Vladimir Blagojević’s Post

Full-Funnel B2B Marketing explained. 0. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 = replicate your best deals. - Firmographics and technographics criteria - (Dis)qualification criteria that help you prioritize accounts with a need, and that you have a reasonable chance of winning and retaining over the long time - Buying committee structure - Account segmentation criteria - Buyer journey: where and how they learn, discover and buy a solution like yours 1. 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 = consistent stream of high-quality expert content aligned with the buying journey, created for places where your buyers hang out and learn + clear messaging on how you're different and worth buying. 2. 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 on high-intent channels + retargeting. Buyers that are ready to buy will reach out to you. Work on making that process frictionless. Keep nurturing with relevant product marketing, social proof and relevant CTAs. In parallel, prioritize engaged, high value accounts for your ABM program. 3. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 for Account-Based Marketing, based on: - Revenue potential. In ABM, we want to focus on high revenue potential clients (Tier 1 & Tier 2) - Level of vendor awareness and engagement with your brand and demand generation campaigns - Product-need evidence - Relationships that we have with the buying committee 4. 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝟏:𝐅𝐞𝐰), where marketing and sales work together to nurture and develop relationships with multiple buyers, and qualify the need. 5. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝟏:𝟏). Here, we collect all the available information about the needs, goals, KPIs and challenges of the individual buyers, and map the value proposition and content to accounts and buyers. Based on these insights, we create and distribute personalized solutions, effectivelly creating 1:1 account-based marketing. 6. 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, where marketing works with sales to accelerate the buyer journey of the stale deals, and re-engage the target buyers. 7-10. 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲, 𝐞𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹𝘀. If the deal is won, we'll move it to customer success, and after successful implementation, we can start working on expansion, and later renewals. 11. 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 Even if you select the right accounts, and you run a perfect campaign, not all accounts are going to convert into a deal right away. But this doesn’t mean that you should stop marketing to them, as the opportunity might appear in the coming quarters. That’s why we move these accounts to nurturing & demand generation programs, so that you stay top of their mind until they're ready to buy. --- The era of a lead generation and siloed marketing and sales teams passed many years ago. To win today, you need #fullfunnel #b2bmarketing, including brand awareness, #demandgeneration and #ABM programs.

Eight pillars of Full-Funnel B2B marketing: 1. GTM STRATEGY - Goals - Focus market segments & clusters - ICP & qualification - Customer research and buyer journey patterns - Core programs to influence buyer journey and drive revenue - KPIs & metrics - Messaging - Team alignment 2. AWARENESS Awareness = buyers from ICP accounts know why you're worth considering as a solution to a specific problem they have. Develop awareness with: - Detailed guides - Expert content on social about top buyer challenges - Guest posts and podcast interviews on target niche media - Sponsorship & collabs with communities, influencers & creators - Educational events, webinars, round tables - Relationships on social 3. DEMAND GENERATION Demand generation = making your target buyers believe your product is one of the best possible solutions for their needs. Demand is generated through: - Clear messaging on how you're different and worth buying - Detailed case studies and customer use cases divided by verticals or jobs-to-be-done - Practical overview of solutions to typical challenges and use-cases (natively featuring your product) 4. DEMAND CAPTURE Buyers that are ready to buy will reach out to you. Work on making that process frictionless. Keep nurturing with relevant product marketing, social proof and relevant CTAs with - Ads on high-intent channels and retargeting - Product-related content hubs - Product-related webinars - Product-related free email courses and nurtures - Progressive profiling and personalized offers - Buyer interviews 5. ACCOUNT DEVELOPMENT Here, we collect all the available information about the needs, goals, KPIs and challenges of the individual buyers, and map the value proposition and content to accounts and buyers. Based on these insights, we create and distribute personalized solutions, effectively creating 1:1 account-based marketing. 6. PIPELINE ACCELERATION Marketing works with sales to accelerate the buyer journey of the stale deals, and re-engage the target buyers. 7. CUSTOMER SUCCESS & ADVOCACY After winning a deal, the real relationship only starts. Make sure to accelerate time to value, onboard core users, and get a positive case study asap. Whenever you see they get results, invite them for a debriefing call. You can create a case study and get insights about key initiatives + validate upsell hypotheses. 8. EXPANSION AND RENEWALS Most B2B companies never do it and just passively wait until the client requests more licenses (or churn). But in a SaaS model, the vast majority of revenue growth comes from retention and expansion. That's why, after successful implementation, we can start working on expansion, and later renewals. --- Andrei and I've been talking about Full-Funnel B2B marketing for years. This summer we decided to accumulate our 2x19 years in B2B and write a book. If you'd like to be among the first readers and provide us feedback, let me know, and I'll add you to beta readers list.

