking that this is all just a huge waste of time, just post it already, BUT trust me, you’re going to love working this way once you start and you’ll never go back.
- Each campaign should have its own aesthetic/look. For example, I have a client who does many things, and one of those things is hosting a monthly writers group, where she helps aspiring writers become published authors. For her writer's group, we are using Gif’s instead of branded designs, to stand out and grab her audience's attention in a different way. We aren’t using Gifs on any other campaign or other posts on her platforms. Another campaign could be solely focused on client testimonials and should include a branded image with a direct quote or review. Campaigns should vary from each other but always try to stay within brand colors, as you don’t want your profiles to be inconsistent in the brand. It’s best to have an overall cohesive look for your social posts, so following a clear brand guidelines document is always advisable.
6. Last, the best way to track the metrics of any campaign is to have the right software - this alone makes it worth it. At @revenue, we use Sprout Social for our social media publishing as well as their thorough analytics and metrics features. If you have an interest in using Sprout, please reach out to us for a special introduction. Using a platform that provides media tagging and allows you to create & label campaigns is the easiest way to review metrics, such as engagement metrics, to see what’s resonating with your audience, what’s not, and where to put your ad dollars.
In conclusion, campaigns will make your ad money count. Who wants to throw money at something and see how much sticks? No one.
If you need any help with your marketing, sales or branding strategy, give AtRevenue a call.
We are happy to help you find a way to make your social media, marketing and sales work for your business.
How Narrowing Your Target Audience Will Expand Your Market Share
How Narrowing Your Target Audience Will Expand Your Market Share
When you started your business, your first step was obviously to develop your product or service. Right behind that, you likely started to identify who your target customer is: their age, what they look like, where they live, what they do for a living, their income…. When you get to the bottom of this target buyer, they probably pretty closely resemble you and your friends, right?
This isn’t uncommon. Often, a buyer persona or a ground-level look at a desired target audience will be pretty flat and lack specificity. Certainly, recognizing basic demographics is helpful, but to enhance your processes and results, you have to get more specific. Your first shot at your target consumer is probably a superficial look at a generalized individual — a look at someone who’s everyone and no one at the same time — and you’ll have a really hard time getting anywhere with this person.
So once you’ve landed on “Male, 30-45, married, middle class, interests include DIY projects, lawn care, and pick-up hockey games,” where do you go from there?
To properly understand your core demographic, you need to create a “Client Avatar”. In creating this avatar, you’ll define your audience as a series of single individual “characters,” who most closely resemble both your most active customers as well as those you wish to attract. The Client Avatar is made up of various pieces of demographic information, and you want to be sure you are as clear and precise as possible. Use these four identifiers to focus in on who you’re looking for.
1. Age
Thinking outside the box when it comes to your buyers’ age ranges can bring you more creative ideas. Consider the Pedialyte phenomenon: a drink that was made for dehydration in young children is often used by adults in the same way sports drinks are. In turn, Pedialyte updated their marketing to speak directly to hungover adults, and they developed new products (think: branded t-shirts and powder packets to mix in with water) to serve this new audience. Consider how you can skip the highly saturated 18-34 market and offer your product or service to a different demographic and the results it could yield. Research your competitors and look into the demographics of people who are seeking products and services similar to yours. This will help you narrow down the “why” of your target age range and the products they look for, and help you speak more intentionally to that audience.
2. Cultural Identifiers
Once you have a solid understanding of your age ranges and what their interests are, you need to take a step back and review additional cultural identifiers that narrow down the picture of an Avatar further. A product can appeal to a range of cultures for different reasons. Consider how your product or service meets the needs of a variety of communities — and how your communication speaks to people, too. Bringing cultural awareness and diversity into your messaging, product, and service will enhance both your efficacy as a brand and your customer experience.
