Bruce Merrill

A hard truth for CMOs: likes and follows don’t drive revenue. I know this can be a hard pill to swallow. But CMOs aren’t using metrics to their full potential. Watch this video to find out the better way to use metrics to increase your ROI.

4

🧪 CRO Case Study Episode 54 One A/B test → 930K plus revenue 🚀 Swipe to learn how one A/B test added over $930K to our client's annual revenue. The Results Breakdown: +$77,558 per month +$930,696 per year (forecasted) +$0.58 revenue per session Bookmark this!

8

2 Comments

Big wins like this before BFCM is key to getting the best Q4 possible.. DM me if we should talk about it for your brand.

5

How does a Fractional CMO balance the alignment between doing what they love to do versus what the market demands? Here's a clip of what Dan Gwalter has to say in VCMO's forthcoming podcast - 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 🎧 Full episode lands soon...

7

3 Comments

While Google’s most-recent delay for phasing out third-party cookies provided a stay of execution — and, with it, more procrastinating for those relying on the trackers — a new study shows that more marketers are putting value in collecting other forms of data. The 2024 B2C Marketing Audience Building Report, from Porch Group Media, surveyed more than 350 B2C marketers, finding “the diversity of data sources marketers utilize directly correlates with success.” “We uncovered that having confidence in the data types and sources used to build audiences has a significant impact on the effectiveness of a data strategy,” the report says. “In fact, those who exhibit the highest confidence in this regard are an astounding 5.5x more likely to have very effective data-driven strategies than their less confident counterparts (89% vs. 16%).” More than 90% of B2C marketers were using first-party data they had collected in their strategies, with 84% using second-party data significantly or somewhat, and 67% using third-party data significantly or somewhat. “An overwhelming 73% of those surveyed feel cookie depreciation will greatly inhibit or somewhat limit their ability to access the right data to build audiences,” the report says. “In an effort to alleviate the impact of cookie deprecation, 53% of those surveyed have already implemented a strategy to identify and target audiences without relying on third-party cookies.” For those collecting first-party data, 40% report improved customer experience, 39% an increase in customer retention, 36% an improved advertising ROI, 36% an increase in customer engagement, and 36% an improved accuracy in targeting. Obviously, the importance of quality data can’t be overstated. A unified CRM platform with marketing automation and intelligent analytics can help get the most out of data, simplifying every decision and providing a provable ROI. #firstpartydata #audiencedevelopment #audiencegrowth #thirdpartydata #cookies #cookiealternatives #cookielessfuture #b2cmarketing #publishing #publishingindustry #digitalpublishing #mediapublishing #AIsoftware #AImarketingsoftware #digitalmarketing #digitalmediamanager #digitalmediamanagement #MarketingManager #MagazineManager (Photo Source: Porch Group Media)

2

Your 2023 CAC: $52. Your 2024 CAC: $67. Your profit margins: We need to talk. While you read this, Meta just increased your CPMs again. Your landing page, however, hasn't changed since Black Friday. What I’m trying to say is that CRO is really the only way to combat rising ad costs (besides selling more desirable high-margin products). That’s why we are so bullish on landing pages and optimizing the conversions. Sure, better creatives never hurt. But let’s be real, how high can you take the CTRs on those? That’s why focusing on the conversion rate and AOV is the better approach.

10

1 Comment

Most agency owners rely on referrals. That’s fine—until it’s not. If you’re not actively doing biz dev, you’re leaving serious money on the table. Here’s the reality: You can’t wait around for clients to find you. Build relationships. Create a consistent sales pipeline. Control your growth, don’t let it control you. Ready to stop leaving money on the table? Let’s talk about how to fix it.

5

1 Comment

You can turn your B2B YouTube channel into a goldmine... (by not avoiding these 3 steps) 📱— The Tactical YouTube → create 5-15 minute, extensive breakdowns LinkedIn → cut clips from that, add great copy on top We get daily leads with this approach. 🏹 — The Accuracy Optimize for reaching the right people. Ask yourself, "Who am I going to reach?" Then, "What do they like to click on?" 🎥 — The Content YouTube content requires 3 core components: • Title • Thumbnail • Post-production This is about psychology, not just "results." 👇 → Imagine getting booked calls from LinkedIn 𝘢𝘯𝘥 YT. I have an entire month dedicated to YouTube for The LaunchPad (our community). If I had to choose talking vs typing to get leads. I'd choose to talk all day. _________________ #B2B #podcastprinciples #podcastcoach #brandstrategy 👋 Hey I make podcast episodes based on your questions. This one came from a comment in our community. Ask me something in the comments👇

