Company Goals + Correct Marketing Activities = Success...But How?

When many people think about marketing strategy, they imagine a ?ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ ?zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz …oh did we lose you?

We know...you may think strategy is boring and is a long, drawn-out theoretical exercise that results in a 145-page document that never sees the light of day.

That’s not what we think at New Initiatives Marketing, Inc. (NIM).?

Every step of your marketing strategy should support your business goals. This is how you can ensure your marketing activities are supporting your company’s growth.

And this is exactly what we demonstrated to women entrepreneurs in our recent presentation at the EXCELerate conference in Vancouver at the end of April. As a Certified Women-Owned Business through WBE Canada, Jen Kelly and New Initiatives Marketing have a long history of supporting women business owners in growing their businesses through sharing marketing best practices. ?

At the conference hosted by GroYourBiz, New Initiatives Marketing (NIM) CEO Jen Kelly and Fractional CMO Nicole Croizier had the pleasure of sharing NIM’s signature 7-step process for creating a client-centric and actionable marketing strategy that is essential for long-term growth: The 3 Essential Marketing Strategy Steps Most Businesses Skip

During our presentation, we emphasized the 3 essential steps that most businesses skip and explained why skipping these steps can result in businesses wasting significant time and money on marketing activities that don’t work.

These are the first 3 steps you can see in the diagram above:

1. Discovery Call and Client Interviews
2. Competitive and Market Landscape
3. Core Message and Client Personas

Why do many businesses skip these steps?

Many CEOs and executives are so close to their businesses that they assume they already know everything included in these three steps and skip right to running lead generation programs, and wonder why they aren’t working. But what we at NIM know after conducting client interviews for 15+ years is that 10 times out of 10, these internal assumptions are wrong.? So while many businesses believe they have a lead generation problem, they actually have a problem at one of these 3 important steps.? Let’s dive more deeply into these three steps:

Step 1: Discovery Call and Client Interviews: In Step 1, we do a deep discovery by interviewing leadership teams and client-facing team members, including sales and customer success. Then, we interview 6 to 15 ideal clients. During the client interviews, we ask important questions that give us information about: Why they chose their business over competitors and stay with the business - which informs positioning and core message

• What they think makes the business unique - which also informs positioning and core message
• Who in the business was involved in the buying decision - which informs ideal client personas
• How they found you and how they would search for a similar business today - which informs the customer journey and marketing tactics?
• What they attend, read, watch, and listen to - which informs marketing channels?

Once we complete all of the interviews, we identify common threads and themes and present our findings to the leadership team.

It’s at this stage that the leadership team realizes that many of their internal assumptions were off, and gain valuable insight into exactly what their clients believe makes the company different, why they chose the company over competitors, how they would search for a product or service today, and which marketing channels they use.

Step 2: Competitive and Market Landscape: In Step 2, we build on the insight we gained with the client and team interviews by conducting competitor and market landscape reviews. The competitor reviews give us key insight into:

• What competitors are saying?
• How competitors are marketing
• Who competitors are targeting
• What competitors believe is unique and different about their company

The results of the competitor reviews provide additional clues to your messaging, marketing channels and ideal client personas, while the market review gives us further insight into which organizations, organizations, publications, podcasts, and other channels serve the industry and could be possible marketing avenues.?

Step 3: Core Message and Client Personas In Step 3, we turn everything we’ve learned in Steps 1 and 2 to:

• Identify a core difference and positioning that sets you apart from your competitors?
• A messaging document that brings your new positioning to life through your copy
• Your ideal clients and personas, which includes specific details on the unique people involved in your buying process and their unique needs.?

This core difference, positioning, and messaging is what you will use to attract, engage and convert your ideal clients in all of your website, marketing, lead generation, sales materials and activities. So if you don’t get this part right, it could cost you valuable time, money, and effort at each of these stages.? And if you do get your messaging and positioning right? It can “magically” fix all those lead generation problems, significantly increase your leads and conversions, and speed up your sales process. ?