3. Income and Willingness To Purchase
Income is a piece of your target audience puzzle, but you can leverage it even more strategically when you consider a buyer’s willingness to purchase. While you certainly want to do some research on the income levels of the audience you have formed thus far, there are more factors associated with willingness to purchase than their level of income. Motivation is a big factor in making decisions for purchase. If your product truly answers a real need, there will be more reason for your audience to buy. A person with income outside your target may still look into your service if it’s a high-demand product for them. For example, a serious runner may purchase an expensive running shoe that may be outside their means if it affords them the comfort and support they need for their runs. This can be true in a variety of industries; willingness to purchase can outweigh disposable income.
4. What They Actually Like
What does your audience actually like? Are their consumer decisions a result of their actual interests, or are they just things they feel like they’re supposed to like or consume? Invest in actually identifying your target market’s interests and wants. These can make a huge difference in how you choose to communicate. Dive deeper into what other brands they purchase, what media outlets they use, and where they shop. Learning these behaviors will help you gain a more well-rounded picture of who your potential buyers are.
When brands take risks and expand their perception of who their real audiences are, they can find new ways to engage with those consumers and make sure that none of their potential leads are falling through the cracks. This more detailed personal discovery can lead to more intentional messaging, wider outreach, and more successful results, because when you really look at who your audience is, you’ll probably find the missing piece your marketing needs.
An earlier version of this article was previously published on Forbes in August, 2018.
The Importance of Diversifying Your Marketing Strategy
The Importance of Diversifying Your Marketing Strategy
As social media platforms race to optimize their features and algorithms for the best user experience—and new channels enter the limelight more frequently—many small business owners feel pressured to stay on top of the latest trends. According to Buffer, while 58.8% of marketers claim that social media is “very important” to their marketing strategies, almost 20% are unsure of how to measure that effectiveness. It’s easy to get distracted by “vanity metrics,” or those that make you sound good, but don’t indicate any significant outcomes. Some of these include impressions, “likes,” shares, comments and followers.
Many times when we meet with new clients, they are preoccupied with improving their social media strategy to the point of neglecting other pieces, such as email, content and SEO. They are right to care about prioritizing social media; in fact, 70% of agencies state social is integral to their packages (Sprout). However, as we have learned a few times over the past two years, relying too much on social media can be disastrous and costly.
Before the world became collectively overwhelmed with social media in 2020, three of the largest networks “went down” in history for the longest social media outage ever in March of 2019. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users experienced partial outages for over 14 hours, costing individual small advertisers thousands of dollars in lost business.
2020 brought more social media perils for marketers: after several big brands were called out for tone-deaf messaging, many scaled back or took time to completely re-strategize. After the death of George Floyd, the #BlackoutTuesday movement called for brands to refrain from promoting themselves on social platforms for a single day. But amidst social unrest that stretched on all summer, many brands again decided to tone down their promotions out of respect or to simply avoid backlash. There was even a hot minute where we wondered if the latest app TikTok might be banned in the US market.
Cultivating a diverse foundation has always been a marketing best practice, but these examples show how dangerous it can be to rely on any single tactic more than others. And when all else fails, the assets you have the most control over will be your lifeline.
Marketing Plan Foundations
Foundational assets are those things that you own and have control over, such as your website and email list. While they may not seem as flashy as social media, they are definitely not static, one-off projects either. A regularly updated website and an active email strategy will both grow your audience while keeping them engaged with a stream of valuable content.
The slow burn of your content and email distribution activities may seem dull, but they will fuel growth for the long haul.
Email Marketing
In recent years, many have speculated that email is on its way out—or already dead. But every time social media goes into crisis mode, marketing experts start singing the praises of the mighty Inbox. In this article, the author examines the myth of dying email and suggests it is actually evolving, stating that 59% of B2B marketers reported that email was the most effective tactic.
Brand Message First
Whatever tactics you ultimately include in your marketing mix, developing a clear, audience-focused brand message and consistently integrating it across platforms is mission-critical. Most companies invest in a brand strategy in their first year and update it every few years as they grow and evolve.
