👕 Why Every B2B Org Should Be Selling T-Shirts
B2B merch + why it's better to do few things really, really well
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In The B2B Bite, I break down the most interesting marketing stories into fun-size, actionable chunks to kick off your week.
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Brand Building
👕 Why Every B2B Org Should Be Selling T-Shirts
'Merch' gets a bad rap in B2B circles. We've all walked away from a trade show exhibition booth, weighed down by a bounty of branded pens that some executive somewhere believes will be the key to convincing customers to do business with them.
"It'll remind them of us when they use it!" they will cry.
Ultimately, however, these sad, throwaway products are just that; things that are inevitably discarded as you desperately try and get below the carry on luggage allowance for your return trip home.
But then there are exceptions. Take Fast, the one-click-checkout company. This week, I spent my actual money on a festive-themed hoodie from the B2B fintech company. Why did I do this? Why would anyone do this?
Fast has done a phenomenal job building their brand. They have also nailed the two elements that need to be nailed by any organization that aspires to persuade people to wear clothing with their logo on it outside of an exhibition hall.
Personality. Fast doesn't sound like a 'traditional' B2B brand. By that, I mean Fast sounds like a human. Or at least there's an actual human writing the copy across its social media. It asks questions. It draws links to pop culture. It runs giveaways. Adopting a more friendly tone of voice encourages people to engage. And this, in turn, helps develop an emotional connection.
Community. Fast turbo-charged their brand awareness this year with the hiring of Matthew Kobach as Head of Content, who, through a combination of expert social media strategy and his position as an influencer, has successfully built a legion of loyal fans around the brand. When people buy a hoodie from Fast, they don't just buy a hoodie; they buy into something they want to be a part of.
🥡 Takeaway
I'm of the opinion that every B2B organisation should aspire to develop a brand that people actually want to have plastered over their clothing. Why not? If people want products with your logo on it, you've done something that is incredibly difficult to do - build something people actually care about.
To some degree, this requires shifting your mindset to thinking more like a consumer brand. It requires investment in tone of voice, community building and emotional storytelling. It means taking creative risks and not relying solely on data about what's worked before to determine what you're going to do next.
But, if you get it right, you'll end up with this kind of loyalty to show for it.
Lead Gen
🖌️ Do Few Things Really, Really Well
87% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels. Why?
It's about trust. Like anyone who has done an improv class and fallen backwards off a table into the waiting arms of eight people in lycra, your customer is 'trusting' you to deliver them value directly into their most personal of digital spaces - their inbox. And this means they are one step closer to buying something from you.
One company that has done phenomenally well capitalising on this trust is Crossbeam, a platform that helps companies build more valuable partner ecosystems. Spearheaded by Sean Blanda, Director of Content, he and his team built their email database up to 10,000 subscribers almost from a standing start - all with the help of just a handful of pieces of hero content.
Here's what they've nailed:
Relevancy. They went to their customers and asked a very specific question - “if you had me at your disposal to go out do research, what would you like to know?” From this, they identified four knowledge gaps that they have filled with highly relevant content for those same customers.
Focus. They don't spread themselves to thin. Email is the channel that they've identified as being the one that stands to give the highest returns, so they are laser-focused on developing a strategy that will grow it. You can see a lot of work has gone into their weekly newsletter.
I actually interviewed Sean on this strategy for my podcast. He walked me through step-by-step how they created the assets from scratch, distributed them to their growing audience, equipped Crossbeam's commercial team with what they needed to go out and sell the content on the marketing team's behalf and how these leads were nurtured once they were in the funnel. You can listen here.
🥡 Takeaway
One of the biggest lessons I've taken from this year is the power of simplicity. I realised that there's strength in stripping things back to focus on one goal and one channel, mastering it, and then moving on to something new.
It's easy to get caught up in the next big marketing tactic or to feel a compulsion to get something published to the blog every day even if the quality is so-so, but ultimately this harms long-term lead-gen efforts.
As you look to mapping out your 2021 strategy, think hard about the tentpole pieces of content that will actually resonate with your customers. These may take more time to research and produce, meaning you have to sacrifice some publishing frequency, but this often yields more meaningful results.
🍴 Nibbles
Despite the uncertainty of 2020, three-quarters of B2B tech companies have been able to meet or outperform their marketing targets this year. Find out more in FINITE's 2021 B2B marketing trends.
Here's a great thread from Nadine Dietz that features a ton of marketers views on some of the biggest marketing trends today.
One of the biggest banes of my life is convincing clients to do a case study with me... but this blog post from Velocity Partners makes me think I've been going about it the wrong way.
Really enjoyed digging into 'State of Community Management in 2020' article from Fi Shailes this week. Most shocking to me is just how poorly paid social managers are in the UK. 😠
Hundreds and hundreds of horror marketing stories in six words or less in this Twitter thread. Honestly, the stuff of nightmares.
...and one more thing
Every two weeks I sit down with a marketing leader to lean how they hit their goals by thinking outside the box - and dig into how this can be applied to other B2B businesses. Here are a few of my most recent episodes.
🚨 NEW EPISODE 🚨
What it Takes to Build a Successful B2B Community w/ Christina PashialisTell Me Why… You Need Pop Culture in B2B Marketing w/ Brianne Fleming
Building a 10,000 Strong B2B Email List from Scratch w/ Sean Blanda
How to Use Instagram to Promote People and Culture w/ Nicole Tabak
You can also find the B2B Better on Apple Podcasts and almost all other podcast directories.
And that's it! See you next week.