A complete overview of B2B marketing tactics (props to Pierre Herubel).
I attend ~30 strategy GTM calls monthly this year with B2B leaders (C-level and VPs) dealing with:
– Inefficient ROAS or negative marketing spend
– Old playbooks that no longer work
– Reliance on referrals/SEO that tanked in Q1 and Q2
– 60% lower pipeline and payroll/expenses exceeding net new revenue
🗺 Discussing what the modern B2B marketing map looks like today.
And in the ocean of opportunities, how do you establish the right mix?
1. Marketing spend assessment ⏺
Our portfolio invests anywhere from 20% to 50% of revenue on marketing and sales. That includes payroll, contractors, ad spend, SaaS, relevant opex.
It used to be 12% – 23% just 7 years ago. Market saturation led to performance marketing and brand affinity costs climbing up.
2. ICP alignment ⏺
Find a mix of channels that:
– Your target audience follows and trusts
– Natively fit your core skill set/product values
– Aren’t wildly oversaturated
Being first in market is expensive and risky. And playing in a red ocean where everyone competes is expensive.
Find the middle ground.
And don’t shy away from newsletters, podcasts, social selling or sponsorships even if you haven’t done these before.
3. Seasonality ⏺
First-party data delivers continued results while billboard ads will fail to deliver during the summer breaks and the Olympics attention grab.
Bet on evergreen channels and shift the toggle between effective and seasonal and traditional.
4. Omnichannel ⏺
The buyer journey isn’t linear; it moves through different phases while brand affinity is developed.
Landing a great ICP visit from an event or paid ad won’t convert right away.
Failing to remarket or show up in relevant listigns or recommendations will render that first hit obsolete.
Omnichannel matters – budget your mix with both value added across 1 channel and cross-channel presence.
Use Pierre‘s chart to map out investments vs. long-term results.
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I write about B2B strategies and omnichannel GTM across my portfolio of agency and consulting clients. Follow Mario Peshev for competitive insights. 🔝