You’ve invested in marketing automation, content marketing people and programs. You’ve just finished that new messaging project. Now what?
Having the right messaging and positioning, no small task in today’s crowded buyer centric B2B markets, puts you at the base of the mountain. To reach the summit, you must do three things.
First, execute with consistency, veracity and ferocity. You have to say it so many times, you get sick of hearing yourself say it, then you need to say it again. And yes, you may tweak it on the edges based on A/B testing and performance in programs. But you must commit. You must believe. And you must back it with facts, case studies and data.
Second, you must invest in people and programs. People and programs are the fuel of marketing success. They drive the race car, which is made of your marketing automation engine, you content marketing tires, and your high test messaging fuel. But without investment, results don’t follow.
Third, you must be comfortable with risk. In today’s markets, conservative, traditional messaging, built on feature function benefit, and delivered in descriptive whitepapers and websites just doesn’t cut it. And while your new messaging is cutting edge and powerful, you must resist the temptation to move back to the average. For example, technical marketers want to stick features functions and technical benefits. They feel they may “insult” their buyer if they push on their beliefs. But few companies can win without changing some status quo. And marketing and sales leaders know this, but can be pulled back to more conservative execution. Don’t let this happen. To the risk taker goes the rewards.
Nobody ever summits a mountain without preparation, investment, and the right amount of intelligent risk taking. And nobody wins in B2B markets without these same characteristics. Great thinking can get you ready, but consistent and ferocious execution and responsible investment, with a good chunk of measured risk taking is what can get you to the top of the mountain.
————————————————————————————————————