Maybe you’re an entrepreneur, CEO or VP of Sales and Marketing and you need to take your marketing to the next state? Some of the same questions will come up whether you choose to outsource or build everything internally. Here are 10 capabilities your team needs to possess if you want to operate on the highest level.
1. Master sales skills
A profound insight we had many years ago was that in order to help B2B companies sell better we needed to be experts in sales. Most marketing people are clueless when it comes to complex B2B sales and how to win bigger deals. How likely is it then that the same marketing people can help salespeople generate revenue?
2. Understand human behavior
Human behavior is based on emotions. That’s a fact, given that our brains are largely driven by our subconscious minds – the part of your brain that makes your heart beat more than 100,000 times per day. To craft communication that drives behavior requires a deep understanding of why we humans do what we do. How well does the team know and understand the human behavior and how to influence it?
3. Strong leadership skills
Sales and marketing have to be aligned to achieve results. Today many companies still work in silos, and sales and marketing have the same outcomes. This often leads to a lack of results, internal frustration and misallocation of resources. Strong leadership and change management skills are a necessity.
4. Building a world-class brand
How you do anything is how you do everything. Your brand is your reputation. It’s not a coincidence that every McDonald’s looks the same. It’s not a coincidence that McKinsey communicates the way they do. The challenge for many B2B companies is to charge their brand with the right combination of values – consistently, over time, and in all channels.
5. Producing outstanding written content
There is so much bad content out there. Many companies think they are positioning themselves as thought leaders when in reality they are positioning themselves as low-value providers with their terrible content. Make sure that your content educates and reaches your audience on an emotional and rational level.
6. Utilize social media and understand social selling
In many industries LinkedIn is now by far the most effective tool in social media. Yet most marketing teams do not know how to create an awesome LinkedIn profile for their salespeople. Depending on your target group Twitter, Facebook and Instagram could all be core channels. Is your team utilizing the power of social media?
7. High-quality video
Great video connects to emotions, entertains, educates and can drive behaviors. Video should be in every sales and marketing team’s tool belt. Yet many companies fail to produce video that actually supports branding, lead flow or sales.
8. Creative design
High-quality design and creative work will help you brand and sell your company when it is aligned with sales and thought leader positioning. Proposals, PowerPoints, white papers, infographics, motion graphics, websites, direct marketing, trade shows – it all involves creative design.
9. Targeted media and distribution
Reaching your target audience in an effective way with the right message is one of the important tools to winning bigger deals smarter. It is key that you understand how you can reach decision makers and influencers – the top 1,000 people that you should target. Many companies target people randomly and do not reach their ideal client.
10. Analytics and data
Understanding what kinds of marketing actually contribute to producing revenue and profits is often difficult. Having the competence and the ability to analyze the right metrics will help your company make better decisions and improve the effectiveness of your marketing.