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Cut the fat, not the impact: how smart CMOs are squeezing more from less in 2025 

Cut the fat, not the impact: how smart CMOs are squeezing more from less in 2025 

Let’s not sugar-coat it: This year is a pressure cooker for B2B marketers. 

Budgets are under strain. Teams are stretched. The ask? Deliver more commercial impact with fewer resources. And no, you can’t hire. 

But the best CMOs aren’t flinching, they’re pivoting. They’re treating constraint as a catalyst. Getting lean. Getting sharp. And crucially, getting agile. 

Here’s how high-performing marketing teams are turning challenge into competitive advantage: 

Ruthless prioritisation, not polite compromises 

Top marketing leaders aren’t hedging their bets across 10 campaigns, they’re backing three that actually drive results. That means trimming the fluff, shelving the vanity projects, and focusing on what aligns with commercial strategy. 

Agile isn’t a theory, it’s a working style 

Agile ways of working aren’t new, but they’re becoming non-negotiable. The teams leading the pack have baked in agile rhythms: sprint planning, backlog prioritisation, iterative testing, and regular retros. 

They’re not just reacting faster, they’re learning faster, and delivering faster. 

It’s not about doing more work. It’s about doing the right work. In the right order. With the right people in the room. 

Collaboration over control 

Marketing doesn’t sit in a silo anymore (and if it does in your org — fix that). Smart CMOs are forging stronger ties across sales, product and finance, aligning on outcomes, not just outputs. 

It’s a team sport now. And marketers are the ones keeping the scoreboard. 

Data is your proof point and your power play 

Marketing has to justify its seat at the revenue table. That means mastering the numbers such as CLV, CAC, pipeline velocity, engagement-to-conversion rates, and using them to steer investment. 

Gut feel isn’t good enough. Real-time insight is how you earn (and defend) your budget. 

Content that cuts through (not just fills the funnel) 

Paid is plateauing. Content is climbing. But the bar is higher. Mediocre messaging gets ignored, especially in a market flooded with AI-generated ‘meh’. 

It’s not about more content. It’s about braver content. Useful, opinionated, and properly distributed. 

Fractional, flexible, and faster to value 

Permanent headcount is harder to come by, so leaders are tapping into a more elastic talent model such as outsourced experts, fractional CMOs, freelance specialists, to fill gaps fast and keep momentum high. 

It’s smart. It’s scalable. And it’s how high-growth teams are staying agile without overloading their core. 

This is agile leadership in practice 

Constraint doesn’t kill marketing. Complacency does. The CMOs thriving in 2025 are the ones embracing agile principles, making bold decisions, and embedding experimentation deep into their team’s DNA. 

Where are you doubling down this year?

How are you embedding agility into your strategy and operations? 

Would love to hear what’s working…and what’s not. 

 

May 15, 2025 Zoe Merchant ,
Zoe MerchantCut the fat, not the impact: how smart CMOs are squeezing more from less in 2025 
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Agile marketing playbook – A B2B marketer’s guide

Agile marketing playbook – A B2B marketer’s guide

Rewire your B2B marketing for pace, focus and impact

The B2B Agile Marketing Playbook is your practical guide to working smarter, moving faster, and delivering measurable impact – without adding more to your to-do list.

Built for modern B2B marketers under pressure to prove value, this playbook shows you:

  • What agile marketing is and how it helps you ditch outdated plans in favour of fast, focused execution

  • How to improve effectiveness by aligning campaigns to real business goals

  • How to build a team that collaborates better, adapts faster, and delivers more consistently

  • How to run high-impact experiments that drive learning, lead quality, and ROI
  • How to scale what works, cut what doesn’t, and stay one step ahead of changing priorities

Whether you’re optimising an existing strategy or starting fresh, this guide gives you the tips and tools to transform how your team operates and how your work gets measured.

Complete the form to download the playbook and start delivering better marketing results – faster.

May 7, 2025 Alaina Roberts
Alaina RobertsAgile marketing playbook – A B2B marketer’s guide
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Reframe cards: Publishing, media and events edition

Reframe cards: Publishing, media and events edition

Download your cards to re–frame conversations and spark fresh perspectives. 

