67. The Right Number of Marketing Strategies (It's Not What You Think)

Speaker A: Hey and welcome to the B2B Marketing Gap podcast with M Me Jade Tambini, aka B2B. Jade, I would love to talk to you about how many strategies you should be using within your marketing strategy, because this is a really common issue that marketers get hung up on. If you're in a company where resources are limited, you're not a huge team, maybe you're not outsourcing very much and you feel like you're doing a little bit too much, this is going to be genuinely just a breath of fresh air. I'm going to give you the number that I ideally think that you should be incorporating into your marketing strategy with some ideas. And I'm also going to talk about the dangers and pitfalls in doing too much. But before we get started, I do want to let you know that B2B Breakthrough Academy, my six module on demand immediate Access marketing strategy course, is currently in Doors Open mode and um, the doors close on Wednesday 15th of July. Do not worry if you're watching in the future. We do open the doors from time to time throughout the year, but it's not that often. If you do want to join me inside the academy, make sure that you hit the link in the description box and you can find out more. So why did I decide to do this episode? I had a comment on TikTok that really piqued my interest. I was talking about why we need to do fewer things as marketers because the marketing task reel feeds off this idea of just doing way too much. And um, like all corners of the business are sending you opportunities, sending you things that you need to do so we end up busy but not strategic and that's the gap that we need to fill. And that's what I'm all about. Someone commented, and I can't remember the exact words but if you go to my TikTok, I recently replied to it, they commented this is not true. Omnichannel delivers the best return on investment for marketing versus single channel. I've got a few things that I want to talk about on that front because the first thing is I wasn't suggesting going with the fewest possible channels, I was talking about the fewest possible strategies, like the fewest approaches in our marketing. Not trying to do too many things. Now you could actually have a strategy that is an integrated campaign because Omnichannel ultimately just means multi channel but to the same it's not like just being in loads of places. Fragmented is Omnichannel means everything's tied up for one unique Customer experience. So you know when you see an advert on the TV for a chocolate bar, but then you also see a bus ad that ties in with it. And then maybe you're visiting a website and a little something pokes up and it's. It's the same theme, it's the same journey that you're on and they're communicating with you from different places and pulling it all together. That is omnichannel. That's obviously the gold standard for marketing. That's what we want to be doing. But I fear that in our little world as B2B marketers, we've confused that approach, which is highly effective, where you have one, a strategic approach of like, here's who we're targeting, here's why they should care about what we're saying. Like explaining to them this is the problem you're facing. These are the things you've tried. Here is why we'd be a really good option for you to go for to help you solve this problem. And here's why. Probably it's dangerous to go with the others. That's kind of the mechanics of solid brand positioning and then turning that into, okay, where are we going to put these messages and in what format and in what places? And it's on an integrated journey to kind of multi touchpoint people to then ultimately get them into our, um, pipeline or whatever the goal is. That is not what we're doing. Like, when people say, oh, I'm doing an omnichannel, it's like, that's not what you're doing. What you're doing is scattergun throwing stuff out there. Just because you're saying we will use the following types of marketing doesn't mean that you're, like, doing them strategically. You know, that's why you hear leaders say things like, oh, we should be on YouTube. We should do this. We should do this event. We should be advertising on the roundabout, we should sponsor our local football team and everything's just scattergun. That's like the opposite of omnichannel. So my point is, and this is exactly what we do inside B2B Breakthrough Academy. In fact, if you saw my recent TikTok, one of our students, Alexandra, emailed me to let me know she's from a past cohort. And not only did she build her marketing strategy with me inside the academy, but once she delivered it. Cause obviously you've got to build it, then you've got to put it into place. And then only, like after amount of time will you see the results, she contacted me to say, look, as a result of the strategy we built and reducing the number of activities that we focused on and slimming down our, ah, like, approaches only, like, we've now doubled the number of sales won from marketing channels. So that's like such a great case study of why simplifying down, getting the basics right and only focusing on, like, a manageable number of things is absolutely the way forward. And, um, that's exactly why I do what I do, because I was sick of seeing marketers get stuck feeling imposter syndrome, feeling like they're not good at what they do. Maybe you feel like this. I definitely did. And then thinking, I need to learn, I need to learn more. And then literally taking more and more courses to learn more to beef up their knowledge when they actually already pretty much have the knowledge they need. Like, you already have the knowledge you need. Maybe you do need to learn elements of strategy that are gaps. But in terms of, like, learning technical knowledge, most of the time it is just adding to the overwhelm. It's just adding to the list of like, I should be doing this, I should be doing that. Why aren't I doing this? Why am I good