Marketing

CONFIRMED WITH DATA: Paid social lead gen on Facebook & LinkedIn is terribly inefficient and provides very low ROI. The same thing I’ve been saying for 6 years, now confirmed in a MASSIVE data set. Metadata released their second B2B advertising benchmark report and the results are….ummmm….not good. But this is an absolutely groundbreaking data set for B2B companies. Especially given the scale: $42MM in total advertising spend 236,000 total “leads” collected And all of the associated downstream data for pipeline & conversion rates Here’s the breakdown and my analysis of the data set: 1. 90% of advertising dollars were spent on lead gen campaigns ($37MM of $42MM total spend) This is consistent with what I see in my own analyses of over 100 companies. B2B companies primarily use paid social for lead gen campaigns because of the outdated demand waterfall models & requirements for digital touchpoint-based attribution. 2. “Download” was the most popular CTA indicating that B2B companies are still using paid social to drive downloads of gated PDFs (shhheeeesh!). The average cost was $126 to get someone to maybe open the PDF. 3. Based on the data, I estimate the lead-to-win % to be 0.3%. That means Sales needs 333 “leads” to win 1 deal, which is terribly inefficient. This is consistent with what I see in my own analyses - average lead-to-win rate I see is somewhere between 0.1% - 0.2%, meaning Sales needs 500-1000 paid social “leads” to win a deal. The Metadata report is similar and confirms these inefficiencies in a very large sample size. 4. Low cost per lead does not indicate actual success. The average cost per “lead” was $172 across all lead gen campaigns. But given the very very very low win rate of these leads, we estimate advertising CAC to be $57,000 to win one deal. This is just the advertising cost and doesn’t include Sales headcount, SDRs, marketing headcount, or other marketing programs such as events. It’s safe to say this performance is totally unacceptable. 5. Estimated advertising CAC payback period is estimated to be 21 months. $38MM in total advertising spend on lead gen campaigns resulting in $22MM in closed won revenue. This is just the advertising cost and doesn’t include Sales headcount, SDRs, marketing headcount, or other marketing programs such as events. When you include all the other expenditures, you could reasonably estimate the total CAC payback on these programs is more than 48 months (meaning it takes 4 years just to pay back the cost of acquiring the customer, not adjusted for gross margin) ____ There is FINALLY sufficient data to say definitively that almost all B2B companies should STOP running lead gen campaigns on LinkedIn & Facebook. #marketing #advertising #linkedin #b2b p.s. This is in no way meant to be misconstrued as a knock on Metadata. They published a public data set and I’m providing my expert analysis of the data, specifically related to lead gen campaigns on paid social channels.

A simple idea I can't stop thinking about: We all have: 1. Knowledge 2. Experience 3. Skills But we're so convinced that our knowledge is as common as knowing how to tie your shoes. It isn't. I've seen thousands of people trying to learn things that so many of us take for granted. For example, I think creating simple systems to work with my VA (virtual assistant) is as common as they come. But, when I shared content and a newsletter about how I built them, people were floored. This whole phenomenon of thinking our knowledge is common is called: Knowledge Blindness And trust me — you’re likely suffering from it. So here’s an exercise I'd recommend: Take 30 minutes today to list out what you consider to be your basic skills. 1. What have you learned at work? 2. What hobby are you excellent at? 3. What do family & friends come to you for? 4. What's a problem you solved for yourself? Brain dump everything you can think of. Then, hop on LinkedIn and search around. Is anyone asking about these things? You'll likely find people struggling with something you excel at. That's your cue. Once you've identified a "basic" skill people want to learn, draft up 10-15 pieces of content that show off your expertise. If your content starts getting some traction, consider stepping it up another notch. Create a one-pager or a video explaining the basics of your skill. Turn it into a lead magnet that people can access. You’ll start to collect email addresses of people who could be your ideal customers. Here's the most important step: Once they’ve accessed it, send them an automated email and ask them what their 3 biggest challenges are related to your skill or knowledge. Pipe those answers into ChatGPT and analyze them. ↑ Nobody does this ↑ These answers can become content, newsletters, products, etc. There’s so much gold in this information. I wrote something on Knowledge Blindness 3 years ago. My stance hasn't really changed. 'Be one chapter ahead of the class' You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/ghR6Xfwm Hope this gives you something to think about. Drop any questions you have below and I’ll do my best to answer today.