Reframe Cards are an easy-to-use tool intended to stimulate conversations within teams, encouraging them to reconsider strategies and tactics by prompting thought-provoking discussions.

This edition, created especially for marketing teams working in publishing, media and events, are designed to challenge thinking and uncover key learnings, to help refine strategies, optimise performance, and drive audience development for greater engagement and business impact.

They aim to foster transparency and collaboration by prompting team members to share their thoughts and ideas openly, and can be used in various settings such as team meetings, workshops, or planning sessions to focus on goal-oriented actions and results.

The cards can infuse creativity and agile thinking into team communication, aiming to drive discussions towards actionable solutions.

Complete the form below to download the Reframe cards

March 12, 2025 Alaina Roberts ,
Alaina RobertsReframe cards: Publishing, media and events edition
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The big 6: How agile marketing drives operational success

The big 6: How agile marketing drives operational success

Our panel discussion with industry leaders uncovered six actionable ways marketing ops teams can deliver efficient, effective, and engaging campaigns

Driving operational efficiency while creating marketing that engages your audiences is no small feat. Marketing operations are the backbone of high-performing teams that drive efficiency, improve workflows, and boost effectiveness. Agile marketing is now crucial in transforming marketing operations, helping teams streamline processes, and enabling a culture of continuous improvement.

In our recent panel discussion hosted by Zoe Merchant, MD of Bright and agile marketing expert, Amanda Green, Marketing Operations Director at Stenn, and Lisa Sutton, CRO and marketing ops specialist, we focused on how agile marketing is transforming marketing operations. We’ve summarised the six key drivers for success here in this briefing note.

  1. Remove operational bottlenecks: Quick wins

To tackle bottlenecks Amanda, Lisa and Zoe recommended remaining agile and adaptable by establishing consistent and repeatable workflows and templates including:

  • Briefing templates: Standardise templates to ensure all necessary information is available at the start of a project, helping avoid delays and miscommunication.
  • Approval workflows: Simplify approval processes and use workflow management tools like Monday.com, Jira or Asana to automate and track them
  • Kanban boards: Visual tools like Trello, Miro or Microsoft Planner can help manage and prioritise tasks, providing a clear view of tasks in progress and those needing attention.

  1. Build a culture focused on growth and experimentation

For agile marketing to thrive, a culture that encourages experimentation is vital.

  • Education on experimentation: Zoe stressed the importance of educating teams on the benefits of experimentation to reduce fear of failure
  • Data-driven decisions: Without data and insights, experimentation is ineffective. Setting clear hypothesis, KPI and investing in reporting and tracking tools is essential to robustly test and learn from experiments, allowing your teams to iterate to drive continual improvement
  • Risk-managed experimentation: Zoe emphasised using experimentation frameworks to manage risk effectively and ensure experiments are valuable without exposing the organisation to unnecessary risks.

  1. Effective metrics for high-performing marketing ops

Data-driven decisions hinge on choosing the right metrics. Amanda and Lisa suggested focusing on:

  • Efficiency gains: Measure productivity improvements in marketing workflows and campaign delivery
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Understanding CLV in B2B marketing is key and tracking CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) can help marketing operations teams make informed decisions that drive long-term value
  • Data quality: Accurate and reliable data is the backbone of successful marketing operations, as it ensures other metrics are dependable.

  1. Fostering collaboration and breaking down silos

Clear, open communication and cross-functional collaboration is essential in breaking down silos that hinder marketing effectiveness.

  • Regular cross-functional meetings: Amanda recommended clinics, forums, and collaborative meetings to facilitate better communication and understanding between teams
  • Knowledge hubs: Lisa suggested creating accessible knowledge hubs with key information, enabling teams to self-serve and access essential data without formal meetings. Bright frequently help clients establish centres of excellence to facilitate knowledge sharing to underpin marketing effectiveness.
  • Reward and recognition: Celebrating cross-functional successes can build trust and foster teamwork, breaking down organisational silos.

