5 Essential Marketing Approaches to Elevate Your 2024 Results
As we look back at 2023 and toward the year ahead, it's clear that business is rapidly evolving. From AI to Web3, it can feel like there are new things to adapt to each week. With the proliferation of these new technologies and the rapid pace of change, it has become increasingly difficult for B2B brands to capture consumers' attention and build affinity and loyalty.
Over the past months, I have shared insights with you on these topics. Today, I offer a curated collection of 5 essential approaches that will help you achieve your 2024 marketing goals.
Approach #1: Pursue a Trust-Centered Marketing Approach
The turbulence of recent years, marked by pandemics and societal turmoil, has left consumers feeling uneasy. Their trust was shaken by the very entities that promised to serve them. From data breaches to corporate scandals, consumer trust in brands has crumbled, leaving a landscape of skepticism and caution.
Recent data from Ipsos and Pew make it clear that people don't trust institutions as they used to. And marketing leaders appear to be keenly aware of this. A survey of 1700 senior marketing executives by LinkedIn / YouGov indicated that "The number one opportunity for B2B marketers today is investing in building relationships and trust with customers." Amidst this turmoil lies an opportunity for brands to reconsider their approach. In her TED Talk, "How to Build (and Rebuild) Trust," Harvard Professor Frances Frei highlights empathy, authenticity, and logic as the cornerstones of trust.
It's important to remember that we rely on trusted relationships even more during times of uncertainty. I want to challenge each of us to employ a trust-centered approach. It's possible that there's never been a more important time to do so.
Read more about how to initiate trust-centered relationships with customers here: Trust-Centered Marketing In An Age of Distrust
Approach #2: Market Like An Owner
We've all heard it—the average tenure of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is the lowest among the C-Suite, at its lowest level in a decade and falling incrementally. Management expert Peter Drucker famously said, "Business has only two basic functions - marketing and innovation." So, if marketing is a central pillar of business, why do CMOs so often find themselves on the chopping block? I contend that it is because there are marketing leaders today who fail to view marketing from an owner's perspective.
In a June 2023 LinkedIn / Ipsos B2B Benchmark analysis, hundreds of marketing leaders reported that the top 10 skills needed to succeed as a CMO are:
Creative Strategy & Execution
Marketing Technology / Data Analytics Mastery
Problem-Solving
Innovative Thinking
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Consensus-building
Sales
Forecasting
Speaking the Language of Finance
Risk Assessment
If you removed technology and data analytics mastery from the list above, you might have difficulty distinguishing these skills from those of a founder. So what does this mean?
I was a founder who fell in love with marketing. When my business was acquired in 2008, I took on the role of marketing leader, helping other B2B founders grow their revenues 2-3X a year. Along the way, I've partnered with CEOs, sales leaders, product leaders, client success leaders, CFOs and investors to help them capture the market and achieve their goals.
Here are the 5 essential perspectives that have helped me market like an owner:
Take (extreme) ownership.
Work as one team toward achieving revenue goals.
Understand the business fundamentals.
Fully leverage marketing as a strategic multiplier for the business.
Clearly communicate the roadmap and demonstrate ROI.
To be successful in the role of CMO today, marketing like an owner is essential. The 5 perspectives above offer a pathway to improving your relevancy, impact and tenure as a CMO.
Read more about how to market like an owner and become a founder's best friend and secret weapon here: Are CMOs An Endangered Species? The Importance of Marketing Like an Owner
Approach #3: Avoid Common Marketing Misconceptions that Hinder Performance
As I mentioned, the average CMO tenure is at an all-time low. What’s more, 53% of Marketers report that their role is misunderstood by their companies (according to a recent MarketingWeek survey of 3,000 marketers). Performing the role is fraught with obstacles, both internal and external. Allow me to clear up a number of misconceptions about Marketing, which may help well-intended executives better understand and support their marketing leaders.
Here are my 7 common marketing misconceptions:
Everyone is a marketer.
Marketing is synonymous with [insert specialty].
All we need is the latest tool to get results.
