TLDR:
The process of marketing is identifying a prospect’s or customer’s pain and addressing it if the solution the marketer sells is a good fit for them. There are many excuses for why prospects and clients might discount marketing, saying it does not work for them. Having said that, marketing doesn’t work for these individuals and entities because resources are in short supply in their industry; and their respective workplace cultures may be at fault.
Everybody’s heard the excuses on why marketing won’t work in their industry. And if marketers believe they won’t, their marketing efforts will tank. The practice of marketing isn’t an art where marketers try to be clever. It’s about helping a customer where it hurts—to ease their pain.
Some common arguments against marketing include a few golden oldies:
“Marketing is a waste. Our product’s too complex for it.”
“Marketing is not something that our buyers care about.”
“Our sales cycle is too complex.”
“How can we create a want when needing the product is something nobody wants?”
Of course, these excuses are just that—excuses.
The common arguments against marketing can be eliminated in short order by aligning sales department with the marketing department. Marketers should know their prospect as well as sales does. That way, marketers aren’t just working from an account-level, but also on a person-to-person-level. Marketers can get their hands on first-party data which they can use in Account-Based Marketing initiatives. This relationship goes both ways—sales can be just as proactive as marketing in getting to know each other better.
Another way to address these excuses is to have omnichannel campaigns where a prospect is nurtured throughout the journey. If marketers share appropriate content and broaden engagement efforts, marketers can generate value.
A final way to dispel these excuses is to figure out what goals marketers want to hit. They want to be the first company prospects or customers think of when they’re in crisis-mode. Marketers can do that by having frank conversations with prospects and customers. Use keyword research to help audiences find useful information in their crisis.
Ultimately, marketing doesn’t work when its culture is in the clutches of fear, spurred on by a lack of resources. Getting engagement with prospects and customers is hard under either condition.
The solution is finding the right leadership.
Original article from Business2Community on 22 June 2019.