  1. AI and automation in marketing operations

The role of AI in marketing is growing, but it’s essential to approach it with clarity, including:

  • Targeted use cases: Rather than viewing AI as a catch-all solution, focus on specific use cases, such as data insights, campaign personalisation, and process automation and set out small scale tests to understand the value, before scaling
  • AI as an enabler: Lisa emphasised the importance of understanding the value AI can add rather than introducing it as just another tool and expecting marketers to figure out how to make best use of it
  • The AI sandwich approach: Zoe introduced the concept of the “AI Sandwich,” where the process begins and ends with human input (the bread!), ensuring that the AI outputs (the filling!) are curated, relevant and accurate.

  1. Preparing for future technologies in marketing operations

To make the most of new technologies, Lisa and Amanda advised:

  • Starting small: Implement small, low-risk pilot programs, using a tool such as the Bright AI activation framework to allow teams to familiarise themselves with new technology without disrupting operations
  • Stealth AI adoption: Both leaders acknowledged the need to manage “stealth AI” (AI tools adopted by individuals without formal approval) by setting guardrails, creating guidelines and offering training to maximise adoption benefits.

Ready to transform your marketing operations?

Agile marketing isn’t just a process—it’s a mindset that drives efficiency, collaboration, and customer-focused results. Start by fostering a growth mindset, tackling one workflow bottleneck, and piloting a small agile initiative.

With data-driven insights, collaboration, and smart use of AI, your marketing ops can thrive in today’s fast-changing environment.

Ready to secure greater marketing agility? Explore our Agile Marketing training and pilot campaigns. Get in touch to transform your operations.

 

November 21, 2024 Zoe Merchant ,
Zoe MerchantThe big 6: How agile marketing drives operational success
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5 common barriers to adopting agile marketing … and how to overcome them

5 common barriers to adopting agile marketing … and how to overcome them

Adopting agile marketing can revolutionise your team’s efficiency and creativity, but the road to getting there isn’t always smooth. Many companies face hurdles that hinder the full potential of agile practices. In this article, we’ll break down five common barriers that could stand in your way when embracing agile—and how to successfully navigate them. 

  1. Cultural resistance to change 

Agile marketing requires a shift in mindset. For teams used to traditional marketing methods, this shift can be intimidating. Employees might resist breaking free from the hierarchical decision-making and long-term planning that they’re accustomed to. Without fostering an open, collaborative environment that embraces learning, agile can feel like an alien system. 

How to overcome:  Build a strong agile marketing team by starting small, introducing agile concepts gradually. Emphasise the benefits—like faster delivery times and more flexibility—and create a culture of experimentation where failures are seen as learning opportunities. 

2. Lack of leadership buy-in 

Even if a marketing team is eager to adopt agile, without leadership support, the initiative can fall flat. Leaders may be skeptical, concerned about the potential disruption to established workflows, or unclear on how agile aligns with the broader business strategy. 

How to overcome:  Ensure leaders understand the value of agile. Communicate clear benefits, such as greater adaptability in competitive markets. Offer pilot programs or workshops to demonstrate how agile can fit within the organisation’s goals. 

3. Unclear roles and responsibilities 

Agile marketing thrives on cross-functional collaboration, but without clear roles, things can quickly get messy. Teams might not know who is responsible for what, leading to confusion, missed deadlines, or overlapping tasks. 

How to overcome: Define roles clearly at the outset of adopting agile practices. For example, appoint a Product Owner or Marketing Lead to oversee priorities while ensuring that every team member understands their function within the agile framework. Clear communication is key to keeping everyone aligned. At Bright we always develop a RASCI. This framework identifies those who are Responsible, Accountable, Supporting, Consulted and Informed, this helps the whole team know who needs, and who delivers, relevant information. 

4. Overloaded teams 

One of the greatest risks to agile marketing is overwhelming your team with too many projects. When there is constant pressure to deliver quickly, teams can burn out. This can create a vicious cycle of decreased productivity, ultimately derailing the very agility the process aims to improve. 

How to overcome:  Set realistic expectations for your sprints and ensure that workloads are manageable. Focus on prioritising tasks that drive the most value. It’s also essential to encourage a work-life balance to prevent burnout and maintain the team’s enthusiasm for agile. 

5. Inconsistent feedback loops 

Agile thrives on feedback, whether it’s from customers, stakeholders, or internal team members. Without consistent feedback, teams can end up iterating on the wrong ideas or moving too far away from customer needs. 