Branding specialists will develop your brand strategy and guidelines, but all members of your marketing team must be involved to implement them: from visual graphics (i.e., logo, tagline, color palette and typography) to internal and external communication styles (i.e., your voice and the way you communicate "who you are" to your organization and to the outside world).
A solid brand identity is based on a combination of what you want your customers to think about you and what they actually do think. We conduct 360 interviews to get a sense of how our clients are perceived, and we encourage them to listen attentively to different kinds of feedback they receive from their audience: questions and comments during sales calls, social media engagement and reviews, to name a few.
We love shiny new marketing tools as much as the next guy, but without solid branding and foundational assets in place, social media is a risky game. This is the one instance where we advise our clients to “walk before you run.”
A previous version of this article was published on Forbes.
Email Marketing for a Decision-Fatigued Audience
Email Marketing for a Decision-Fatigued Audience
We have navigated some big shifts in the sales and marketing industry over the past 20 years, but the psychological impact of the pandemic on audiences across industries is like nothing we’ve seen before. The ways that people process emotion and make decisions are always evolving, but in March of 2020, the trends we relied on to create effective marketing strategies went out the window. Unless you were in the toilet paper business, there was no telling what messages your audience would respond to.
In those first few weeks of lockdown, we learned a lot about how high stress and limbic fatigue (overworking the area of the brain that regulates emotions) change our thought patterns. “The new normal,” before we even called it that, was exhaustion and survival mode. As a result, audiences started to show analysis paralysis, heavy rejection of that which is not critical to their day to day needs and a limited ability to absorb what they are reading or experiencing. And though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, this widespread exhaustion will take time to heal from, even after we have a vaccine. Purchasing decisions are primarily emotional, so marketing to these emotionally drained audiences means that your communication needs to change in dramatic ways.
The good news is that people are still checking their email, so this continues to be one of the most effective marketing tools in your arsenal. Here are a few quick shifts that you can use in your email strategy that will increase traction with stressed-out, overwhelmed audiences immediately:
1. Video
Our ability to create impactful communication is all in body language and tonality; the specific breakdown is 55% body language, 38% tonality and only 7% words. If you are relying on words alone to get the sale done, you are leaving 93% of your ability to communicate out of the equation. Though we typically think of written messages when we think email, the mention of a video in your subject line will skyrocket open rates. The key is to make it feel personal and intentional. No one wants another commercial, so create video experiences that speak directly to your consumer and what THEIR pains or fears are. Be clear about the action you want them to take, and try to do it in 60 seconds or less.
2. Call to Action
The CTA is a longstanding best practice of marketing, but with the increase in fatigue, the ability to figure out the next best step is even more likely to elude most of your audience. Break things down into very small, actionable steps that have a low barrier to entry. Be crystal clear about what you want them to do and what is on the other side of that action, including how much of their time will need to be invested. Your audience will have a much more positive experience with your brand if they know what to expect and you make good on that promise. After the year we’ve had, you can understand why nobody likes surprises anymore.
3. Segmentation
Getting the right message to the right recipient is critical. The more you know about your audience and what their specific motivations are, the more concise and direct you can be. If you don't know a lot about those on your list, send out a survey and let them tell you what’s important to them. Remember, what you know about your business, services and products means nothing—it's what they know about you and what they need that really counts when it comes to taking action.
4. No More Features and Benefits
Many companies will only speak to the shiny happy parts of what they provide, but when people are tired and stressed, what they really want are solutions. Pain, Fear and Gain are the only three things that will get your audience to make a decision to engage, and they go in that order. Speak to the pain and fear that they are experiencing right now long before you talk about the result. This will allow your audience to self-identify and emotionally engage with your content.