at this? And by learning how to hone what you already have into a framework that works for you that you think, I feel comfortable with this. I'm excited to deliver this because this is realistic. That is what is going to get you not only closer to results like Alexandra, but it's also going to get you the respect of your leaders because you'll start saying to them, guys, we can't keep doing what we've been doing. It's not working. And as you've seen, we're not getting the results we want. How long have we been taking this approach and not seeing the results we want now? Imposter syndrome. So back to, like, how we can slim down the number of strategies, um, that we use. Imposter syndrome is a really interesting one for marketers, and I think it's a much bigger culprit in why things are not working than we kind of give it credit. When you have imposter syndrome, you know things are not working. But because of the imposter syndrome, you're scared to suggest alternatives. That's why we don't speak up. If you're in a meeting and you know that what they're suggesting to do is definitely not going to work. You're sat there like, that's not going to work. They're like, well, what then? And you're like, oh my gosh, don't know. And then you freak out. And then when you try and explain strategy, they're like, oh, it doesn't work like that here. Our industry is different. Honestly, they all say it like, no, no industry is exempt from strategic planning. It just isn't the case. But the reason that they think strategic planning is a nonsense is because of all of the like jargon we've learned. All of the models are more complicated than they need to be sitting down doing a diagram and they're like, what are we doing? Like, we just need to get back to basics. And I think I've always inherently known this and it's always been how I've planned. Because I'm from a sales background, I was not afforded the time to not be closing deals. So when you know that the ultimate objective of marketing is and this is more than sales leads, like the ultimate purpose of marketing is. And write this down, like, get a piece of paper and put it on your desk. Marketing is defined by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as the management process. And let's not use that. But it's boring. Um, it's basically satisfying customer needs while making a profit. How amazing is that? Like, that is so awesome. That breaks it down so simply. Like, satisfy customer needs while making a profit. So obviously the while making a profit bit means you don't just like look after your existing customers and that's all you do. And you'll never bring anyone else in because you won't be a profitable business. Maybe you could exist on repeat business, but generally for growth. And with growth, we want profitability. Like it keeps you on track, but it also stops you just obsessing over like farming for leads and just like desperately trying to get inquiries. You're focused on like, how do we make sure customers are happy in this business, marketing is really the only function that looks outside the organization. If you really think about it, like, we're the only ones who are looking out at customers and gathering like, what is the insight? What is going on in the market? What is happening? And we've lost sight of this because we are just obsessed with what leaders want from us. Like we've shift. When I worked in sales in 2006, right, I was obsessed with what my customers wanted. And do you know why? Because I needed to pay my bills. I lived on my own from the age of 17 and if I didn't close, I wasn't getting commission. So I needed money. And also I bought loads of shoes and was silly with money. So it wasn't like a dire situation. But the point is, I was like, I've got to understand these people, because if I don't understand these people, they're not going to buy from me. So I quickly became a consultant. I was just like, what are you currently doing for this? How does it work? How does it let you down? Any issues you found, who you buying from? And I would have the long game of, like, tell me what you're doing, like, how is it working? How are you finding it? And, um, what are the gaps? What could be better? And then from there, like, okay, let me tell you how we're going to be absolutely going to overcome all of that. We are going to do this deal for you, like, etc. Etc. So super tenacious, super on it salesperson. And that is what we need in our marketing. We need to remember that simple is better. Simple keeps things neat. It keeps us organized. It keeps things, like, sharp. I think if you're just doing way too many things and you feel frazzled, your marketing will be and your messaging will be an afterthought. The more stuff you're doing, the more frazzled you become and the more particularly messaging, like, when messaging is an afterthought, I'm just devastated. It's the most important thing. No one is going to engage with you or interact if it's just generic waffle. So I truly believe that. So from all the students I've coached through B2B Breakthrough Academy, so they work through the modules. There's six modules. There's a main lesson. It teaches them the concept of that module and how to use their template to build, start building out their plan in real time. And then what I did in there, which I love, I'll have to show you one day inside. Actually, what I love is because when I worked in marketing in house 15 years ago, I used to really struggle with courses where they'd kind of teach them on everything and they'd just be left to my own devices. I decided to do was for every template, I would actually train on each section, like a live walkthrough of me completing it so that they. So that the students can see this is exactly how I approach this. Even though I've already had all the learning, I'm also getting Jade to physically walk through, like, exactly what she would do. Definitely got to carrot in my teeth. Um, I'm always walking around eating