B2B sales funnel! a clear pathway of promotion to conversion

Full-funnel B2B marketing (7 stages explained in detail + book announcement). 0. GTM STRATEGY - FUNDAMENTAL LAYER. - Goals and targets - Focus market segments & clusters - ICP and account segmentation - Customer research and buyer journey patterns - Core programs to influence buyer journey and drive revenue - Metrics, KPIs and Reports - Messaging - Team alignment 1. Brand Awareness. Develop brand awareness strategy through: - Detailed guides - Organic thought leadership - Boosting top-performing content through ads - Guest posts and podcast interviews - Sponsorship & collaborations with communities, influencers, and creators - Events 2. DEMAND GENERATION. Demand generation = making your target accounts believe your product is one of the best possible solutions for their needs. Demand (or buy-in) is generated through: - Detailed case studies and customer use cases divided by verticals or jobs-to-be-done - Practical overview of typical buyer challenges and ways to solve them with native integration of your product 3. DEMAND CAPTURING. Retargeting became a synonym for demand capturing, but this is just a piece of the puzzle. Here are 6 other ways to capture the demand. - High-intent website page visits - Product-related content hubs - Product-related webinars - Product-related free email courses - Progressive profiling - Buyer interviews 4. ACTIVATION. Activation = personalized offers for target accounts. The best ways to deliver personalized offers and generate sales opportunities that have been working for us and our clients are: * 1-1 consultations & strategy sessions * Personalized content hubs * Social selling based on engagement and intent insights * Direct mails with personalized solutions 5. CLIENT SUCCESS. After winning a deal, the real relationship only starts. Make sure to accelerate time to value, onboard core users, and get a positive case study asap. Whenever you see they get results, invite them for a debriefing call. You can create a case study and get insights about key initiatives + validate upsell hypotheses. 6. EXPANSION. Most B2B companies never do it and just passively wait until the client requests more licenses. While expansion is a new retention as Jacco van der Kooij nicely describes it. --- The buying process is not linear, and you can't push buyers. But you can ensure that you maximize the chances to: - Create awareness and grab attention of the accounts that are not in market now - Generate demand for those who research and learn about different solutions - Capture the demand and activate engaged accounts - Expand & Retain --- We started to popularize the concept of Full-Funnel B2B marketing with Vladimir Blagojević 7 years ago. It all has started from the image you see right now 😃 This summer we decided to accumulate our 19 years in B2B marketing and write a book. If you'd like to be among the first readers and provide us feedback, leave a comment, and I'll add you to beta readers list.

Fantastic breakdown from Andrei Zinkevich of the full-funnel B2B marketing approach! Each stage is crucial, and it's clear that aligning strategies across the entire funnel can significantly enhance B2B success. One additional point I'd emphasize is the importance of leveraging data analytics at each stage. By continuously analyzing and refining strategies based on data-driven insights, you can more effectively tailor your marketing efforts to meet the evolving needs of your target accounts. Excited about the book announcement! Count me in as a beta reader. Looking forward to diving deeper into these strategies and learning from your extensive experience.

