Abstract
- Prioritize creativity. Ignoring innovation in favor of automation can weaken audience connections in B2B marketing.
- Challenge your data insights. Scrutinize your data to avoid bad decisions that can stall your marketing.
- Evolve your communication channels. To stay engaged, adapt to where your B2B audience is now, not where they used to be.
Between difficult economic times, layoffs, and longer sales cycles, B2B marketers are under increasing pressure to deliver hot leads that convert with minimal effort and minimal cost. Excitement about new technologies and the need to do more with less has many people eagerly leaning towards new martech solutions that accelerate the pace of work by prioritizing analytics and marketing automation. Masu.
Unfortunately, this approach has inadvertently lulled many marketers into complacency. By focusing all his efforts on marketing automation and data to move faster, he's lost the essential value of his creative B2B marketing strategy for building connections with audiences.
This is a serious question at a time when audience expectations for creative B2B marketing strategies are higher than ever. Buyers want authenticity, useful thought leadership, and real solutions, not just AI-generated sales pitches. They can be easily seen from the front, just as a university professor would recognize the telltale signs of a paper written by her ChatGPT. Automated solutions certainly have their place, but marketers can continue to improve their B2B marketing solutions with bold ideas and experimentation that keep content fresh, engaging, and interesting to the humans consuming it. Must be activated.
5 ways to avoid the marketing automation rut and grow your creative B2B marketing strategy
Here are five symptoms of data-driven complacency and antidotes to help revitalize your B2B marketing strategy and avoid the automation rut.
Symptom 1: Putting off marketing R&D
If your marketing strategy has a “set it and forget it” vibe, deprioritize creative B2B marketing strategies, ignore A/B testing and multivariate testing, and rely on the same tired You may have defaulted to a “make it once and you're done” copy. This is a common side effect of stretching it too thin. You'll want the most volume at maximum speed. But marketing is as much an art as a science, and as Leonardo da Vinci famously said, “Art is never completed, only abandoned.”
The antidote: Prioritize innovation.
Give yourself and your team time for strategic and creative thinking, and host that space as if it were an important meeting. In marketing, ideation and brainstorming are a form of self-care, so make it a priority. For example, schedule or block time to allocate the first half of each Friday to think of new ideas, level against your plan, and explore new content options and media channels. I will apply it to
Related article: Keep it human while using generative AI tools for content marketing
Symptom 2: Chasing data instead of results
In some cases, data can be deceptive, and if you blindly follow the path it leads you to, you'll hit a dead end. I recently read a story about a marketer focused on increasing the loyalty of their email subscribers, and found that unsubscribes decrease when the unsubscribe button is hard to find. Hey, you don't say! This reminded me of the struggle I had when canceling my cable TV contract. They are passed on from one customer service rep to another until they become frustrated and give up. Neither of these are indicative of loyalty, although on the surface the data makes it seem that way.
Antidote: Think critically.
Look at the data and ask yourself if it really makes sense. If you see very significant changes in your data, verify your work and be aware of McNamara's fallacy. This means making decisions based on purely quantitative data and ignoring subjective information that can provide insightful context simply because it cannot be measured.
Dig deeper into the underlying reasons behind the numbers so you can explain whether something is working or not. Keep in mind that there are some things you'll want to keep doing even if they don't seem to provide a strong ROI. Development campaigns are a great example of this. It may not bring in net new leads, but it keeps your database engaged and your company top of mind.
Related article: Generative AI in Marketing: Smoothing your creative work
Symptom 3: Channel does not change
There has been a significant shift in the way B2B buyers consume information, most notably their adoption of traditional consumer channels such as YouTube, TikTok, and podcasts. Channels will also need to evolve to ensure they return to where their viewers are, not where they were before. Otherwise, you may lose touch with your customers due to changing needs, changing media or reputation, or the fickle whims of fickle buyers.
The antidote: Always keep learning.
Maintain an open dialogue with current customers, prospects, sales, customer service, and product teams to stay connected to the latest hotspots to reach, engage, and delight customers along their journey. I'll make it.
Related article: Unintended consequences of relying on AI in marketing strategy
Symptom 4: Engagement is stagnant
We're playing it safe, so we “rinse and repeat.” If something is working well enough, the solution is to keep doing it. Then everything will be fine. Suddenly, that's not the case and you realize that your competition has overtaken you. As new generations enter the workforce, buyer personas will also change. The type of education, support, and tools your customers need can change based on market forces. Or maybe the content is simply outdated, boring, or worse, broken. “Dead” images and resources, rotten links, and clunky chatbots can easily turn your audience off when using automated systems.
Antidote: Don't be caught off guard.
Never stop creating and developing new ideas and always be ready to pivot to something new. You may not be able to do everything right away, but having a strong stock of ideas will make it easier to pull them out of your vault when it's time to shake things up. Keep your eye on the ball. Data and systems should be audited regularly to ensure accuracy, relevance, and a seamless, easy-to-navigate experience for your customers.
Related article: Rehumanizing B2B Marketing: A conversation with Karna Crawford, CMO at Marqeta
Symptom 5: No meaningful increase in KPIs
If one or more of the above symptoms apply to you, it's a sign that you're likely not accumulating the wins you need to make a strong impact. You probably tried something new here and there, but the results weren't worth the continued investment. Soon, management will be knocking on your door asking for a budget. And he thinks CEOs want to return to the “borrow money” approach of decades ago.
The antidote: prioritize measurement and attribution.
Focus on objectively measurable programs and segment them by overall goals (demand generation, engagement, conversion, brand building, etc.). Be clear about your investments, goals, and expected ROI for every campaign. Weigh the cost-effectiveness of changes before deviating from your plan. Will that big change (insert new idea here) work? How, why, and what kind of increased impact do you expect to see?
Make sure you have the data you need for accurate measurement and attribution, understand what's working, reduce what isn't, and prepare for analysis ahead of the executive visit. (not that analysis is required). Your results will definitely improve).
Related article: 5 pitfalls of marketing automation
Innovation starts at the top
To stay agile and avoid getting stuck in a marketing automation rut, company leaders (especially CEOs) need to be fully on board and believe in the role marketing plays in value creation. This includes not only supporting investments in new tools and tactics, but also prioritizing MR&D (marketing research and development) and giving marketing teams time and space for strategic thinking. You also want to be able to provide the resources you need to expand your impact and gather valuable insights to achieve your goals.
To beat your competitors and go deeper into your market, wake up from the comfort of marketing automation, level up your creative B2B marketing strategy, make room for new opportunities, and learn how success can earn you more money. It's time to think about it. progress.
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