Last week I met with the CRO of a company that was last valued at $2.3 billion. He used my favorite words I’ve heard TO DATE to describe the biggest problem in sales today: “A couple years ago we were selling in a ‘demand-positive’ environment,” he said. He went on: “Today, we’re selling in a ‘demand-neutral’ and even ‘demand-negative environment.’ Those are COMPLETELY different skills.” I asked him what skills sellers need today. Here’s a few things he said: 1. Deliver a McKinsey-caliber POV. A point of view is a UNIQUE insight about an industry problem. A great POV can change how your buyer thinks. All in a way that favors a purchase. Most sellers don’t know how. POVs are thinly-veiled product pitches. There’s no insight. There’s no acumen. The best sellers deliver POVs that rival a McKinsey consultant. They subtly communicate: “I know your business. And I know this problem better than anyone.” Buyers walk out of those meetings better than how they walked in. 2. Uncover C-LEVEL pain and outcomes Open your CRM. Look at the notes in the ‘pain’ field in your deals. Now ask yourself: Are these the topics that C-Level execs talk about? Chances are: Your pain statements resonate with mid level managers. Not C-Level buyers. Uncover the need BEHIND the need. You'll land on the jackpot. 3. Uncover WHAT IT WOULD TAKE to capitalize on a priority. In a demand-neutral environment, you have to go “outbound.” That means buyers aren’t exploring your solution. The obvious step 1 is to uncover priorities (see above). But that’s not enough. You can uncover priorities until you’re blue in the face. But if you don’t know what it takes for your buyer to CAPITALIZE on them? You can't TIE your solution to them. The best salespeople don’t just uncover deep pain. They uncover how the buyer thinks about the causes. They offer insight on how the buyer SHOULD think about them. 4. Build consesus. Buying committees have gotten larger. Buying committees have gotten more risk averse. Buying committees are prone to “do nothing.” Yet sellers have the same multi-threading habits they did two years ago: Work with one, two, MAYBE three people. Stick with the most comfortable contact. Avoid the skeptics. The best salespeople don't just multi-thread. They do it in a way that creates consensus. 4. Confront and convert skeptics into champions. Weak sellers avoid the skeptics. They're uncomfortable. They ask hard questions. They voice hard objections. But the best sellers know that skeptics can become your best champions. Only people who CARE about solving a problem are skeptical about solutions. If you can win them over, they move mountains. Lean into the skeptics. Not away from them. P.S. Here's 39 (free) questions that sell in today's market conditions: https://go.pclub.io/list

Here's a behind the scenes look at the process of writing the hero copy for our new homepage: These are the top 3 options out of 10-15 that I wrote during brainstorming I applied a handy trick I learned from Anthony Pierri 🎸 to give visitors all the info they want within 5-7 seconds of landing on your site: Your hero copy should include 4 things: -a problem -a capability -a feature -a benefit When I applied this color coding on my first few iterations, I saw a lot of orange and green. I was only including capabilities and benefits. Forcing myself to reference a problem in the copy made it 10x more compelling And referencing specific features adds clarity After pulling the top 3 options, I circulated to 3 trusted teammates for feedback -- giving them this prompt: Which version is the most clear? Which is the most compelling? Which makes it the most obvious how CoLab is different? This led us to go with option #1, but I also loved the headline from #2, so I ended up using it farther down the page. #b2bmarketing #messaging #copywriting

Although venture capitalists need to see a billion-dollar TAM (Total Addressable Market) before investing, it doesn't mean you need to sell the entire product vision to all the possible customers from day 1. Actually, doing so reduces your likelihood of success. Instead, find a customer segment that you can predictably scale to $10M-$20M within and incrementally expand your product footprint and TAM over time. Startups frame this journey by defining their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and aligning sales, marketing, product, and engineering resources around the initial ICP. Stage 2 Capital partner Mandy Cole outlines the nitty gritty frameworks around optimal ICP best practices. My favorite innovation that is not adopted often in the startup ecosystem today is illustrated in the image below. It is hard when a prospect comes inbound, loves your product and vision, but just doesn't fall into your agreed-on ICP. That issue occurs when the ICP definition is limited to firmographic attributes and doesn't account for buyer intent. The framework below accommodates both firmographic and intent attributes. The "green" column defines the perfect ICP customers. When SDRs and email marketers build outbound target account lists, they should focus only on the "green" column customers. When product leaders consider product development trade-offs, they should only focus on the "green" column customers. The "red" column defines customers that should be avoided at this stage. Sellers should immediately disqualify them, CSMs should deny them as customers, and the CEO should back the decision at this stage. The "yellow" column should only be sold to if the prospect comes inbound. This column allows for the company to accommodate a high buyer intent product that happens to fall in a mediocre fit customer segment. These customer attributes should not be pursued through outbound channels or prioritized with product decisions. However, they can be sold to if they are inbound and have high intent. To dive deeper into this concept and watch more of the ICP definition details, check out Mandy's video at the below link. https://lnkd.in/e7Ez-ydf