And last but not least, be AUTHENTIC. In this upside-down world, your audience wants to know that there is someone on the other side of the transaction who is real and invested in solving a problem. No amount of polished pictures or silky smooth sales copy can make that happen. Put your heart where your money is and show them some 'Professional Love.'
Still stumped? We hear you, and we’d love to hear more about the marketing goals you’re working on right now. Take a look at what we can do for you and let’s get in touch.
Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CMO in 2020
Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CMO in 2020
In the unfolding economic crisis of 2020, most business leaders are pushing forward into new territory in one way or another, whether it’s internal restructuring or a complete overhaul of your offerings. Marketing is a high priority to not only survive these relentlessly uncertain times, but also to make sure the work you’re doing now is building towards a more sustainable future for your business. Many early-stage and small businesses are finding that they don’t have the marketing leadership in their C-suite to keep up.
There are plenty of ways companies end up in this situation: maybe you’ve gotten by without a CMO thus far, but other roles are too busy to manage marketing right now, or maybe things are changing fast in your industry and you need an expert with a wider range of experience. Maybe your company is growing faster than you anticipated and you need a marketing leader who can step in and chart the course until you can afford a full-time executive. An agency could do the trick, but you need a dedicated person “on the ground” with you who can strategize and implement with your team.
The short-term, big-commitment marketing leader you’re looking for does exist: meet the fractional CMO. This role is typically brought in to build up or manage your company’s marketing function on a part-time or short-term basis. From a cost-benefit standpoint, fractional CMO services deliver an incredible amount of value for much less than what an in-house team of their caliber would cost. The average salary for a full-time CMO is $174,573, and they usually have a marketing director or marketing manager working under them to carry out tactical work (earning average salaries of $87,915 and $65,399, respectively). And that’s before any benefits, payroll taxes or bonuses. All told, hiring a team with all of these roles plus support for digital and social implementation would cost over $400,000 per year in salaries alone. Working with @revenue for fractional CMO services costs about 30% less than that—around $280,000. See what we mean by fractional?
Take a look at some of the benefits a CMO offers that you won’t find with a consultant or a typical agency:
Evolves existing strategies and processes
When tried and true marketing channels aren’t working like they used to, it might seem like you have to abandon your entire strategy and start from scratch with a new approach—especially if you see your competitors finding success with new technology, social channels, etc. and you can’t keep up. Trusting an agency to make these calls for you can feel like a huge risk, and it is. If you don’t know where to start with new channels or how to make the transition without breaking the budget, a fractional CMO will take the time to get to know your existing strategy and make incremental changes to evolve it along with new tools and best practices so you can keep your momentum and your audience as your marketing processes change.
Crafts and manages a unified strategy with your team
Maybe you’ve tried some new marketing channels and been burned by one-stop solutions that didn’t do what they promised. Opening up new avenues for marketing takes an integrated strategy with someone experienced at the helm keeping a close eye on your metrics and making adjustments as you go. It takes a level of communication with your CEO and your team that most consultants and agencies don’t have the capacity for, but a fractional CMO is flexible to step in and actively manage your strategy in real-time.
High-level partnership
Speaking of communication, if you’ve made a big pivot recently and need to maintain consistency at a big-picture level, a fractional CMO often has the business leadership experience to take part in those C-suite conversations. Lots of companies are finding themselves in need of a high-level manager with the experience to build up a new marketing foundation while sales are lower than usual and they are still smoothing out the operations of a new business model. It can be a challenging time to hire the kind of full-time support you will eventually need, but a fractional CMO will fit the bill until the time is right.
Supports your sales team
Is your sales team struggling to work as a team while client responses are turbulent? Do they have any strategic marketing support, or are they creating their own materials? Often when there isn’t a robust marketing department, the onus falls on the sales team to generate, develop and close their own leads. Trying to get by without a dedicated marketing leader is a recipe for sales team burnout. A fractional CMO will find the gaps that are costing you sales and fill them so your salespeople can do what they do best.