48

72 Comments

“Be careful,” warned a CMO from a $475mil SaaS brand, “Sales just doesn’t pay attention until they absolutely have to.” “Even if you involve Sales early in messaging development there will still be last-minute surprises,” the CMO added. Ah yes, the Marketing versus Sales conflict is alive and well again in 2024. And not just about messaging. It’s uglier than that. For a few years (2021-2023), it looked like the grown-ups in both departments had worked things out. Civility ruled, or so it seemed. We spent very little time in Huddles talking about Sales dropping the ball or Sales not closing. Not anymore. The partnership, if it ever existed, is breaking down. The blame game is back. So what’s changed? In the immortal words of James Carville, “It’s the economy stupid.” More specifically, the B2B economy. Our research among 121 B2B marketing leaders identifies significant economic softness. Budgets are down, sales cycles are up and 69% of those surveyed believe their industry is in a recession. [Note: the full report will be published soon - let me know if you’d like a copy.]  When the going gets tough, the weak blame Marketing. Or Sales. In their hearts, CMOs know it is fruitless to blame Sales. Even if they are covering every salesperson with qualified opportunities. Even if salespeople revert to price the minute a prospect pushes back. Even if their close rate is well below your category average. Yes, it all sucks, but CMOs must rise above it. When a descending tide lowers all the boats, only the crafty prevail. Here are 5 crafty strategies for B2B CMOs to eliminate the blame game and beat the tide:  🐧 Joint metrics reporting: Eliminate any “marketing-sourced” metrics from your reports. Issue one metrics report from Sales & Marketing to demonstrate your united effort to drive pipeline and close deals. Present reports together.  🐧Align staff: Everyone in Marketing should have at least 1 “buddy” in Sales with whom they meet regularly. Someone from Marketing should attend every Sales meeting and vice versa. The days of a “hand-off” are over.  🐧Deal rooms: To concentrate attention on the big deals, create a physical or virtual “war room.” The room should house competitive intel, in-depth profiles of the buying committee, timetables, contact assignments, sales enablement tools like a how-we-beat-each-competitor matrix, etc.   🐧Go on sales calls: Sure you can listen to calls via tools like Gong but that’s not the same as experiencing the actual challenge of selling. Walk a mile or twenty in Sales’ shoes and good things happen. More respect from Sales. More empathy for salespeople. And more insight into the messaging challenges you’re uniquely equipped to solve. 🐧Test a big bet: A tweak here or there to your messaging won’t fight the tide. Pick a vertical market and disrupt it with an outrageous added-value offer. Something irresistible. Something that accelerates the “speed to hero” for your ideal buyer.  Please add to this list.

130

47 Comments

How do you get $13M+ in qualified high intent pipeline with <$2k in ad spend? Let me show how I did it with a client earlier this year… 👉 Radically different message = radically different results This client was faced with 2 options to acquire clients for their service. Option 1: Market the brand, service, and benefits Option 2: Market the problem The first option is what most B2B marketing / advertising does. Use ads and content to try to tell everyone how great they are. “We’re the best {category of tool} that helps you {usage] to get you more {generic benefit}” But this overlooks the #1 marketing principle: “Advertising is a battle for perception, not reality.” The problem with Option 1 is that you get perceived as an Interchangeable Nice To Have. Which results in: low engagement → low CTR → low intent to buy → low inbound booked calls But here’s what the client did differently (and I certainly can't take credit for it all): 1) Study the problem that buyers had 2) Simplify it down with Languaging & metaphors 3) Package this POV into organic VIDEO content + Linkedin ads 4) Target the exact people that suffered from the problem 5) Run ads about the problem, the pains they cause, and how it prevents them from getting to their ultimate desired outcome The result? Their brand was perceived as the Irreplaceable Need To Have Solution. The people that suffered from the problem saw them as the only way to solve the problem. They booked calls, raising their hand and saying “I want your solution”. 👉 When you show you understand their problem, people think you understand the solution the best. p.s. As I'm searching for my next B2B marketing position, I'm open to jam about how you can use the same strategy for your own B2B business 😉

9

"The bathtub effect" has many versions. In today's podcast I apply the bathtub to attribution. What does a bathtub tell us about customer actions and how to attribute marketing campaigns to sales.