raw veg and it just gets in my teeth. Gross. And what happens is, because they're keeping this really simple formula, like My program has zero jargon in it. So they've got this simple formula and they are focusing around what does the business need to achieve. And when you really dig into it, businesses don't just need to achieve growth. Like people say, oh, we just want to grow. Like, what are you talking about? What do you mean you just want to grow? That's not a strategy. That's not a business focus area. A business focus area is like, okay, what are the big things in our way of the growth we want or being the business we want? Yeah, okay, maybe a company's growing loads, but customers are leaving faster than they're joining. Okay. We have a serious issue with customers leaving us. Why? Okay, number one, it could be. Okay, parcel. Just a sec. Oh, we've got the friendliest parcel guy you've ever met. Yeah. So, um, oh, let's get back to it. It can, yeah, it can be retention. So again, remember that definition of marketing. Like, satisfy customer needs while making a profit. Maybe your competitors are coming in a lot cheaper and you're like, why is that? And then you realize, oh my gosh, they're way more integrated across their sites. Or there's something they're doing that we're not in the feedback we've had in pitches that we need to operationalize within our business. Maybe we need to introduce more tech that you need to find out what is going on in your company. That is the reason why the company is not where it wants to be already. Like, what are the barriers? So then you build your marketing around that there will always be an element of attract new work. However, attracting new work can come from your existing database. It might be. And so many of the students who've gone through B2B Breakthrough Academy, like a lot of their strategy that's led to results has been, let's get our CRM system sorted, get our data cleaned, get it organized and segmented so that we can actually re engage and reactivate people with a six email sequence of emails. And then get meetings in the diary and get some pipeline moving. Like, come on, maybe the sales reps are lazy when it comes to the leads, or maybe the leads are the wrong fit. There's so much you can do other than just like put smarts live and do some advertising. So what I have found as the students go through B2B Breakthrough Academy is uh, that more often than not they are ending up and trusting in the process is important. They're ending up with fewer, uh, marketing strategies. So I. To answer the question of this episode, I Recommend two to three strategic approaches, Max. And I also like them to coordinate with each other. So what is the difference between a strategy and a tactic? A, uh, strategy is your. It's like your big area of focus. What are the big things we're going to focus on this year? And then your tactics are, how will we actually. What will we actually deliver? So a tactic could be a LinkedIn campaign, it could be having an event booth, it could be hosting webinars, it could be integrating, you know, AI search into our plan. The strategic approach would be more the top level thing. I don't know, overhaul our, uh, online presence and messaging so that it's better aligned with the way that our customers buy. Now that just sounds fluffy. It isn't fluffy. It is not fluffy. However, the tactics is what roots it in reality and gives you an action plan of what to actually do. But the problem is, and this is, again, what I teach and it's. I'm so passionate about it, is when you're on the marketing task wheel, this is what's terrifying. Even if you write a, uh, marketing review, you write your objectives, you have all the best intentions, the strategies, the tactics. When you're on the marketing task wheel, there's no other way to go about it to say this, but you are literally just being a tactical executor. You can't be a strategic marketer if you're trapped on the hamster wheel, the marketing task wheel, because things just thrown into you, you're doing them, you're thinking, like, if I just do enough of this, then, oh, hang on, I need to stir the Bolognese. Just a sec. Thank you. My kids do not want a burnt lasagna. The bolognese sauce is just simmering. Chef, just need to take a breath. Of course you do. You're on the marketing task wheel. Of course you need to take a breath. You need to take 10 breaths. So that's the difference between strategy and tactics. I think that's what I was talking about. And so if you just pick two or three and say you've got three or four marketing objectives and, um, the strategies that you choose all kind of coordinate with those objectives and you're not taking on too many things. What you're going to do is put more of your energy behind really getting those things off the ground than if you were trying to tackle lots of different things. I was recently coaching a guy, he actually lives in Cardiff, so it was so lovely to see someone join my course locally. It's crazy. It's something that's blown my mind because a lot of my students, Australia, America, some South Africans, like, all all over, really. A lot of Europe is. There's three students who have the same street as my office. I don't usually go to the office, but I've got office space in car. I can use office space. And Cardiff, my husband's company. But, yeah, they're literally on the same street. It's crazy. But, yeah, I was talking to this guy and he was talking me through all of the focus areas that he has for this year, and I was just like, it was unbelievable, the amount on his back. And he wasn't outsourcing either. One of the first things that we did in his coaching in the community, he'd ask questions, I would answer. And through the video lessons he was learning was like, stripping that right back, building that framework to look at, not just picking from a list of like, oh, what should we do? That doesn't work. No, because the best strategies could be sat there, but