A fractional CMO delivers the marketing leadership you need to keep growing your business while you need to keep cost, commitment and risk to a minimum. But the key factor that can really make or break this decision? The relationship you build with your fractional CMO is mission-critical. You have to find someone you trust, who will tell you the hard truths that will make for a better strategy in the end. At @revenue we call this Professional Love, and we insist on loving all of our clients, especially through their most difficult times.
But all good things must come to an end. Your team might absorb the new processes after the initial implementation, or the new revenue you generate might open up room for a full-time marketing executive. It takes about 6 months to see the full ROI from your CMO, but you may decide to work together for several years. Our team is great at documenting processes to hand back to your team whenever you’re ready.
Are you as excited as we are about the benefits of a fractional CMO? Get in touch with us and let’s talk about it!
Personal Branding: 4 Rules to help you Rule
Personal Branding: 4 Rules to Help You Rule
Personal branding - the term is everywhere in the marketing world and experts and owners alike are diving headlong into creating a magical personal brand of their very own. As part of a larger strategy, personal brands can be a powerful way to establish expertise and connect with new audiences, but on it’s own a personal brand is not a revenue generator. Turns out, people don’t want to give you cash for just being they you-iest of yous! And at the @revenue office, the motto is: if it doesn’t help generate revenue, then it’s not for you.
One of the biggest questions you should be asking before you embark on creating a personal brand is: Do I know EXACTLY what I am going to be selling to the leads generated from this? If the answer feels ambiguous take a step back and map out what your offering will be. Even if the answer is products or services from within your current business, what it will take to fulfill them, and where you can create economies of scale to help you make more money in less time? (you get bonus points if it has a Monthly Recurring Revenue stream built into it). Know what success looks like before you start so you have a direction to go, because no matter how many likes, follows or watches you get, you are not going to be happy about the investment you make if it never pays you back.
As an expert, crafting and rolling out a personal brand will give you certain flexibilities that should happen outside of your business brand. Using your personal brand to reach out and create more one on one conversations, put you on stages, and increase your social media reach are all great goals to have. What then becomes important is how you will expect it to turn into income. Typically we will want to see a sales model with a personal brand that includes the following things:
- Paid speaking engagements
- Direct leads for your business
- Digital courses or materials like books, podcasts, etc.
- Advertising dollars for your YouTube Videos and podcasts
- Partnerships that will boost your business
Personal brands also take a long time to take root - this is no quick win. And what’s worse, is that a back-fire in your personal brand will follow YOU around, not the name on the company. So…. how can a personal brand backfire? Oh, let’s share some stories, shall we?
1. It’s not you.
Personal brands are all about authenticity. If your goal in crafting a personal brand to make people think things about you that aren’t true. This is where those idiosyncracies will come crawling into the daylight. Allow me to present Exhibit A: the photoshop fail.
2. It’s all about you.
This sounds contradictory at first, but your personal brand should include your thoughts on other things besides yourself. If every image you post, a comment you make or video you produce is part of a conversation then make sure you are talking to and about the world around you. You will exhaust your audience if every image is a hyper-filtered shot at exposing how fabulous your every moment is.
3. That’s right. You tweeted it and it was dumb.
We don’t have to reach too far into our consciousness to pull out a news story or two about an ill-timed tweet or tone-deaf message. And thanks to that cool little screen grab gadget it can live forever! If you are combining your personal brand with your private life brand be sure that you know that what you say will reflect on you and could possibly damage your business.
4. Repping Products
If you do have a personal brand that lends itself to promoting products, you must ask the question, are they aligned with MY brand? I shudder at the term ‘influencer’ because of how much it’s been abused, but the things you recommend will become part of your reputation. As an expert in your field, you do not need to hashtag every cute cupcake unless your personal brand aligns with supporting that business or eating cupcakes like it is your job. Which it may be - and if that is your real job please call us immediately, we want in.
Building a personal brand should be purposeful, strategic and hopefully a lot of fun.