How to overcome: Set up regular review sessions with key stakeholders and use tools like surveys or customer feedback platforms to gather insights. Make feedback a central part of your sprint reviews and planning, ensuring the team has a clear direction for improvement. 

Adopting agile marketing can offer tremendous rewards, but it’s important to acknowledge the potential challenges along the way. By addressing these common barriers head-on, your team can unlock the full potential of agility and move towards more efficient, creative, and customer-centric ways of working. 

If you need some support to get your agile marketing back on track, our team of agile experts can help you review and re-establish your ways of working, and even help create the vital leadership buy-in to need to ensure your agile aspirations are fully realised. Contact us.

 

October 8, 2024 Jen Gudka ,
Jen Gudka5 common barriers to adopting agile marketing … and how to overcome them
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A/B testing: An agile marketing approach to B2B marketing optimisation

A/B testing: An agile marketing approach to B2B marketing optimisation

Let’s face it, the B2B world is a rollercoaster. One minute, you’re riding high on a new tech trend; the next, you’re bracing for an economic downturn. It’s like trying to hit a moving target in a fog, and to make things even more interesting, there’s the constant noise of new competitors and a sea of content that’s drowning out your message. Cutting through the noise and being able to relate directly to your prospects and customers is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ but a necessity.

At Bright, we believe the key to success lies in continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making. That’s where A/B testing comes in – the best unkept secret for optimising your B2B marketing efforts in this dynamic environment. It isn’t just about why you apply A/B testing but also how you apply the methodology to make it work.

To test or not to test? That really is the question.

A/B testing, also called split testing, pits two variations of a marketing element against each other to see which one performs better. This could be anything from a landing page headline to a call-to-action button in an email. By statistically analysing the results, you gain valuable insights into what resonates with your target audience.

Here’s why A/B testing is a perfect fit for agile B2B marketing:

  • Fast iteration: The agile methodology thrives on quick cycles of experimentation and learning. A/B testing allows you to test hypotheses, gather data quickly, and refine your approach based on real-world results.
  • Data-driven decisions: Forget gut feelings. A/B testing removes guesswork from the equation. You’ll see concrete evidence of what works and what doesn’t, empowering you to make data-backed decisions for better ROI.
  • Continuous improvement: A/B testing is an ongoing process. As you learn what resonates with your audience, you can keep iterating and optimising your marketing tactics for maximum impact.

A/B testing for B2B marketers

While A/B testing offers a powerful tool for any marketing campaign, the B2B landscape presents unique opportunities and challenges. To truly optimise your B2B marketing efforts, you need to tailor your A/B testing strategy to address the specific needs of complex customers. Here are some A/B testing ideas specifically for B2B marketing:

  • Landing page optimisation:Test different headlines, CTAs, images, and layouts to see which ones drive higher conversion rates e.g. eBook downloads, demo requests.
  • Email marketing:A/B test subject lines, email copy, sender names, and send times to improve open rates and click-through rates.
  • Website Calls to Action:Experiment with different CTA button text, colour, and placement to see which ones get the most clicks.
  • Social media ads:Test different ad creatives, headline variations, and targeting parameters to optimise your ad spend and reach the right audience.

Test. Process. Learn. Repeat

So, how can you take this one step further and implement the A/B Testing Process into your own marketing efforts? By using the principles and practices of agile marketing, you can take a structured approach to your experimentation, ensuring continuous improvement and positively impact your effectiveness.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the A/B testing process, designed to operate within an agile framework:

  1. Identify a goal: Start with a specific goal you want to achieve,like increasing leads from a particular campaign.
  2. Formulate a hypothesis: What element do you think will impact that goal?(e.g., a stronger headline will increase website sign-ups)
  3. Create variations: Develop two versions of the element you’re testing (e.g.,Headline A vs. Headline B)
  4. Run the test: Split your target audience and expose them to each variation.
  5. Analyse results: After a statistically significant amount of data is collected,analyse the results to see which variation performed better.
  6. Iterate & improve: Based on your findings,refine your marketing strategy and implement the winning variation.

The Bright way

At Bright, we’re passionate about leveraging data-driven insights to optimise marketing strategies. By conducting controlled experiments, we can identify which elements of a campaign are most effective and make data-backed decisions to improve performance.