Short-term gains 📊 vs. 🏆 long-term growth in B2B marketing. Lead gen vs. brand building One-off promotions vs. always-on advertising Immediate ROI vs. dark funnel …And the list goes on 📋 There are so many ways to do B2B marketing, but if I had to cut it down to one, I’d say people often try to balance between the following two: 📈 Short-term results 🌱 Long-term growth Both are of course necessary, but since the short-term metrics are where you can draw a direct line from marketing to sales (e.g. hand over of leads) many companies tend to favour campaigns that drive those short-term KPIs instead of the strategic ones like: Reach, SoV, and Frequency. At worst this can lead into a situation where you are hyper focused on the short-term campaigns and are only optimising their performance causing the upstream (long-term) potential to dry up. So only focusing on the short-term KPIs is the same as trying to take a shortcut to glory where one doesn’t exist. A “hot lead” 🔥 requires a few more interactions than a single lead magnet download, as based on studies a B2B decision maker consumes around 13-16 content pieces through their buyer’s journey. So even though 80% of your sales potential is generated by the short-term campaigns (20% is hard to attribute) ...still, 80% of your long-term growth lives in “the future” and is influenced by brand building, continuous value delivery, repetition, ungated content, etc. This changes the dynamic of the 80/20 principle so that… 📊 Short-term campaigns drive: 80% of FAST revenue ⏳ Long-term campaigns drive: 80% of FUTURE revenue So are both needed? ✅ Absolutely! It’s even paramount that the long-term growth (the upstream) gets an equal amount of love ❤️ as the short-term activities, as you can only “make an impression” and influence someone’s thinking over the long term, and finally… realise the built demand into leads, pipeline, and revenue once your crop is ready for the harvest. TLDR: Revenue is the manifestation of multiple marketing actions (not just lead gen), and by nurturing your audience upstream (delivering value, branding, etc.), you’ll come to nurture that future potential of yours where 80% of harvestable revenue lives.

🚀Unlock the Power of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for B2B Success!🚀   Are you ready to revolutionize your B2B marketing strategy and propel your business to unprecedented heights of success? Look no further than Account-Based Marketing (ABM), the game-changing approach that is reshaping the landscape of B2B marketing.   At Chatter Buzz, we understand the pivotal role that ABM plays in driving tangible results for businesses like yours. With our expertise in marketing, we've witnessed firsthand the transformative power of ABM in unlocking new avenues for growth and fostering meaningful connections with high-value prospects.   So, what exactly is ABM, and how can it supercharge your B2B endeavors?   ABM is not just another marketing tactic; it's a strategic mindset that revolves around personalized engagement with key accounts. Instead of casting a wide net and hoping for the best, ABM enables you to laser-focus your efforts on the most promising prospects, tailoring your messaging and tactics to resonate specifically with their needs and pain points.   Here's how Chatter Buzz can help you harness the full potential of ABM:   🎯 Strategic Targeting: With ABM, we work hand-in-hand with your team to identify and prioritize the accounts that matter most to your business. Whether it's Fortune 500 companies or niche startups, we leverage data-driven insights to pinpoint the accounts with the highest propensity for conversion, ensuring that your resources are allocated where they will have the greatest impact.   📈 Personalized Engagement: One of the key pillars of ABM is personalized messaging. At Chatter Buzz, we specialize in crafting tailored content and communications that speak directly to the unique needs and challenges of your target accounts. From custom email campaigns to targeted social media ads, we ensure that every interaction leaves a lasting impression and drives meaningful engagement.   🧠 Alignment and Integration: Successful ABM requires seamless collaboration between sales and marketing teams. That's why we work closely with both departments to ensure that everyone is aligned around a common set of goals and objectives. By breaking down silos and fostering open communication, we empower your teams to work together towards a shared vision of success.   💡 Continuous Optimization: ABM is a journey, not a destination. That's why we don't just set it and forget it. Instead, we continuously monitor and optimize your ABM campaigns based on real-time data and feedback. Whether it's tweaking messaging, adjusting targeting criteria, or experimenting with new channels, we're always striving to improve performance and drive better results.   With Chatter Buzz by your side, you can unlock the full power of ABM and position your business for sustained success in today's competitive landscape. So why wait? Let's embark on this exciting journey together and take your B2B marketing to new heights! 🚀 🐝

