A Bird’s Eye View: The Secret to Expanding

As the CEO of a mid-sized company, you most likely know the ins and outs of your entire industry. However, so do your competitors. You are likely facing challenges such as intense competition, lengthy sales cycles, limited marketing and sales resources, and underdeveloped tech stacks, causing mid-sized companies to adopt a different approach to achieve growth. Unlike enterprise companies with expendable capital and nimble start-ups that can adjust their strategy at the snap of a finger, mid-sized companies have to dive deeper into their strategy to ensure it’s done right.?

If your current strategy includes doing what your competitors are doing or doing things how they’ve always been done, then you will likely stay the best-kept secret.??

Here’s a little secret: Most of the time, all you need is a fresh perspective (or a bird’s eye view, as we like to call it) to set your company up for a vertical trajectory. We introduce to you your secret weapon: A fractional CMO with minimal experience in your industry.

Why Industry Experience Isn't Everything

We had a prospective client in the industrial automation business who decided to go with another Fractional CMO–one who not only had a resume of industry experience but also had recently retired from a competitor. It was a slam dunk, right? Far from it. In fact, the CMO recommended they do things similarly to how they have always done them, and guess what … they got the same results as always: flat revenue growth.?

Our CEO and Head Byrd, Richard Byrd, wrote a blog arguing the case for an outsider’s perspective and what to look for. Check it out here >>> https://www.thebluebyrd.com/post/why-industry-experience-isnt-everything-a-fresh-perspective-for-your-fractional-cmo-search

Positioning Yourself Effectively for Market Success??

We notice that many companies skip over the foundational steps of a successful marketing strategy: effectively defining their target audience, messaging, value propositions, and differentiation. Instead, they choose random tactics, target the masses, and talk about the features of their offering. Given the highly competitive nature of today’s market and the constant contest for consumer attention, establishing your position is crucial to distinguish yourself from competitors and be heard through all the noise. As Jack Trout and Al Ries have noted, "Positioning is not something you do to a product. Positioning is what you accomplish within the prospect's mind."

What Positioning Entails

At BlueByrd, we like to keep things simple. You can determine your position by answering these three questions:

1. Who are we talking to?
2. What keeps them up at night?
3. How do we solve that problem better than anyone else in the world?

Even though these are three seemingly simple questions, we don’t recommend oversimplifying them. That's why we have curated a free guide to assist you.

Read the components that build a positioning statement in our resource, A CEO’s Guide to Expanding in the Middle Market. Download now: https://www.thebluebyrd.com/lp/guide-ceos-guide-to-expanding-in-the-middle-market