A recent case study: Social media ad formats

Recently, we had the opportunity to work with a client to determine the optimal ad format for their social media campaign. The client’s goal was to increase engagement and drive conversions.

Hypothesis: Video adverts vs. static image ads

Our hypothesis was that video adverts would outperform static image ads in terms of engagement. We reasoned that the dynamic nature of video would capture attention more effectively and lead to higher click-through rates (CTRs) and conversions.

The experiment

To test our hypothesis, we created two versions of the ad: one with a static image and the other with a short video. Both ads featured the same messaging and call to action. We then split the target audience into two groups and randomly assigned each group to see one of the ad variations.

Outcome: Video adverts triumph

The results were conclusive. The video ads significantly outperformed the static image ads in terms of engagement and CTR. Users were more likely to click on the video ads, watch them, and take the desired action.

 

Key Insights

  • Video is a powerful tool: Video content can capture attention, tell a story, and evoke emotions in a way that static images cannot.
  • Engagement matters: Higher engagement rates can lead to increased brand awareness, trust, and conversions.
  • A/B testing is essential: By conducting controlled experiments, we can identify the most effective elements of a campaign and make data-driven decisions to improve performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this case study underscores the value of A/B testing as a strategic tool for optimising social media campaigns. By carefully experimenting with different ad formats, we were able to identify the most effective approach for our client and deliver tangible results.

The data-driven insights gleaned from this experiment not only inform future campaigns but also provide valuable benchmarks for industry standards. As social media platforms continue to evolve, A/B testing remains a cornerstone of successful marketing strategies. By pioneering innovative approaches and harnessing the potential of data, businesses can redefine their industry and achieve remarkable marketing success.

So, what are you waiting for?

Being a B2B marketer today demands constant adaptation and improvement. By embracing A/B testing as an ongoing process, you can transform your marketing efforts from a guessing game into a data-driven science. This iterative approach empowers you to refine your messaging, optimise your creative assets, and ultimately achieve superior marketing effectiveness. So, don’t be afraid to experiment, embrace the learnings from each A/B test, and watch your B2B marketing efforts soar to new heights.

Ready to take your B2B marketing to the next level? Contact us today and let’s unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts through the power of agile marketing!

 

September 25, 2024 Alaina Roberts ,
Alaina RobertsA/B testing: An agile marketing approach to B2B marketing optimisation
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Building high performing B2B teams: Powered by agile marketing

Building high performing B2B teams: Powered by agile marketing

The way you work directly impacts the results you achieve.

We’ve seen first-hand how agile marketing can transform teams, making them more resilient and able to achieve better outcomes.

So, we’ve created an exclusive checklist packed with industry insights and practical advice on how to build a high performing B2B team powered by agile marketing. Agile marketing offers a dynamic framework for navigating the complexities of large organisations. By fostering flexibility, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making, marketing teams can not only survive but thrive.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your team’s adaptability or drive better results, this helpful resource is designed to increase impact and inspire new, effective ways of working.

Click here to download the Agile Marketing Checklist as a PDF

At Bright, we’ve supported many B2B marketers to craft a new name for their solution. It can be an expensive mistake if you get it wrong, so if you’d like an expert to support you throughout the process, please get in touch.

August 14, 2024 Alaina Roberts ,
Alaina RobertsBuilding high performing B2B teams: Powered by agile marketing
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FinTech marketing challenges – insights from industry roundtable

FinTech marketing challenges – insights from industry roundtable

We’re at a crossroads, it’s called H2. The numbers aren’t where they need to be, do you persevere or pivot. Persevere and have confidence in your current direction, pivot to respond to the immediate external pressures, or take a moment to step back and reassess. Re-evaluate your current state of play and your goals, and decide whether your strategy is supporting the business goals. 

With so many pressures on FinTech marketing leaders right now, what’s your plan? 

I recently attended an industry roundtable and wanted to share some of the insights into the key challenges FinTech marketers are facing right now.  

Implementation of AI in Marketing 

The roundtable discussed the implementation of AI, focusing on the “how” and “where” of integrating this technology. While there is a clear understanding of AI’s availability and potential, the main challenges lie in navigating its vast landscape. Data security and regulatory compliance are critical to any marketing initiative in financial services, given the importance of data access, data sharing, and the protection of proprietary information. 