Once we have your messaging and positioning nailed, we move on to the next 4 steps in our signature marketing strategy process, and the client interview continues to inform us at every step along the way:

• Step 4: Marketing Hourglass and Customer Journey Map We outline all the steps in your customer journey based on how your clients tell us they search for companies like yours ?
• Step 5: Editorial Content Plan We recommend an editorial content plan full of the types of content that resonate with your ideal client personas and recommend channels to share your content based on the channels your clients told us they follow ?
• Step 6: Priority Growth Recommendations We recommend the top three marketing campaigns to focus on for the year, based on the types of campaigns your clients tell us works for them ?
• Step 7: Final Strategy Presentation and Action Plan We present the entire strategy to your team, and provide a 6 to 12-month detailed action plan on exactly what to do daily, weekly, and monthly

So what do you do if you either don’t yet have a marketing strategy, or have a marketing strategy in place, but aren’t seeing the results you want because it’s not based on client interviews?

We recommend scheduling an Ideal Next Steps Call?with NIM Founder and Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, Jen Kelly. Jen can help you to analyze exactly where you are right now with your marketing, and recommend some ideal next steps you can take.? Book Your Call Now

Question: When Should You Hire a Fractional CMO?

So when is the right time to engage a Fractional CMO? Here are some of the common signs that your B2B organization might find itself in a position where it’s time to engage a Fractional CMO:

1. Growing fast! Navigating uncharted growth phases: As you navigate growth, you might encounter uncharted waters. Rapid expansion, entering new markets, or scaling operations can stretch your marketing capabilities. Engaging a Fractional CMO provides access to seasoned expertise that can guide your marketing strategies through unanticipated challenges. ?
2. Stalled growth! Overcoming revenue plateaus: Revenue plateaus can be frustrating for any business. If you’ve hit a ceiling in terms of revenue growth, a Fractional CMO can inject a fresh perspective and new strategies. Their insight into market trends and revenue-focused approach can help you break through stagnation and chart a new growth trajectory. ?
3. Price Pressure! Enhancing sales efforts: If you’ve grown your company primarily on sales-led initiatives, you eventually reach a sales plateau that’s hard to move past by making more sales calls or hiring more salespeople. This is a sure indication that it’s time to invest more seriously in marketing to boost your sales efforts by bringing in more leads, bringing in leads that are more qualified, or qualifying your leads through strategic marketing. ?
4. Make it work better! Elevating marketing impact: If your ad-hoc marketing efforts haven’t been yielding the desired impact, it’s time to reassess your strategy. A Fractional CMO can review your existing initiatives, identify gaps, and introduce innovative approaches that rejuvenate your marketing campaigns and resonate with your target audience. ?
5. Tame the chaos! Integrating ad-hoc marketing: If you’ve been using marketing contractors or agencies here and there for ad-hoc campaigns to support your sales efforts, a Fractional CMO can help you integrate and streamline all of your random acts of marketing into a more strategic approach that is aligned with your business goals.? ?
6. Too much change! Managing transformational shifts: If you’re going through a period of change in your organization, such as product diversification, organizational restructuring, or digital transformation, you likely need the support of adaptable marketing strategies. A Fractional CMO with experience in navigating such transformations can provide insights that guide your marketing through these changes. ?
7. Enter the experts! Leveraging specialized expertise: Introducing new products, entering a niche market, or targeting a specific industry often demands specialized expertise. A Fractional CMO with relevant industry experience can craft strategies tailored to your unique needs, ensuring your marketing efforts align with the intricacies of your target audience. ?
8. What’s new! Reinvigorating stale initiatives: If you’ve been relying on the same marketing strategies for a while, it’s natural to see diminishing returns. A Fractional CMO can revitalize your marketing initiatives, introducing innovative ideas that capture your audience’s attention and rekindle engagement. ?
9. Fresh eyes! A third-party perspective for existing marketing leaders: For B2B organizations with a senior marketing leader already in place, such as a CMO, VP of Marketing or Marketing Director, it’s easy to get busy and overwhelmed with the day-to-day demands of marketing and it can be tough to allocate resources to reviewing or updating the marketing strategy. Plus, over time you become closer and closer to the business, and it can be important to get a neutral third-party perspective. A Fractional CMO can be an ideal option for either of these scenarios. ?
10. Sharing wisdom! A senior leader & strategic guide for junior marketing teams: If you have a marketing team of junior professionals or a single marketing person on staff who could benefit from working with a more senior strategic marketing leader, a Fractional CMO is an ideal option to bring in needed strategic thinking and senior-level marketing guidance to help your junior teams thrive. ?
11. Who’s on first? Guiding resource allocation: In a resource-constrained environment, making the most of your marketing budget is crucial. A Fractional CMO can help you allocate resources strategically, ensuring that your investments yield optimal returns and contribute directly to your business objectives.