8

8 Comments

Do you need help to leverage #ChatGPT or AI bots to create top-notch marketing or sales prompts? Check out my book, "The Modern AI Marketer: Guide to Gen AI Prompts," now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. https://lnkd.in/eRNjVqe7 #GenAI #B2Bmarketing

4

Video makes or breaks your product launch. Okay... maybe not completely. But from a marketing perspective... if your launch video sucks... then the whole launch falls flat and has way less of an impact. Time and time again... I see SaaS companies get their launch video completely wrong. But, not Saipen (Ron Nachum). Their recent launch video was a *masterclass* in what a SaaS launch video should look like. And their video engagement backs it right up. Here's a mini-breakdown of their video script (follow this for your next launch): 1️⃣ Setting the Scene (Problem Context) "You are now the CFO of a multi-billion dollar company. You make the most important do-or-die decisions every single day..." The video immediately positions the viewer in the shoes of a CFO, emphasizing the high stakes nature of the role, and the potential risks due to inaccurate or delayed data. If you're a CFO... you'll immediately resonate with this. 2️⃣ Problem Introduction "The world's biggest companies are flying blind... wrangling information from antiquated ERPs and CRMs that should have been left in the 90s." The script highlights the inefficiencies and frustrations CFOs face, grounding the problem in relatable, dated tools and error-prone processes. I love phrases like "left in the 90s" as it indicates a big lagging problem with existing solutions and tools. 3️⃣ Solution Introduction: "This is why we built Sapien. Sapien is the world's first financial analyst for enterprise finance teams..." With the problem established, Saipen is introduced in a super simple way: "The worlds first financial analyst for enterprise finance teams" No jargon, straight to the point. 4️⃣ How Saipen Works "Sapien plugs directly into your messiest Excel spreadsheets... with a natural language query, finance teams can now answer the most complex questions in minutes rather than days or weeks." This section explains Saipen’s functionality, emphasising how it can work with even the 'messiest' of excel sheets. Again... something a lot of finance teams will relate with haha. 5️⃣ Demonstration of Benefits (Customer Impact) "For one of our customers, Sapien easily digs through a year's worth of raw transaction-level data..." "Years worth of data" is a *perfect way* to emphasise the tools capability and it gives decision makers an idea of how much data can be pulled in. 6️⃣ Future Vision for Saipen "We’re building a future where enterprise finance is instant and org-wide..." This section paints the end vision which is something that is usually missed in a lot of launch videos but is super important for giving decision makers an idea of the role it will play in their tech stack. 7️⃣ Call to Action "And if you want to learn more about how we're doing it, check us out at getsaipen (dot com)" The video concludes with a direct invitation to engage further, prompting interested CFOs to learn more about Saipen.

18

1 Comment

Performance Video Advertising come in all lengths, each have a purpose, tomorrow come listen to the PDMI Long Form Media roundtable! #longformisnotdead #lowerfunnel #bottomfunnel #billiondollarbrands #driveprofitableresponse #cannellamediadtc

15

"70% of B2B buyers incorporate video content into their decision-making journey." ‎ ‎‎  ‎ ‎‎  ‎ ‎- Google As a B2B buyer, I don't search for content, I search for answers. And a complex answer is much easier to watch than it is to read. It's not about preference, it's about due diligence. The first vendor to answer my question (in the easiest way possible) builds more trust, faster, guaranteed. So, how do I actually do the thing? A simple podcast for clips: 1) First, grab a co-host (evil competitor, janitor, dog) 2) Next, get a webcam, mic, and light ready 3) Third, analyze a current ideal client 4) Fourth, answer their original pain points on podcast 5) Last, post the clips That's the upside, now the downside ⤵️ _________________ #B2B #podcastprinciples #podcastcoach #podcasting PS: Of course, this strategy doesn't get you the leverage of a true podcast. If you want something that earns business, establishes credibility, and dominates your niche, you must "launch" a unique podcast. @ me in your comment below and I'll send you a video of our exact strategy.

41

34 Comments

What Do You Do When You Have Two Titans 💪🏼💪🏽 (Jeff Gartner & Sean Preston) of the Magazine Publishing Business in the Same Room? 🔥 You turn on the mic 🎤 and ask them... What's your inside advantage? 🔐 What's your #1 Tip for new publishers? 👂 If you were to start over tomorrow what would you do differently to accelerate your success? ⚡ How do you defeat the dreaded sales slump? 😫 How have you scaled your publishing business? 📈 Stay tuned for all the answers and more! #MagazinePublishing #PublishingTips #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SalesStrategy

10

1 Comment