Adapting to Market Changes 

Given the current turbulent market conditions, agility in marketing strategies was a key topic. There is a notable gap in the understanding of agile marketing, highlighting the need for education on proactive adaptation rather than reactive measures. The discussion underscored the importance of strategic decision-making—knowing when to pivot and when to persevere. Despite the necessity for immediate results, participants acknowledged that these expectations often misalign with market realities. Budget constraints for testing new strategies remain a significant challenge, but there was consensus on the need for bold investments and calculated risks, alongside smaller-scale testing. 

Market Performance and Inbound Inquiries 

The first half of the year has seen most businesses struggle, with a notable decline in inbound inquiries. This situation has led to a reassessment and realignment of targets for the second half of the year. 

Adoption of MarTech and SalesTech 

Adoption rates for marketing technology (MarTech) and sales technology (SalesTech) remain low. There was a robust discussion on the necessity of high-quality data and system interoperability. The group explored strategies to encourage sales teams to adopt new technologies, emphasising the need to clearly demonstrate the value these tools bring to their processes. One innovative approach discussed was the potential launch of a pilot campaign to align marketing and sales teams, ensuring a shared understanding of technology benefits. 

Marketing and Sales Alignment 

A recurring concern was the inefficiency of lead conversion. A significant proportion of leads handed over to sales teams fail to progress, raising questions about alignment between marketing and sales. With only about 10% of leads converting, the discussion centred on strategies to maintain engagement with the remaining 90% and the cost implications of generating these leads. Effective collaboration between marketing and sales is essential to improve lead nurturing and conversion rates. 

At Bright, we help businesses who are at a point when they want to see improvements in their effectiveness, efficiency or engagement but not sure how to move the dial. We believe that it’s the way your teams work that underpins your ability to adapt to change and drive results.  

By adopting agile marketing principles and practices, you can transform marketing within your organisation to boost collaboration, ensure continuous improvement and the become more empowered to demonstrate the value of marketing to the rest of the business. 

If you’re interested in learning how to upskill your marketing team, contact us about our FinTech Agile Marketing Training. 

August 1, 2024 Lydia Kirby , , ,
Lydia KirbyFinTech marketing challenges – insights from industry roundtable
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Bridging the gap: How agile marketing fuels next-level sales enablement with RevOps

Bridging the gap: How agile marketing fuels next-level sales enablement with RevOps

The age-old struggle for alignment between marketing and sales is a well-worn path. Marketing creates fantastic content and engaging campaigns but sales don’t use or support the initiatives. Sales feels relevant sales enablement resources are lacking, while marketing struggles to understand their needs. This disconnect hinders revenue growth; and this is the key point, we’re all in it together, and creates a frustrating experience for everyone involved.

The answer lies in a powerful combination: agile marketing, a robust sales enablement strategy, and the strategic integration of Revenue Operations (RevOps). RevOps takes a holistic approach, aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams across the entire customer lifecycle.

Building the foundation: communication & alignment

It all starts with open communication and clear alignment. Here’s what you need to establish a solid foundation through RevOps:

  • Shared objectives & metrics (OKRs/KPIs):RevOps facilitates the creation of common goals for marketing and sales, ensuring both teams understand and work towards the same business and revenue objectives. This fosters collaboration and a sense of shared responsibility.
  • Cross-functional collaboration:Talk to your sales colleagues, create trust and a closed feedback loop so you can continually improve things, together. RevOps ensures all departments are working together towards a common goal. This includes marketing, sales, customer service, and product development. By breaking down silos and encouraging communication between departments, RevOps can help to create a more cohesive and efficient organisation.
  • Change enablement communications:Establishing a robust internal communication strategy is essential to ensure employees will engage with changes within the organisations, ensuring anything from the introduction of new technology to a change in strategic direction, is successfully and sustainably implemented.
  • Consistent communication:Use internal channels (Teams, email, sales meetings) for short, regular updates. Organise events, virtual or actual, where you can mix and mingle and have open dialogue. Highlight content releases, showcase its value, and keep all teams informed on progress towards shared goals. 
  • Data-driven decisions:RevOps champions data-driven decision making. Analyse content performance with marketing automation tools to see what resonates with buyers. Use this data to refine messages and content formats in collaboration with both sales and marketing teams.

