It’s tempting to develop a messaging strategy that overemphasizes the inspirational, uplifting, and idealistic aspects of your brand. Unfortunately, many marketers take it too far, forgetting that inauthentic messaging turns many buyers off. B2B tech sector buyers are particularly skeptical of boasts with no evidence to back them up.
Do your marketing boasts sound overblown? Here’s some tips for gauging whether your messaging sounds authentic.
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Your video doesn’t need to go viral to be a success. Despite that, too many marketers chase views at the expense of reaching the right viewers. In the latest episode of the B2B Revealed Podcast, we dug in on this topic with viral video expert David Feinman, the co-founder of Viral Ideas.
Many professionals are tempted to craft a video with the sole intention of getting thousands of likes. For Feinman, that much emphasis on going viral is a waste of resources.
“In the B2B space it’s really tough to make something pop,” said Feinman. “What we like to think about from a B2B perspective is do you actually need to go viral?” B2B audiences are limited by nature. It’s more important to convince your niche pool of potential buyers than to go viral with the general public.
Feinman went on to give an example of a trucking company. They could have spent months creating a video that reached millions of viewers. However, there were only 20,000 purchasers in their vertical in the United States. For them, having a video that reached only that 20,000 people was more valuable than reaching millions of people. Why go viral with people who aren’t going to buy?
It’s a bit like sending a letter to a friend. Sure, if you send mass mail to every household in Boston they’ll get your letter, but you could save a lot of time, effort, and money by simply addressing the letter specifically to your friend.
David Feinman is the co-founder of Viral Ideas, which helps companies create impactful video content.
Spend time finding a topic that will allow your video to further your business goals. When picking a topic, Feinman stresses that what you personally find interesting is not necessarily what customers will find interesting.
The best way to make sure you’re making a video that’s customer-centric is to use the messaging that’s already proven to drive sales.
Once you’ve got the subject matter locked down, you need to figure out the why behind the message, says Feinman. Explaining why you do the things you do will keep your viewers engaged. Then, instead of feeling like they’re watching an infomercial, they’ll feel like they’re being told a story — one they’re invited to be a part of.
Will this approach lead you to the top of the YouTube leaderboard with a viral video? Unlikely. Will it get you business? Yes.
If reaching the right audience is more critical than total views, you may be wondering what goals you should have for a video. As Feinman explained, most B2B businesses should be looking to go viral inside of their own vertical. After all, you aren’t looking for a consumer-scale viral video that lands on Good Morning America. Instead, you’re looking for a video that goes viral in your industry.
“Thinking about and reframing where you need your audience to be in a B2B environment might not be viral, per se,” said Feinman. “But, it might be micro viral in that we hit our entire target market. To me, that’s a huge win for any B2B audience.”
That’s a win that’s achievable for B2B companies, so long as they make the video in the right way. For that, listen to the interview. You’ll learn what the video making process should look like and some practical tips for creating a stand-out marketing video on a budget.
The B2B Revealed Podcast is brought to you by Cascade Insights, a market research firm specializing in B2B technology. Need more B2B expertise in your life? There are many ways to follow us.
Myopic marketing executives focus solely on messaging to external audiences. Lack of attention to internal communications costs marketers influence on business decisions … and allies.
Savvy marketing leaders have an internal messaging strategy at the ready. This helps them achieve their creative goals while balancing business benefits.
In our latest episode of the B2B Revealed Podcast, Sean Campbell interviewed Darcy Kurtz, drawing on her experience leading global product marketing at Sage.
Darcy Kurtz
According to Kurtz, marketing teams often communicate poorly with other departments in their own companies. This inevitably leads to problems. Kurtz pointed out that sales and marketing executives at many companies fail to be “100 percent aligned”, and many fail, “to have the same goals.”
The tension begins when marketing teams act alone. They come up with great plans, messaging strategies, and value propositions without input from the sales team. Then, marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are thrown over the fence, with the sales team is left holding the bag.
Aligning the funnel requires better cross-department communication. Sales needs to be involved in the goal-setting process so that marketing can bring in higher-quality leads.
“[Ideally,] marketing is being held accountable for more than just, ‘Did you bring in a certain quantity of leads or certain quantities of MQLs?’” said Kurtz. “I really look at quality as much as quantity, so how many of those are converting into true sales qualified leads and closed deals?”
Stunted collaboration between marketing and sales is only the beginning. Kurtz also urged marketers to rethink their approach to boardroom meetings.
“I’m a big believer that marketing needs a seat at the table when it comes to business discussions,” Kurtz said. “When I’m mentoring marketing folks about this, I tell them, ‘You need to learn as much about business management as you do about marketing management,’ to be successful long-term.”
Kurtz explained that marketers often expect to sell ideas to the boardroom based on creativity alone. Marketers should take more care in explaining how their creative work furthers the company’s business goals.
For Kurtz, marketing leaders can only expect success when they change their behavior. That means collaborating with sales, learning how to speak at the leadership table, and reevaluating how to present work internally. As a result, when those changes start to happen, everything runs more smoothly.
Finally, listen to the full episode for more insight into effective marketing, with topics such as:
The B2B Revealed Podcast is brought to you by Cascade Insights, a market research firm specializing in B2B technology. Need more B2B brilliance? There are many ways to follow us.
Somewhere between intent and interpretation, a lot can get lost in translation.