If you're getting nowhere prospecting right now, here's the 3 things you need to check to get the pipeline growing again: --- 1) List building is more important in a bad economy than messaging. Stick with me. Going wider when companies aren't buying doesn't give you better odds. This is the time to revisit your ideal customer profile and get ruthless building high quality, smaller lists. Yes it'll take more time, but the results are exponentially better when you focus on a particular segment within a particular industry with a particular problem then blasting every company with X00 employees. --- 2) State the negativity in your messages. It deflates it. How? Like this: "When things get rough with layoffs and slow downs nobody is eager to stick their neck out and call for organizational transformation. But I'd imagine your exec team still expects strong performance and is looking to see who will be clever working with less. Are you opposed to exploring ways to improve the process without needing to battle internally?" Take away people's obvious objections to buying things right now by just stating them. A seller can never lower their status with a buyer by being informed. --- 3) Fortune is in the follow up when you're prospecting. The best, most abundant meetings come from the companies you were prospecting months ago that asked you to follow up. Why? Because you're almost guaranteed to have the timing be wrong when you outbound. So lead with that and start collecting amazing follow up leads. Tell prospects "I'd imagine my unexpected message in February did not catch you at the right time when this problem becomes a priority. But that doesn't mean it's not a problem all the same. At what time of year does this become more relevant? When I follow up with you then, what do I need to include in the message to get your attention at that time? And is there anyone else that's going to prioritize this problem then as well?" --- Now we're cooking. Better lists. Clearer messaging. Nailing down the timing. Don't prospect like a maniac. Be ruthless with your time. --- Ready to conquer cold calling anxiety and start meaningful conversations with your buyers? Join +5,500 sellers using the Mic Drop Method, an easy to learn framework for starting dialogue with skeptical prospects: learntosell.io

The secret switch that turns effort into impact. In "Flip the Script" by Oren Klaff, you're introduced to a revolutionary approach to persuasion that goes against conventional wisdom. This book isn't just about selling… It's about fundamentally changing how we communicate to ensure our ideas win. Time to dive in ⬇ 1."Pre-Wired Ideas": Klaff explains how to tap into beliefs and ideas that your audience already holds. This strategy ensures your message is not just heard but instantly accepted.  → Utilize common ground for instant rapport.  → Frame your ideas around familiar concepts. 2. "Status Tip-off": The book reveals the importance of establishing your status from the get-go.  This doesn't mean bragging about achievements but demonstrating value through confidence and expertise.  → Show, don't tell, your value.  → Confidence speaks louder than credentials. 3. "The Flash Roll": Klaff introduces a technique to quickly showcase the depth of your proposal without overwhelming your audience. → It's about striking the balance between detail and intrigue.  → Summarize your value proposition compellingly.  → Keep them wanting more. 4. "Narrative Jujitsu": Flipping objections into reasons to proceed. Klaff offers strategies for turning skepticism into an asset, using your audience's doubts to strengthen your argument.  → Transform doubts into validation.  → Use skepticism as a bridge, not a barrier. 5. "Push and Pull": The art of creating tension and desire. Klaff shows how to navigate the delicate balance of pushing for action without appearing desperate.  → Create a need without overstating.  → Balance assertiveness with allure. "Flip the Script" offers a treasure trove of strategies that challenge traditional sales pitches and persuasive techniques. It's about understanding the psychology behind decisions and aligning your message accordingly. Have you tried flipping the script in your communications?