Empowering your sales force: The sales enablement arsenal

Agile marketing allows you to adapt and create content that directly addresses sales needs. Here are some key weapons in your sales enablement arsenal:

  • Competitor battlecards: create one-page summaries that compare your offering against competitors. This empowers sales to confidently address customer concerns and is readily available to sales reps through the CRM or a centralised content library.
  • Content for buyer roadblocks: Collaborate with sales to identify specific barriers in the sales process and validate through customer feedback. Create content (videos, infographics, interactive tools) that tackles these issues head-on (e.g., how your product streamlines ERP implementation).
  • Customer advocacy & case studies: Showcase success stories and customer insights. Develop short-form content for emails highlighting the importance of specific topics to your audience, the benefits of working with you, and quantifiable ROI.

Feedback loops: Continuous improvement for sales success

Don’t let content become a one-way street. Utilise feedback loops to gather insights and improve the effectiveness of your sales enablement efforts. Here are a few ways to do this:

  • Post-demo surveys: Design and deploy post-demo surveys to capture feedback from prospects. This feedback helps understand if the demo addressed their needs and what additional information they require. Sales reps can then use this information for further engagement.
  • Seller kits: Create pre-made social media posts, messaging templates for outreach, and CRM snippets for easy content integration in the sales workflows. These seller kits ensure consistency and empower sales reps to leverage effective sales enablement content.

Personalisation & nurturing: Tailoring the buyer journey

For high-value accounts, go beyond generic content. Implement Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies:

  • Personalised Web Pages: Create landing pages with the prospect’s branding or logo and highlight relevant client success stories in reports or ebooks. This personalisation fosters a stronger connection with the prospect.
  • Nurture Flows: Develop multi-channel nurture campaigns with at least seven touchpoints to stay top-of-mind and guide prospects through the buyer journey. Ensure accurate CRM data for effective nurturing and automate much of the nurture process. Regularly review and optimise nurture flows with marketing to maximise their impact.

Optimising personas & filling buyer journey gaps

Analyse your buyer journey to identify areas of underperformance in volume, velocity, and deal value. Here’s how to optimise:

  • Refine buyer personas: Conduct market research and analyse customer data to ensure your buyer personas are accurate and address the specific needs and challenges of your ideal customers.
  • Test & nudge: Experiment with different marketing tactics (e.g., email campaigns, social media efforts) to see how they impact prospect conversion.

Embrace experimentation: Start small and utilise an agile approach. Test different strategies and continuously iterate based on data and feedback. These article on experimentation in marketing and the experimentation framework offers valuable insights on building your experimentation strategy .

Tailoring the approach: Recognising team variations

Acknowledge that different teams may have varying needs in terms of content consumption and support:

  • Less experienced sales reps: May require more social selling support and easy-to-use digital tools. Create targeted training modules and readily accessible social media content templates.
  • Experienced sales leaders : May benefit more from ABM-focused content and strategies. Ensure they have the right tools and resources for personalised outreach to high-value accounts.

Conduct surveys, focus groups, or interviews regularly and during any discovery phase for campaigns to understand your sales team’s maturity and capabilities. Collaborate with existing sales operations initiatives (e.g., regular sales force surveys) to gather valuable data. Streamline these processes and ensure insights are shared effectively with both marketing and sales teams.

An empowered and united team

By adopting an agile marketing approach, building a robust sales enablement strategy, and leveraging the power of RevOps, you can transform the relationship between your marketing and sales teams.

This fosters collaboration, empowers sales to close deals more effectively, and ultimately drives revenue growth. Remember, it’s not about creating content or campaigns in a silo; it’s about creating a collaborative and aligned approach where marketing, sales, customer success, product and other revenue generating teams work together in perfect harmony to achieve a common goal: exceptional customer experiences and sustainable business growth.

 

June 11, 2024 Zoe Merchant , ,
Zoe MerchantBridging the gap: How agile marketing fuels next-level sales enablement with RevOps
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Optimising B2B brand marketing with the Balanced Scorecard

Optimising B2B brand marketing with the Balanced Scorecard

Much debate continues in the B2B world around the value of brand marketing. While some organisations believe you should invest in it, the results are more challenging to quantify than demand generation campaigns, which deliver leads for products and services.  

