Why B2B Marketing Is A Waste of Your Money

"Marketing" has become a trigger word for me. Mostly because in my career, the marketing that we sellers have been given to engage with our customers - and the marketing that our customers had to endure - the websites, the sales sheets, the ROI calculators, the slides – were – and still are – for so many of us failures in helping to facilitate meaningful conversations with customers.

"People believe in the things they themselves decide not the things you tell them."

- Santa Claus

We waste time and our prospective customers' time slogging them through 24 slides with bullet points and page numbers of who we are and why WE THINK THEY SHOULD buy from us which not only bores them to death but also PREVENTS SALES from happening.

So I said it. And I'll say it again.

Marketing is a waste of money.

Most marketing is a waste of money because most of the B2B marketing you see is a swamp of narcissistic promotional content that tells customers what they should think and why they should think it – instead of letting them decide for themselves. And if you take an honest look at the perspective with which your home page, your sales deck, and your sales messaging platform are written (and designed) - you'll see that it is often making you, your product, your company the hero of the story - instead of your customer. And if you are the hero - well, you are going to promote the hell out of it. But that story isn't going to resonate with your customer - who is swimming in a sea of marketing heroes.

Come to think of it - if you are hiring marketers - and they want to do a good job for you "marketing" then by god they are going market the hell out of your solution and push it - promote it - shine the light on it and get it all up in people's faces. And eyballs. After all, isn't that what a good marketer is supposed to be doing with your money? Ugh.

"Pssssst - hey CXO - The 2000's called - they want their sales deck back."

- The internet

The old way of marketing doesn't work.

Anymore.

So what does work?

Sales enablement. Starting with the problem. Designing your home page messaging and visuals around why your customers are really buying your solution - (FYI - they aren't buying it because it's so darn awesome and amazing)

YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMERS ARE NOT BUYING YOUR SOLUTION BECAUSE IT'S SO AWESOME. THEY ARE REALLY BUYING YOUR SOLUTION TO ESCAPE THEIR CURRENT SITUATION.

So your sales decks and your homepage –yes, I say your homepage not your website because nobody –like 99.8% of the people visiting your website - just check your weblogs– aren't visiting your website. They're visiting your homepage and then 99% of the time they're bouncing. And their bouncing because your marketing is written in such a way that requires them to translate your self-engandaizing content into their goals and desired outcomes. So they bounce, because they can't. But if you can put your customer at the center of of your business story making what you offer a "means to an end" instead of the be-it-end-all then you have a chance at enchantment.

If you do it right, you'll empathize with their current situation, you'll be describing their problem better than they can describe it themselves - you'll be to call them to the change they already know they need to take - you'll be leading a rebellion against the status quo - and guiding them to the outcomes they seek - you'll be show the your credibility - you'll be breaking down the complicated plan simply on how they are going to get from where they are to where they want to go. And you'll involve your sales team in a breakthrough conversation about change - as your salespeople are transformed into trusted advisors who guide your ideal prospects to where they want to go.

So that's why MARKETING is dead. It's because in today's world, where information is cheap and everywhere, most marketing is backward. You don't have to promote your solution. You need to solve your customers' problem instead. And unless you are giving salespeople content that facilitates problem solving conversations - you're giving them marketing content that is thwarting their success.

And that's why I am on a mission to help CEO's kill off the old way of marketing and adopt the way that winning sales organizations are using to close deals. And that's through what I call a BREAKTHROUGH SALES STACK- which is why sales enablement is the new marketing.

Want some?

Let's talk

https://linktr.ee/pitchkitchen

P.S. Watch this free webinar on the The 5-Step Recipe Smart CEOs Use to Give their Brand an Irresistible Makeover, Attract Ideal Clients Easily, and Double Their Close Rates

(without wasting a dollar on marketing)