because you haven't given them the power they need behind them, you might write them off as rubbish. Because you're like, oh, well, that didn't work. But it's only because you didn't give it the time it needed. So we didn't just go through the list of, like, here's what you should be working on. We actually just gutted it and did the process of what's the business need to focus on? What's marketing's role in that? What's the objectives, what's the strategies, and what tactics will work best so that it's like a clean slate? And do you know what it is I love more than anything for marketers, like, when you make that transformation from reactive tactical executor to confident, empowered, grounded, strategic player in your business, is just how much happier you are in your life. You don't go home frazzled. You're like, you have finance director energy, and, uh, I talk about this all the time. You're like, you know what you're about. You know the score. You are comfortable to say to the business, look, that's not going to work. I would love for it to work. It's a great idea, but let's keep it simple. Let's focus on these three or four things. So back to the original point. This person who was saying, oh, Omnichannel's got the better return on investment. Yeah, definitely. But if you're not in a position where your business can outsource and put the budget behind what's needed to get multiple channels off the ground within one individual campaign or strategic approach, then it's just not going to do anything. It's going to be worse. So hone down, simplify. If you need my help, please contact me. I'm always here to answer your questions about my course or just to chat in general. I love hearing from you. In fact, I had the loveliest email LinkedIn post today. I'm just going to read it out to you and I want to thank the person publicly because she really made my day. So, Tanya, thank you so much, Tanya. Tanya said, where is she? Just start, make a habit. It's hard for me and I'm sure it is hard for you as well. Recently I came across this wonderful marketing coach, strategist Jade Tambini and her channel, B2B Jade. But oh my gosh, I'm so glued to her style of thinking and talking. Absolutely raw and unfiltered and beautiful. Jade, trust me, if you read this post, just know you have a new fan note. I'm very much likely to join B2B Breakthrough Academy. Um, so. Oh, Tanya, thank you so much. And I've actually just got an inbox from her, so I'm going to read that in a minute and reply to you, Tanya. But honestly, messages like that make me so happy because sometimes it can feel like it's just so noisy out there and I just think, what's the point? Sometimes I just think like, the algorithm's just crazy now, like there's no point unless you've got something clickbaity to say. No one wants to listen. And I'm not. I don't want to talk about clickbait. I want to help you get back to basics, make simple changes, like strip back. The fundamentals in marketing have not changed ever. You have to learn them, but you have to learn them in a way that you can use them. And that's what I'm all about. So Tanya's made my week. I really appreciate when people reach out to me and I reply to every single person. Like I said, the doors to B2B Breakthrough Academy for this round of intake close on Wednesday, 15th of July. So you've got time to join us. Just head to b2bjade.com or hit the link in the show notes. Um, it's going to be really fun because it's all on demand. We've got the introduction of AI Jade now. So that's your 247 mentor and why AI Jade is really cool, why I'm happy that she's there. Is she's just an additional tool along with everything else. I'm there in the community to answer your questions. You don't lose me. But AI Jade is there for you to literally just chew the fat with, like, for as long as you want. And I took an accelerator last year to do with running my business, and I used the AI tool to death. I was just like, what about this? What about that? Stuck on this, stuck on that, how to do this, what about that? Does this sound okay? So how people have been using it and just a shout out to, like, Shannon and a few others who've been using it beautifully and training her really well is they'll get to section 2.1 where they're writing their objectives and they'll be like, okay, I've learned all the module content. Like, I'm in section 2.1. Where do you think I should start? And she'd be like, well, first of all, do this, do that. Because she's trained on my framework. So I have given her like, tons and tons of my, um, transcripts of my training of my framework so that she knows how I would answer. So it's just giving you that, like, additional booster of like, as if you're talking to me all day. But, um, it's just regenerating what I would say to you. So people are like, is this an objective? And then she'll tidy it up for you? Or like, can you explain to me section 3.2, I'm stuck. So she's just like an ally. But also what I love is that because she's trained to be like me, you don't get that, like, chatgpt, like, you know when you get like an essay and it's really patronizing, really cringe, she actually talks exactly like me. So everything's to the point, everything's simple. Like, I actually hang out with AI Jade more than I probably should. Um, and don't forget to ask her what her favorite food is after a busy day creating content, because that's an interesting one. So thank you, Brian, for helping me train her on that as well. Because Brian asked and I was like, oh, I haven't trained her on, like, the personal questions, so you can always ask her things like that. So let me know in the comments or drop me a line. How many marketing strategies have you been attempting to cover? And is it too many? Like, do you think? Yeah, it could do with simplifying. I would love to hear from you in the comments. Just let me know and I will see you next time. And thank you for listening. My gosh, I'm so out of breath. See you soon.