The job of marketing is to take orders from the other functions.
It's all about the data.
Great products sell themselves.
Marketing is a cost center.
Ultimately, the success of any organization depends on the collective efforts of its teams. The good news is that your marketing leader wants your business to succeed as much as you do. Let's recognize the strategic role marketing plays and its potential impact on the business and move beyond the misconceptions standing in the way of their ability to grow your market share and expand the value and perception of your brand.
Learn more about the 7 marketing misperceptions here: 7 Marketing Misconceptions Absolutely Crippling Your Organization
Approach #4: End Your Reliance On SEO
What if you knew that in 6 months, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) would no longer drive website traffic to the extent it does today? Would you begin adjusting your content strategy?
Even before the emergence of Search Generative Experience (SGE), you probably noticed that ads, videos, images, rich snippets, featured snippets and knowledge graphs were increasingly taking up more real estate in search results. In Late Spring and early Summer, Bing advanced its Search to include AI, and Google signaled a shift to SGE, where AI is set to be the primary driver for its search results. According to Google, "SGE brings the power of generative AI directly into Search. Since launching in the U.S., we've rapidly added new capabilities, with more to come." And some months ago, Google announced it is now welcoming users aged 13-24.
If the signs weren't clear enough, a recent analysis by Search Engine Land concluded: "Websites are likely to see their organic traffic drop 18-64% as a result of SGE." It's time for content marketers to end their reliance on SEO.
To be clear, branded queries and searches for products and services are expected to continue seeing some website traffic, particularly for the top-tier brands that AI recommends. However, the larger concern lies with search traffic from longtail keywords that typically point to thought leadership content that answers questions and addresses concerns - inquiries that AI responds to directly. Traffic generated from these types of searches is especially significant to lesser-known small and mid-sized companies. Now is the time for content creators to consider a plan B.
Recent developments beg the question: How should content creators respond to SGE? Here, in a nutshell, is what I recommend:
Increase emphasis on personal brands.
Optimize earned channels.
Place a greater focus on owned channels.
This is what authorities like Rand Fishkin, Joe Pulizzi, Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo are already doing, and you can, too.
Learn more about Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and how content creators can better respond here: It's Time For Content Marketers To End Their Reliance On SEO
Approach #5: Take the Time to Develop A Winning Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy
B2B companies are facing economic, financial, staffing and technological headwinds, to name a few). According to statistics from GTM Partners and Bombora, 37% of B2B companies expect to miss their revenue goals in 2023, with 53% reporting a lower-than-expected pipeline. Despite this, today's market leaders have found ways to adapt.
What are these companies doing that others aren't? My work with B2B brands demonstrates that many more B2B companies could be hitting their revenue targets if only their teams had greater insight and were moving in the same direction.
Many indicators point to the need for a unified GTM strategy, including:
A lack of overall demand
Concerns about product-market fit (PMF)
Too many unqualified leads
Low average contract values
Sales stalling out
Decreased close rates
Your company can keep working harder and harder towards an uncertain future and trust that your team will somehow have the answers, or your team can take a beat and recenter around the customer, begin listening and craft a winning blueprint.
This includes:
Understanding your company's DNA
Understanding your customers and the community that surrounds them
Understanding your ideal category
Understanding the context of your market
Gleaning insights from your competitors
Inconsistencies inside your business that result in your target market being unaware or confused about who you are and why you matter to them now handicap your ability to perform. Taking a beat to focus on building a winning strategy enabled the companies I've worked with to avoid wasting vital time, money and energy and instead begin growing their businesses 2X-3X annually in some cases.
Learn more about the symptoms of a poor marketing strategy and how to fix them here: Support Growth with Your Ideal GTM Strategy
2024 is right around the corner. I believe the 5 essential marketing approaches above will help you stay ahead of the curve and enable you to crush your revenue targets next year.
Need help?
AH Marketing is an experienced, full-service fractional marketing team that supports growing B2B businesses with Go-To-Market strategy, planning and execution that results in increased demand, pipeline and revenue. Please reach out to me if your business needs help.