According to a study by BCG*, 99% of B2B marketers agree that trust in their brand is essential. Yet of the companies studied, 44% allocate less than a third of their budget to brand marketing. Reasons for low investment include key stakeholders not seeing the impact and the inability to measure the value. 

*Source: 2021 BCG B2B Brand Marketing Study  

However, in the same study, when companies were segmented based on their marketing and brand maturity, a correlation was found that indicates that increased marketing maturity leads to higher returns on brand marketing spend.  

The bottom line is that B2B companies that underinvest in brand marketing or invest without a strategic plan are selling themselves short. 

This leads us to the question of how can they develop their marketing maturity? 

The main challenge the organisations face is looking at marketing spending from a long-term perspective. Creating a long-lasting impact in people’s minds is beyond logos and taglines; it’s about regular conversations with them, building trust and then delivering on their promise.   

Brand marketing involves crafting a cohesive brand identity and messaging strategy to promote the brand through various channels like advertising, content marketing, and public relations. However, for the ecosystem to function effectively, brand marketing must be complemented by high-quality products/services and employee satisfaction. These elements contribute to positive brand experiences, fostering customer loyalty and advocacy. This holistic approach strengthens the brand’s reputation, enhances customer trust, and ultimately drives business success. 

Regardless of the budget allocated, many organisations still grapple with prioritising short-term or incomplete metrics, leading to uncertainty about the true impact of their marketing efforts. As a result, they may question the effectiveness of their strategies or allocate resources ineffectively, hindering their ability to achieve desired outcomes. 

To solve this, we recommend organisations look at the Balanced Scorecard. It provides a useful tool for translating strategy into measures to communicate a company’s vision. Harvard Business Ideas voted it the most influential idea ever presented. 

The Balanced Scorecard.

Developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan of Harvard University and Dr. David Norton, the Balanced Scorecard revolutionised organisational performance measurement. Traditionally, companies focused solely on short-term financial metrics, but the Balanced Scorecard introduced non-financial strategic measures for a more holistic view. Kaplan and Norton’s approach, detailed in various publications, emphasises the importance of balancing financial indicators with measures of long-term success. They argue that while financial metrics reflect past performance, a comprehensive approach is needed to guide future value creation in the information age, prioritising investments in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation. 

It starts with four perspectives, i.e. financial, customer-centric, internal processes, and organisational capacity. It asks the organisations to define their goals across these aspects, plan a strategy to achieve them, and then determine the metrics to measure the success.  

If your company also focuses on or values another perspective, it must be included in the scorecard.  

It sounds simple and intuitive. However, the most critical aspect is establishing a relationship among all these. For example, you need to invest in your internal processes to deliver a quality product or service to your customers and enable you to achieve financial performance. This allows you to define your goals and plan your actions according to them, and then it’s essential to pick the metrics based on these goals and actions.  

Let’s take an example of Company A and see how it can use the Balanced Scorecard to achieve its goals: 

These metrics provide a comprehensive view of the SaaS provider’s performance. A strong financial performance, driven by ARR growth and healthy CLV, reflects effective marketing strategies in acquiring and retaining customers. Positive customer metrics, such as high NPS and CLV, demonstrate the brand’s ability to deliver value and build loyalty. 

Efficient internal processes ensure that marketing efforts are optimised for maximum impact while investing in learning and growth opportunities for employees, which fosters innovation and keeps the brand competitive. Moreover, by monitoring marketing-specific metrics, the SaaS provider can gauge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, optimise resource allocation, and enhance brand awareness and visibility in the market. This integrated approach ensures that marketing initiatives contribute to financial success and strengthen the brand’s reputation and market position over time. 

In conclusion, as B2B companies navigate the evolving marketing landscape, embracing the Balanced Scorecard offers a strategic compass for long-term success, enabling them to build enduring brand value through consistent, trust-building conversations with their audience. 

 

May 8, 2024 Alaina Roberts , ,
Alaina RobertsOptimising B2B brand marketing with the Balanced Scorecard
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