Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry gets the call from a telemarketer and says he is too busy to talk, asking if he can call them back on their home number later? The telemarketer replies he isn’t allowed to give out his home number, and Jerry replies “I guess you don’t want people calling you at home? Well now you know how I feel.”
That episode aired back in 1992 and the world all laughed and sympathised with the joke.
We don’t even have home phones anymore, but people are still trying the cold call technique. If you are still working with outdated marketing practices such as that, it’s time to learn how disruptive B2B marketing can help.
Which Marketing Tactics Should Be Abandoned?
If cold calls were a joke in the 90s, they shouldn’t even be on your radar now. The average c-level executive gets 200 emails a day, so cold emails are the new calls. 91 percent of people say online advertising is more intrusive and annoying than ever and Adblocker Plus has 300 million downloads worldwide. But digital marketing is the way, right? Yes and no. Digital marketing is getting easier, but the results are getting harder to attain.
It’s harder to:
- Be seen amongst the crowd online
- Meet the expectations of the buyer (which are considerably higher now)
- Hold the buyer’s attention
- Deal with a buyer who has access to unlimited information
- Close the sale
- Avoid the saturation of the online marketplace
Why Are Digital Marketing Results Hard to Attain?
This subject is a blog within itself, but let’s try a little experiment to help prove our point. Let’s look at how hard it is to rank for a keyword. Say you are a UCaaS Solution Provider:
Oh, good! Only 199,000 other results to contend with! Okay forget that. Let’s create an SD Wan Implementation checklist and do it better than anyone else, surely that will trim the fat a little:
What!? How did that give us even more competition!? Okay. FINE. Let’s offer a stack of blogs and ebooks on telecom expense management services. Surely no one else is offering that:
I quit.
Don’t worry though, we have it figured out. We can show you a great way to eliminate literally millions of people from your competition:
1. Type exactly this into Google search — cloud migration services
2. Take note of the search results and time under the search bar
3. Now type the exact same sentence, but with a capital letter at the start — Cloud migration services
4. Note the search time and results again
See a significant difference between the two? Does that make your f*cking mind want to explode? It should. But guess what? That’s just how the cookie crumbles. And rather than letting it drive us insane, we combat it with disruptive B2B marketing.
Why Is Disruptive B2B Marketing the Solution?
We mentioned how big the crowd that you need to rise above online is these days, and disruptive B2B marketing is the way to do it. It’s about turning people’s heads and forcing them to take notice of what you are doing. The best part about it? There are no rules. Anything goes, and the more creative you are, the better.
The basic idea is to disrupt the dull waves of B2B content, and we’ve put together four areas you can focus on to help do that.
1. Use pop culture to your advantage
You’ve no doubt heard the word viral more in the last few years than in your entire life, right? Well, there is a huge positive to that. Never before has there been an easier point of reference to see what everyone in the world is looking at: simply look at whatever is going viral! Take something fresh and relevant that people can identify with (and probably laugh at) and work that into your creative idea to grab their attention.
Here’s an example. We had a client who had a cold list of names with no prior contact. We decided to use the Game of Thrones hysteria going on at the time since everyone was talking about it around the water cooler. We needed some way to grab their attention, so we came up with this:
We drew comparisons between the dark and scary world of Game of Thrones and SD Wan. It came as a postcard with a handwritten letter:
It looked unique and fit the whole Game of Thrones comparison quite well. It also included some free sh*t (which we will get to in point 3). From 232 people on the list we had 250 site visits and 15 form fills. That is a 6.5 percent conversion rate in a world where 1 percent conversion is considered good.
2. Make a podcast
In the USA roughly 67 million people listen to podcasts every month. On average 90 percent of a podcast is listened to when it is activated. This means if your message is in there, it will likely be heard by a lot of people. Now we know it isn’t easy to sit in your room and record the next Serial, but the point is people like podcasts.
If you can offer that to your specific audience in an enticing way, or get involved with one that already does, you have a decent shot. A great example of a podcast with a specific audience in mind is the Intelisys Channel Outlaws podcast. Each week they feature someone who they consider to be a top performer that operates outside the box to discuss best practices, business building strategies, and more. Not only is it informative, but what a great networking opportunity for all involved!
2a. Being a guest on a podcast
We know it isn’t realistic for everyone to set up their own podcast, but featuring on someone’s established podcast should be a lot more achievable. Look at podcasts that operate within scenes relevant to your business and approach them for an interview. This is a brilliant way to reach a whole new audience of potential customers. This appearance is also great reusable content, good for branding and building authority. All from spending a couple of hours talking shop.
3. Give away something cool
No, I don’t need or want another damn tote bag or water bottle. How have we continually thought over many years that we should keep dishing out the same promotional items? How many oversized t-shirts with a random product poorly printed on them does your partner need to sleep in? If you want to have a memorable piece of marketing, don’t put it on an item that isn’t memorable at all. Instead try for something that is useful or informative, or something fun that can be aligned with your business offering.
Consider:
- A book – If you have a book that is relevant and can be offered to a specific audience, do it. Books are considered valuable as they contain useful information and they scan easily to look attractive online.
- Food – People love and need food, but try and be clever. If you are selling a hybrid server, offer up a sushi burrito. It’s a hybrid of two foods! Both are innovative. Get it!?
- A monthly subscription – A subscription will remind people of you everytime they get the wine club of the month, book of the month, or skull of the month(!?) delivered each month. There are entire websites dedicated to find a perfectly suited subscription for your target audience.
- Toys and gadgets – If you’re reading our blog, then you’re probably in tech. Up the geek factor to pull at the heartstrings of Star Wars fanatics, or get your hands on the latest in gaming, wearables, or VR goggles.
4. Use Google My Business
People are looking for things on Google, and Google will treat your business well if you use their services. Google My Business uses Google maps and the things people search within the platform to offer up business suggestions and details. Even though the world is pretty much online now, it’s somewhat surprising how much value people place on local business.
Google My Business is a good choice at the moment because not a lot of businesses are using it and the pool isn’t muddied yet. Plus it’s geographically targeted so if you run a store front, it’s a huge advantage.
Getting listed on Google My Business is pretty easy:
- Visit the website or claim your business
- Select the ‘start now’ option on the homepage
- Fill in the details relevant to your business
- Make sure the NAP matches (name address phone)
- Get testimonials, put in keywords, and add services
- Add multiple locations if required
- Presto! You are active
- All information can be edited along the way if things change
What Was New Will No Longer Be
Google display ads are killed by ad-blockers, and Facebook isn’t free anymore. Everything changes, and if your marketing strategies don’t adapt, they will no longer be effective. You can’t be expected to keep up with all of this; you are too busy making sure your business is at the top of its game.
That’s why enlisting the help of a professional marketing agency is undoubtedly the way to go in the evolving digital world. Contact Total Product Marketing today, and we’ll make sure your days of cold calling are over and done.
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