What The Fudge (REALLY) Works?
It's a WIP... and it's still a mess. Read this LinkedIn article and see an AI summary at the bottom of this post...
Martech summarizes "...this obsession with attributing spend to revenue isn’t really marketing at all. It ignores the importance of brand marketing and brand recognition, they say, and it seems to promote the idea that marketers can push B2B buyers (committee, influencers, lawyers and all) into the market to make a purchase."
Comments are helpful ...
".. the core problem. We're still talking about impressions and touchpoints like it's some mechanical process where buyers are just along for the ride. It's utterly company-centric and lacking in any connection to a buying reality.'
"...outbound falls into the same bucket as most of the demand generation tactics. When you're lacking a foundation of a strong brand and reputation, all tactics like these hit the wall of ineffectiveness quickly. Scaling volume and tricks to get an open just become unsustainable. Outbound works so much better and with less volume when you have a good reputation in the industry. Same as demand gen. You're activating against awareness. "
"...imagine sales led outbound that respects the buyers journey, is aligned to ICP and actually strategically connects into the marketing lead gen, sales reach up the funnel whilst marketing push down the funnel and they met in the middle like a thing of beauty. And it was all wrapped up in a flawless Vision Mission Values Culture and Goals framework which defines the brand strategy.
That would be a thing of wonder!
This is a great post and thread! ..."
SO... What Works?!
Find your people... that are BOTH willing and able to question and reassess these priorities:
- Focus on brand building
- Understand buyer behavior
- Improve data literacy
- Question linear funnel models
- Align marketing with sales
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- The report assumes marketers can control the B2B buying process through a linear series of touchpoints.
- It ignores research showing that B2B buying timing is largely out of marketers' control.
- The data and methodology behind the report are questionable.
- The focus on touchpoints and impressions overlooks more important factors like brand building and buyer behavior.
What marketers can affect:
- Brand awareness and reputation
- Quality and relevance of content
- Targeting of potential buyers
- Consistency of messaging across channels
What marketers cannot easily predict or control:
- Exact timing of when a company enters the buying process
- Internal decision-making processes of potential clients
- External factors influencing purchase decisions
- The specific path a buyer takes through various touchpoints
Sentiment analysis: The overall sentiment of the post and comments is largely negative towards the HockeyStack report. There is frustration with oversimplified marketing metrics and a call for more nuanced understanding of B2B buying processes. The tone is critical but constructive, with many commenters offering alternative perspectives and suggestions for improvement.