Is a Fractional CMO Right for You?

If any of the points above resonate with you, it might be time for you to engage a Fractional CMO. The best part is Fractional CMOs offer flexibility and expertise without the long-term commitment and expense of hiring a full-time CMO. You access high-level marketing guidance without the need for a permanent executive-level hire. Best of all, you get the instant senior marketing leadership you need, now.

We encourage you to schedule an Ideal Next Steps call to see if a Fractional CMO is right for you. Just reply to this email and we can set up a time to talk.?

What's Your Question? Ask Us Now and Be Featured in the Ask a Fractional CMO Newsletter

Ask a Fractional CMO is the monthly newsletter where you get to ask your most pressing questions around B2B marketing. NIM's Fractional CMOs Jen Kelly and Nicole Croizier will tackle two questions each month, answering them in their Ask A Fractional CMO video blog and newsletter. ?You can ask your question now and review answers to past questions RIGHT HERE.

Do You Know It’s Time to Invest In Marketing But Aren’t Sure Where to Start?

When you know it’s time to get more serious about marketing, the options out there can be confusing. That’s why we created The B2B CEO's Ultimate Guide to Building a Marketing Team in Today's Complex Marketing World. This comprehensive 30+ page guide walks you through all the questions you need to answer first in order to make the right decisions around your B2B marketing, including:

1. When to Invest in Marketing: How do you know when it’s time to get more serious about marketing? What are the top signs that your current strategies are no longer working? ?
2. How to make the decision to hire in-house or outsource?? ?
3. What are the marketing model options available for B2B companies at your stage?? ?
4. Is it better to hire in-house, outsource to marketing agencies, or hire a Fractional CMO + marketing team??

They are all solid options, but what are the benefits and challenges of each, and when should each be used? More importantly, which is the right option for where your business is at right now? Download the guide right here and let us know what your questions are by replying to this email.

We’re Here to Help - Book a Complimentary Marketing Strategy Consultation Now:

Our Fractional CMOs have worked as senior leaders in B2B organizations before at all stages of growth. We understand the challenges you face as a CEO and are here to answer your questions and guide you in making your right marketing decisions to support your next stage of growth.?

Book a strategy call with Jen RIGHT HERE. This is a great opportunity to share your business goals, challenges and where your marketing is right now, and get our expert feedback on what we believe your ideal marketing next steps are.

Ready to Get Started? Here’s How to Work With Us:

1. Fractional CMO & Expert B2B Marketing Team:? When it’s time to ramp up your marketing, we give you the senior marketing leadership and instant marketing team you need, right now. For more than 14 years, our team of senior marketing leaders and expert marketing specialists have been helping B2B companies with the strategic direction and real-world execution needed for practical, long-term results. Learn more or book a consultation now.?
2. Strategy First: Strategy First is a 60-day proven B2B? marketing strategy process. At the end of 60 days, you will have a client-focused and actionable 12-month marketing strategy that is ready to implement - either by you or our Fractional CMO & Expert B2B Marketing Team. Learn more or book a consultation now.?
3. Customized Program: Not sure what type of marketing support you need? Then book a consultation and we’ll assess your needs and recommend a customized program or workshop. Book your consultation now. ?