If you want to learn more about building your own brand and how @revenue can help you integrate it into your marketing strategy let’s have that chat. marie@revenue.wp10.staging-site.io
The difference between a marketing plan and a sales plan
The Difference Between a Marketing Plan and a Sales Plan
Business plans often glaze over sales and marketing very quickly. They want to know what the overall revenue goals are sure but the HOW is grossly underrepresented. That’s the problem of setting targets, goals, and dreams without understanding what it will take to get there.
We often find that sales and marketing are still the wild west of strategic planning. They get some top-level attention to help define key principles such as your target audience or your core values, but rarely include any of the actionable items. So how do we blend the strategy and plan to achieve that ultimate goal: more revenue?
Before you make the goals, check to make sure that you are incorporating all of the below:
Your marketing plan should include:
- Your key messaging concepts: What are you going to say that will capture your audience’s attention? What problem do you solve, what are the motivating factors, why does your customer care Your marketing plan should clearly and concisely be able to articulate your core message.
- The channels you plan to use: Once you know what you are saying, where you will say it is the next step. Each platform, channel, and community might need a different message and a different way of expressing it.
- Your investments (financial, time and frequency): Marketing is going to cost you one way or another, even free channels on social media are becoming more of a pay to play platform. Your marketing plan needs to map out your commitment.
- Your goals and KPIs. For each channel: It is critical that your plan includes clear expectations so you can measure your ROI, make adjustments and improve.
Your sales plan should include:
- Prospecting: where are you going to find new prospects and leads? Where and how are you networking? How does your personal brand show up on social media?
- Strategic Partners: Who are your business friends who send you more business? Building and developing great strategic partnerships is not only good business sense, but great for your pipeline.
- Your process. Creating a sales strategy takes careful process mapping. How do leads go through your pipeline? What are the critical steps that need to be taken? How can this process be repeatable across your entire team? If sales are the first ambassador of your brand, it is critical that you have a brand congruous process.
- Your KPIs and goals. You need to track your activity just as much as your results. As a sales professional, you need to put in the calls, work, and effort into finding your leads and building the business. Once you are able to hone in on those key metrics you will be able to calculate how much you make every time you pick up the phone.
Building both your sales and marketing muscles is critical to developing more revenue for your business. To help achieve maximum impact, many businesses are hiring a CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) to ensure both of these departments are achieving their shared goal, reducing processes and investments that aren’t paying off and holding the team accountable to growth. If it’s time to see more revenue come in your business we are here to get you there! Contact @revenue today and let’s create a plan for your next milestone.
6 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a CRM
6 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a CRM
Still using Excel to track your networking connections? That might work, to a degree -- but it isn’t scalable. You easily lose track of contacts, you miss follow ups and you can do better. Do you dream of a tool that tracks your pipeline, stores all your notes and automatically reminds you to follow up, or even does it for you?
That tool exists. Enter the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system of your dreams.
You might be thinking, “Oh, great--another piece of technology to learn.” I hear you--technology is always changing, so it’s hard to keep up. Then, there’s the risk that picking up a new tool will just add complications, rather than clarity. Let me help you out. Here are six questions to ask yourself. Take the time to answer them, and odds are you’ll find the perfect CRM for you.
- What is your digital culture? Take a moment to list the email service, project management software, inbox and other programs you’re using. Are you a Microsoft Brain, or do you get down with Gmail? Tools like Zapier can help make the connections seamless.
- What does your network look like? Make sure that your CRM will allow for different sales pipelines and tagging structure so you can store all of the necessary data. A good CRM will track not just your leads, but your strategic partners, vendors and more. Avoid systems that consider everyone to be a ‘lead’.
- What kinds of automation will you be using? Look at what process flows you have. Are you automating? Where might there be opportunities to automate? Things like email messages, task assignments, and reminders are critical for lasting CRM success.
