Years of experience is meaningless on its own. 

I know 25-year marketing ‘veterans’ that can’t move the needle. 

So, I’ve come to recognize 3 types of b2b marketing leaders to predominantly exist:

1. ‘Move The Sludge’ marketing leaders. [BAD]

2. ‘Data-Driven’ marketing leaders. [GOOD]

3. ‘Product Value Evangelist’ marketing leaders. [AMAZING]

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‘Move The Sludge’ Marketing Leaders. [BAD]

This type of marketing leader does what I like to call ‘moving the sludge’.

They emphasize that they’re ‘doing’ ALL of the marketing things… content, PPC, SEO, social media, events, PR, videos, site redesigns, etc… but none of it actually drives growth.

It never works, because you’d need to half-ass 100th-ass everything to do it all, the content is glossed over, the videos are boring and unwatched, the redesign is underwhelming, the press releases don’t get picked up, the articles never rank, the ads never convert, etc. 

Just consider what trying to do ‘everything’ in b2b marketing looks like:

These marketing leaders are risk-averse, are covering all of their bases so they can’t be disputed, and aiming to lock in a  ‘quick win’ somewhere, which disappears just as ‘quickly.’

But, just then, right when you’ve lost faith in them, they’ll have some other ‘irons in the fire’ because something else they are doing appears to be working, which inevitably also doesn’t and quickly assimilates into the noise, and the cycle repeats.

This will take you down a path of flat performance.

Don’t do that ⬆.

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‘Data-Driven’ Marketing Leaders. [GOOD]

This type of marketing leader is just the opposite (and it’s admittedly, what I used to be).

They are surgical. They focus on one thing at a time, and leverage data aggressively, have all of the good intentions in the world, and are capable of making an impact here and there, but only on occasion of remarkable significance. 

They feel they are making infallible decisions because they are backing everything they do with DATA, which is a very reasonable suggestion… Yet, they conflate the realities of ‘data’ with a holy business muse. They’ll do things like:

• Improve the landing conversion rates by 50% (that should help, right?)

• Raise the number of SQLs by 75% in 6 months. (that should help, right? … right!?)

• See that revenue still not moving much.

Unfortunately, this is due to BIG caveats when trying to leverage data in b2b marketing:

Caveat 1: Data Frankensteins 🧟‍♂️.

Data is helpful, but only relative to the level of accuracy and usefulness of its collection. You probably don’t have the 'single source of truth' that you think you have, rather, you have a data Frankenstein 🧟‍♂️.

Truly great data would require a properly maintained relational database, with proper ETL processes for all data from all sources, with historical accuracy, and also meaningful customer data inputs or marketing event tracking. This usually isn’t in place, and while it can be put into place (and should be), it will take time to build, and for new data to trend.

Caveat 2: Blind spots 👀on non-buyers.

Even if you have that rare set up, with all of that valuable, blended data aggregated in a single BI tool, with the exact cuts, cohorts, and variables you want to see cleanly prepped into a dashboard of perfect reports for you by a data engineer, you still have blind spots.

The data captured is observing engaged prospects and existing customers, telling you everything of those who have bought or are likely to soon buy, but very little of the critical group of potential customers your marketing is rapidly meant to persuade.

Caveat 3: Uncapturable ❌data points.

Humans are… tricky. We blast through forms, filling out false information. We lie in sales calls, with AI extractions missing the subtleties of true meaning behind the words. We self-categorize on LinkedIn in ways that are meaningless to b2b marketers when they try to run segmentation reports by titles, industries, etc. Some data just isn’t ever well captured in quantitative form. 

Caveat 4: Poor marketing analyses 📊.

Every marketer thinks they are an analytics 'expert' with a dashboard in their face.

Precariously waltzing around with a BI tool, without a strong understanding of SQL, the taxonomy of the data sets, or worse poking around the CRM and random siloed analytics platforms looking for any correlation, is going to result in B.S. insights, because they’ll need to miraculously avoid these 52 cognitive marketing analysis biases.

Caveat 5: Inherently low volume of b2b marketing ⚠️.

Data needs to be statistically significant to matter. 

Unfortunately, in b2b marketing, things are often too low in sample size to be analyzed in the first place, leading to all sorts of ridiculous conclusions and actions. Even less possible is the ability to drill down into any of the segments of the data, since it will result in even smaller, less reliable sample sizes.

Why this never works:

The poor data collection, quality, and analysis will add up to a cycle of finding ‘trends’ that wash away like a kid’s drawing in the wet sand at the beach. 

Unbeknownst to you (and themselves), out of fear of underperforming, they’ll pivot to some ‘shiny new idea’ in the noisy data they are tracking, be it a new channel, new creative, or something with an insignificant confidence level which will be proclaimed as their new focus, and it will be delegated them to their team, only to be started and shortly thereafter steam-rolled into the ‘but we already tried that’ pavement by the next month's batch of shiny new ideas.

This will take you down a path of incremental growth. 

So, don’t go this route either ⬆. 

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‘Product Value Evangelist’ Marketing Leaders. [AMAZING]

This leader doesn’t just 'spread the word.'

They interrogate its very right to be spread. 

Before asking, 'how to get more revenue?' They ask, 'Why do we deserve more revenue?'

This seemingly simple reframing plunges them into a depth of product understanding that neither the sludge-mover nor the data-devotee will ever touch.

No throwing spaghetti at a wall, 'hacky' funnels, or endless A/B tests.

When average marketers fixate on 'How can we boost revenue this quarter?' they instantly pivot to superficial tactics. They propose bigger budgets, 'hacky' funnels, and iterative A/B tests that assume your product value is self-evident. 

The Product Value Evangelist, however, never presupposes anything. There’s a corollary to starting with 'Why': If your product can’t support the reasoning, you have no 'seat at the table.' 

The Product Value Evangelist is quick to point this out, sometimes to the discomfort of everyone else. They know that an anemic, commoditized, or half-heartedly developed product cannot be successfully marketed in a market where robust incumbent offerings or more agile challengers stand ready to devour lesser competition.

• If the product is not strong enough, the Evangelist demands product refinements. They venture into buyer/non-buyer research, talk extensively to prospects, current and former customers, collaborate with engineering and product managers, and refine the product roadmap so that genuine innovation precedes any marketing blitz.
  
  

• If the product is strong enough, the Evangelist captivates the right prospects with the honest truth of its specific superiority, not with marketing gimmicks or nebulous claims. They anchor every marketing message in real solutions in relatable ways, because they’ve lived and breathed the product’s nuances, their passion is contagious and credible. They will still gather feedback to inform product improvements, too.

The Ability to Pick The 1 Perfect Thing of 1,000 Possibilities.

There are 1,000’s of things you can do in b2b marketing at any time.

You really need to execute on 1, 2, or maybe 3 things extremely well.

While the ‘data-driven’ marketer confidently and incorrectly think they can find those things, and while the ‘move-the-sludge’ marketer doesn’t think they even need to find it, the only one who can truly pluck the right focuses out of the hat is the ‘product evangelist’ because they’re… 

• So in tune with the market.

• So obsessive over your products.

• So in-the-weeds on your competitors.

• So aware of all of the trends in the data.

• So dialed in on prospect conversion dropoffs.

• So personally affected when your customers churn.

… that they build up an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G intuition to grow your revenue. 

This marketing leader will focus on a handful of ideal actions, rather than a hodgepodge. And that’s what you want, because when your marketing is running right, your marketing isn’t a cost center, a break-even line item, or a trial-and-error play zone, it’s a force multiplier.

Hire for that ⬆.