As we saw in part 1 of this series, B2B Technology marketers are dealing with a new reality. Information is abundant, Alternatives are Many and in response, Buyers are now fiercely independent and highly networked.
Proving ROI means nothing except a check box, if you aren’t strategic then nobody notices and if they notice they just don’t care. Yet, as we saw in part 2, many organizations are still clinging to Feature->Benefit marketing and solution and diagnostic based selling. This worked well in a world of tightly controlled information, high barriers to entry and sales led selling cycles. But in today’s reality, if you cling to those ways, you will be forever in the weeds of priority and importance.
Yet some vendors manage to rise above the rest, get noticed, grow and win way more than their fair share. I’ve previously described how companies as widely varying as FireEye, Zuora, Virgin Atlantic and Salesforce.com have leveraged context to win. They do this re-inventing their messaging and positioning to be top down, viewpoint driven and challenging and by doing so, they not only educate and engage, but they influence the way their customers see the world AND how they solutions deliver meaningful, strategic value. I call this Impact, and it is the first and most important milestone to reach in the Velocity Marketing framework. Add a heavy dose of Experience marketing into the mix, and you reach Breakthrough Velocity. You win, plain and simple!
So, let’s take a quick look at how our two Axis come together to graphically display what is described above.
Today’s Markets Require A Top Down, Viewpoint and Challenging Messaging Approach
As we can see, the usual and expected approach to messaging worked just fine in the Old B2B World. But if you try it today, buyers won’t notice or if they do notice they won’t care enough to spend time and money with you! But when we re-imagine how we message and position ourselves, and adopt a top down, viewpoint and experiential messaging, we match our approach precisely to the new reality of the buyer. We achieve Velocity.
Now, this shows our Viewpoint framework in action, applied to you the B2B Marketer as the target! I have argued that your world has changed, that your old approach will no longer work, and then proposed that if you follow my re-invented approach, you will achieve breakthrough velocity, a brave new world we all want to occupy. So, what’s your first step to Velocity? Building your Viewpoint. It just so happens, I’d love to help you out. And you can start right here with my series of blogs called, “AIM STEEP to Build Breakthrough Viewpoint”.