- What do you need to track? Priorities vary from sales pro to sales pro. Consider what you truly need to measure and track in the future. Then, check to make sure the CRM you’re considering will accommodate. Things like weighted pipelines and varied sets of activity can help make your choice easy.
- How much time are you willing to dedicate to your CRM? No matter what platform you choose, a CRM is only as good as the information you put into it. If as an owner you aren’t the championing your CRM as part of your culture your team will not make it a priority.
- At the end of the day, does this make my business better? Simply put, if the answer is “no,” time to consider another CRM.
Now that you have been able to narrow the field by asking these questions, it’s time to take that new CRM out for a spin. Take advantage of a free trial to see how you like the interface. Once you settle on a perfect match, customize it.
Intimidated by the thought of putting together a sales process, automation, and contact structure? You’re not alone. It can seem even more daunting than choosing the CRM., Contact @revenue to get started.
What My DiSC Profile Taught Me About Myself
What My DiSC Profile Taught Me About Myself
Recently, I retook my DiSC Profile test. It’s been over 12 years since my last one and my hopes weren’t too high. In the past, profile tests like DiSC have made me curious but also seemed like too much work to apply in real life. I remember the last time I took the assessment, it was only briefly gone over by the trainer. Our group had a laugh at finding out “who we really were” but didn’t go much deeper than that. My manager even hid his because he didn’t want us to learn how different his behavioral styles were inside and outside of work. In reality, we laughed a bit too much when this test really could have improved our team's communication. Including and especially my manager’s communication challenges!
This time the experience was not the same. To go through the profile was like stepping out of myself and looking back into how “Kevin” behaves. So much of it was dead on the mark it was scary. Granted it wasn’t perfect, but having this kind of honest feedback was eye-opening. Feedback is something we crave as growing professionals but rarely get. Here is what happened from looking at my reflection in the DiSC reality mirror.
I changed. After many years of success in sales and digital marketing, starting my own successful digital media company, raising a child and dedicating myself to consistent martial arts - I had changed my behavioral style. While I had thought of myself one way - I had really transformed into another behavioral style. Thinking that I was communicating as a S (Supportive style), which tends to be calm and steady, when really I was more of a D (Dominate style), someone that can be more blunt and to the point. These are totally opposite and I can immediately think of several examples where I got myself into trouble.
I had to let go. Understanding how I thought about myself and how others perceive me was illuminating. Let’s face it, our ego and self-identity is important but when in a sales situation it’s all about the other person. By highlighting where I had some challenges in my communication style, I’m able to adapt and adjust.
It reminded me of a recent experience when my agency client called me to say the client we were doing work for didn’t appreciate my tone in a meeting. In fact, the client was really mad and I was in jeopardy of losing an account. In the meeting, I told a truth about the shortcomings of the client’s website and acquisition strategy. I thought I had been the supportive “S” in that meeting - helpful calm and providing good information. In fact, I was a high D, insisting they change their silly ways and stop wasting money. To make matter worse I didn’t understand the behavioral styles of the clients - including know what would set them off. I was lucky enough to be able to apologize and my agency client forgave me.
Using the right key to open the right lock. This is the most powerful lesson I learned through DiSC training. We all have different personalities and views of the world. When looking at it through the eyes of DiSC, you are able to identify and understand someone else’s perspective and communicate to them so they will best receive that information. Let’s face it, the golden rule is dead. You don’t need to treat others how you want to be treated but instead how THEY want to be treated.
Remember, there is no “right” profile. Instead what is right is the better we understand ourselves and understand each other, the better we communicate and have successful conversations, relationships, and clients. That’s why we use a powerful tool called CrystalKnows. It allows us to identify and understand someone’s DiSC type before we go to a meeting or send that email. With templates customized by personality, powerful insights to help plan your meetings and tools to clarify your communication, CrystalKnows takes our DiSC communication to a whole new level. Start your free trial today.