Here is how a B2B marketing strategy SHOULD look like (and how it actually looks in most B2B companies). 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: 1. Paid ads promoting product/demo 2. Automated email & LinkedIn outreach 3. Gated e-books to generate "leads" 4. Product pitching webinars 5. Low-quality blog 6. Occasional posts on the company's social pages 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 (based on the State of Full-Funnel Marketing research): -Miserable "lead" to opportunity conversion and endless debates about the quality of the leads - Missed revenue targets - High cost of acquisition - Extended sales cycle Usually, the core problem of these companies is a lack of marketing fundamentals or a clear GTM strategy. 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: 0. 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬. Goals should be based on your current resources, opportunities, and historical growth, not based on wishes or unrealistic expectations. 1. 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. Segmentation is the first step in developing ICP. Different segments have different use cases, buying processes, and revenue potential. You need to select the focus segment. 2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 (𝐈𝐂𝐏). Here are 5 ICP pillars. - Firmographics - Buying committee - Account segmentation (Tiers) - Qualification and disqualification criteria - Customer research 3. 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. During customer research, define what triggers the buying process, and what are the typical steps buyers take. But keep in mind that most customers are not actively buying. Try to figure out what channels they use for education, who they follow, and what content resonates with them and motivates them to learn more about specific solutions (demand triggers). Understand typical questions, concerns, and inhouse approval process. 4. Positioning and Value Prop. Both are part of your marketing message which communicates why your product is different and worth buying. 5. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. Define programs to influence the whole buying process: — Awareness and demand generation. — Demand capturing and activation — Retention — Expansion — Sales and buyer enablement 6. 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲. Last stage is often ignored, but without an efficient CS and advocacy, your company will deal with: - Lack of case studies and referrals - High churn Build a great relationship and minimize time to value with appropriate onboarding. Embed customer research in the process. Leverage the opportunity to create case studies and share insights with marketing and sales for further expansion.

Here is how a B2B marketing strategy SHOULD look like (and how it actually looks in most B2B companies). 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: 1. Paid ads promoting product/demo 2. Automated email & LinkedIn outreach 3. Gated e-books to generate "leads" 4. Product pitching webinars 5. Low-quality blog 6. Occasional posts on the company's social pages 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 (based on the State of Full-Funnel Marketing research): -Miserable "lead" to opportunity conversion and endless debates about the quality of the leads - Missed revenue targets - High cost of acquisition - Extended sales cycle Usually, the core problem of these companies is a lack of marketing fundamentals or a clear GTM strategy. 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: 0. 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬. Goals should be based on your current resources, opportunities, and historical growth, not based on wishes or unrealistic expectations. 1. 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. Segmentation is the first step in developing ICP. Different segments have different use cases, buying processes, and revenue potential. You need to select the focus segment. 2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 (𝐈𝐂𝐏). Here are 5 ICP pillars. - Firmographics - Buying committee - Account segmentation (Tiers) - Qualification and disqualification criteria - Customer research 3. 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. During customer research, define what triggers the buying process, and what are the typical steps buyers take. But keep in mind that most customers are not actively buying. Try to figure out what channels they use for education, who they follow, and what content resonates with them and motivates them to learn more about specific solutions (demand triggers). Understand typical questions, concerns, and inhouse approval process. 4. Positioning and Value Prop. Both are part of your marketing message which communicates why your product is different and worth buying. 5. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. Define programs to influence the whole buying process: — Awareness and demand generation. — Demand capturing and activation — Retention — Expansion — Sales and buyer enablement 6. 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲. Last stage is often ignored, but without an efficient CS and advocacy, your company will deal with: - Lack of case studies and referrals - High churn Build a great relationship and minimize time to value with appropriate onboarding. Embed customer research in the process. Leverage the opportunity to create case studies and share insights with marketing and sales for further expansion.

B2B Marketing is inefficient. We need to inject some steroids. B2B marketing has always been a decade behind B2C marketing and that's evident to see There's become this conventional thinking that B2B requires you to be super serious and follow a strict marketing plan. The marketing plan they make is super generic, same as all their competitors. You can't expect different results using the same techniques. It's time to switch things up. Let's break this down to its first principles. What generates the most sales for B2B companies? Case studies, and more specifically referalls. Think about the previous B2B platforms you work with, I'm certain most of them were introduced to you from someone who's opinion you trust. So how can we expand this to a large scale, how can we take our most prizes strategy and put it on steroids? B2B Influencer marketing. Before you click off, hear me out. People buy from people. As founders, as decision makers, there's always key thought leaders in the industry you trust and follow. If you're talking about general business, you follow people like Shaan Puri, Andrew Huberman, Sam Altman to take opinions on how to operate your day-to-day. And these guys words are GOSPEL for some. B2B needs to start using this strategy for themselves. What newsletters are your target market reading? What podcasts do they listen to? Who's twitter threads are they taking time to read. Find this. Get them to rep your brand. And boom. Bob's your uncle