Usually, people think about the sales team as shouldering the responsibility of growing a company. They have to get the deals closed that generate the growth – day in and day out! Great salespeople have the support of a great growth marketing team.
Marketers spend a lot of money every year working on campaigns for lead generation that include ads, SEO content, videos, live events, and website design, all in an effort to give sales more opportunities.
But no matter how much money you throw at marketing and trying to create leads, you're likely to fall short unless you take the first and most crucial step of asking yourself (and your customers) some questions. Avoid rushing to market with ads, content, and other campaigns. It will likely be a waste of money unless you review some key strategic marketing questions and develop a solid answer to each.
Sure, there will be pressure to generate leads ASAP, but going through this process before you spend any more marketing budget will result in more leads and better leads – improving your ROI. Even if you did a strategic review last year, don’t skip it now. Customers’ needs change—your competition changes. And you have to know your place in the market so you can grow your business most efficiently.
1. What is Your Brand Narrative?
You’re in business for a reason. You offer a service or sell a product that is better than other alternatives out there. But how do you ensure your messaging matches what your buyers feel are their biggest challenges?
Talk to your customers and your sales team. What are the current issues your customers face when choosing your product or service? They may not be the same as they were. Once you’ve defined the top 3-4 problems you can solve, you can address them directly in your marketing messaging.
You know how good it feels when someone really “gets” you? That’s the feeling you’re trying to create for potential customers.
2. How Are You Different from Alternatives?
There are almost 7,800 marketing agencies in the U.S. alone. If we don’t do something different from everyone else, why would anyone choose us? In our case, we offer our clients the Growth Framework to figure out the answers to their brand narrative, buyer’s journey, and website messaging. Our proven process gets people to the end result they need: growth.
What would you say is the one thing that sets you apart from other options? It can be the process you use to solve problems or a unique feature on a product. If you’re unsure, or your answer was, “our people are better,” it’s time to head to the conference room (or Zoom meeting) for a conversation with your team. While service and staff are essential, you will need more to scale the company. Better people and better service are subjective and can change in a heartbeat if you have staff changes.
It’s also a good idea to go through the competitors (direct and indirect) at least annually to see how they’re positioning themselves. You don’t want to sound like or look too similar to a competitor.
3. What is Your Buyer’s Journey?
You already know that buyers will be at various points along the process of making a purchase when they find you:
- Awareness - early on, just researching their problem
- Consideration - evaluating multiple options for solving the problem
- Decision - narrowing down and choosing an option
What’s the first thing you do when you have a problem? If you’re like most of us, you Google it. Your buyers will do the same. You will need to have content that can be seen in the search results discussing answers to the problems you’re solving uniquely.
It should be content such as a blog, video, checklist, quiz, or guide that you can offer to help your potential customers along their way. When you offer something valuable, leads will start to generate that you can nurture along through their decision process. (We even have a matrix for the number of organic website visitors you’ll need to produce the leads that generate growth. Ask us about it.)
4. Does Your Website Support Your Narrative, Competitive Advantage, and Buyer’s Journey?
Your website is one of the most important assets you have. You can't set and forget it. Be ready to make changes and see what's working and what's not so you can match your messaging to your customers’ needs. Be sure your messaging matches what you’ve learned about your customers’ problems throughout the growth marketing research process.
Use the website to educate and, as a result, show your potential customers a solution that’s unlike anyone else’s. Remember… your website isn’t really about you. Go back to the buyer’s journey you just evaluated, and be sure you have content for each phase that addresses customer problems and how they can be solved.
Get a Framework for Growing Your Company
NOW you’ll be in a better position to attract website visitors who are more likely to become leads. You will need to have an ongoing plan for:
- Website content that attracts visitors based on important topics
- Email marketing messages to nurture leads along
- Lead magnets that offer help and lead buyers down a solution path
- Ads that target buyers at various points of their journey
Making your sales team rock stars by giving them better, more qualified leads will give you the growth your company needs to reach its goals.
Do you want to get this kickstarted for your company? Don’t waste any more marketing dollars. Start with the Growth Framework to be confident that your next steps will lead to scaling your company.