62.3% of the world uses social media, but less than 1% knows how to measure their social media success (or failure). Here are 11 KPIs to track, for you to really evaluate how well your social media marketing is doing. 1. Conversions – what sales and leads can you attribute to each channel? And what type of content creates the most revenue? 2. Impressions – how many people are you reaching and is it going up or down month over month? 3. Geography – are you reaching people in the regions you currently do business in or plan to? 4. Follower count – it can be a vanity metric, but typically the more followers you have the better off you are. 5. Engagement rate – are a higher or lower percentage of your followers liking, commenting, and sharing your content? 6. Audience growth – when you post content you gain and lose followers. What type of content helps you gain the most followers and which ones lose you the most followers? 7. Direct messages – are you gaining more or less over time? And how many of those direct messages turn into actual revenue? 8. Posting timing – does posting during different times generate you more or less engagement? 9. Mentions – what type of content is creating the most brand mentions? Which platforms do you get the most brand mentions on? 10. Comment sentiment – are most of your comments negative or positive? If they are negative, you probably won’t generate revenue from those users. 11. Retention – what percentage of people stick around to watch the whole video? The longer people stick around, the easier it is to sell them. Look at the drop-off points and adjust your content to keep people sticking around longer.

“I’m not a miracle worker” exclaimed a frustrated B2B CMO at a $750MM company after their PE firm cut the marketing budget by 20% while raising the revenue target by 20%. This is not an isolated complaint. I’ve heard four similar stories from CMOs in the last two weeks. My knee-jerk thought was to have these CMOs ask their PE firm to provide one example from their portfolio (or in world history!) where this formula succeeded. But that would be wasted breath. Instead, I wondered how did we get here? How could seemingly smart business investors create arbitrary growth goals and think they could be achieved? How could these same seemingly savvy investors think that any marketer could increase the efficiency of their marketing by 40%? [40% is the delta between the budget cut and the revenue target.] And how could a self-respecting CEO let this kind of magical thinking invade their business plan? Let’s start with the last one because I know of at least 2 cases in which the CMO pushed back against these arbitrary targets and the CEO said, “Well then, I’ll just find another CMO who is willing to accept this challenge.” Talk about, lose-lose scenarios. That CEO just set the company back at least 6 months as they search for a new CMO, get that person up to speed only to discover the new CMO is not a miracle worker either. Is there a solution here? Perhaps. For PE Firms: Stop setting arbitrary and ridiculous budget goals. They’re demoralizing. Smart marketers will leave. Toadies will fill their place and fail. If you are the spreadsheet wizards of lore, then work with the leadership team to build rational goals based on data like past sales trends, market conditions, market size, and the go-to-market budget. Stretch goals are expected. Magical thinking isn’t. For CEOs: Push back harder. Accepting irrational growth goals accompanied by marketing budget cuts will not extend your tenure. Nor will it improve your chances of success. If you want to drive extraordinary growth, then you need to build an extraordinary team and an extraordinary go-to-market plan. Your team must know you have their backs. And your go-to-market plan needs some carefully calculated bets on new products and new targets. Without something new (and I don’t mean a new CMO), you can expect the same old same old. For CMOs: Focus on your data. Work with your CFO to identify current CAC and LTV figures. Build a predictable demand generation engine. Continually A/B test your demand capture efforts to ensure maximum efficiency and share the results. Map out your customer journey and all of the marketing touchpoints so investors can better understand the role of marketing across the journey. Allocate 10-20% of your budget to experiments with significant upside. And lead a cross-discipline GTM SWAT team focused on exponential growth. In sum, get ahead of your investors by creating sound growth strategies. If you've experienced magical thinking, let me know how you handled it.

As we look at the top shopping trends emerging this season, more people are choosing pre-loved and refurbished items for their holiday gifting than ever before. eBay has been a champion of the circular economy for decades, and it’s encouraging to see a new generation shopping differently.    In fact, new research reveals that 60% of Gen Z plan to shop for pre-loved or refurbished items this holiday, a significant shift in consumer behavior. We saw this play out on eBay over Thanksgiving weekend, with more searches and sales of refurbished inventory — from brands like Sonos and Dyson — and vintage fashion items, ranging from classic streetwear to luxury watches. I’m proud of eBay's role as a recommerce catalyst, helping shoppers to save money during the holidays while reducing their environmental impact. And with this changing consumer mindset around pre-owned products, more people are discovering unique and personal holiday gifts that only eBay can deliver.