Hi

At a time when more marketing programs are being launched than ever before, making the most of your campaign can be quite a daunting challenge.

Many companies spend so much of their time, energy, and hard-earned money trying out new ideas, launching ABM, launching demand gen, doing structural diagrams, only to see their investment go down the drain.

This brings us to the million-dollar question: how to plan and launch a successful B2B marketing campaign while avoiding pitfalls along the way? 

In this edition, we will unveil some key elements of marketing planning along with some examples of how Vlad and Andrei do it at Fullfunnel.

Let’s dive in.

What makes marketing plans and campaigns doomed beforehand?

1- Goals are not clearly defined

Begin with the end in mind. You can’t get to where you’re going unless you know where you want to end up.

What is it that you want to accomplish?

• Do you want to generate a new pipeline?
• Do you want to reactivate some frozen deals?
• Do you want to make more sales?
• Do you want to penetrate a new market or a new vertical?
• Do you want to launch a new product?
• Are you trying to increase customer satisfaction?

Whatever you define as your goal, make sure it is specific and measurable.

Get a load of this: technically, having the goal to generate more leads in order to get more sales is a goal but it's not winning an Oscar in the category of the most specific goals.

Why?

Because it doesn't help you know where to focus your energy and efforts.

Although that goal sounds good in theory, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions. What does "more" actually mean? What sort of leads are you targeting? What are your most profitable products or services? And the list goes on and on and on.

So instead, your goal could be to generate X leads for Y service at Z cost. That way, you can align everything around that objective from the get-go and have something specific to measure against at the end of the day. 

Also, remember this: if you have more than one top priority, you have zero top priority. So, narrow in. Make the goal specific and ensure all your actions lead towards it.

Quick wrap-up: keep in mind that the best marketing campaigns are built against clear, specific, and measurable goals. Don’t take my word for it. Check for yourself.  

2- Lack of intermediate metrics to track the campaign efficiency

Let’s say you planned to run an 8-month campaign.

It should come as no surprise that the execs will refuse to wait for 08 good months without any key metrics to measure the success of your program.

So, how would you define success throughout the campaign? What matters the most in your context?

• Is it the number of account activations?
• Is it the number of conversations with strategic accounts?
• Is it the number of polls or virtual events?
• Is it the number of customer interviews you had?
• Is it the number of insights you passed to the sales team so they can start a new conversation about expanding the business with existing accounts?

Whatever the case might be, it is of paramount importance that you define these leading indicators as they help you make sure you are on the right track.

This is an example of intermediate metrics that Andrei and Vlad used for a LinkedIn demand gen program.

3-  Programs aren’t aligned with revenue

No matter what some folks say, the end goal of marketing is increasing sales and revenue. Matter of fact, when a marketing program is not aligned with revenue, it’s quite hard to get buy-in from the C-suite and sales team.

So, whenever you're launching a new campaign you need to share with the executives and sales how it aligns with revenue.

The idea here is that you're not just tracking intermediate metrics but you're linking the results of your campaign back to revenue.

If you’re unsure how to do it, check this out:

4-  Copying others without knowing their GTM strategy

It is not uncommon to come across companies that want to launch a demand gen campaign just because Chris Walker is talking about it or he’s doing it at Refine Labs (and this is no joke huh).

But how can you possibly achieve the same results if you don’t have the same goals, the same skill set, and the same budget? 

If you are copying others without knowing the context and their strategy, chances are your marketing program will fall flat after it launches.

So, focus on your ICP, find out how and why your customers buy, what makes sense for them, where they run their research, and what influences their decision-making process.

5-  Lack of a detailed playbook and onboarding  

A playbook is a clear plan with the stages, the timeline, and the clear actions everybody should be taking.

• Who is in charge of account list building, account disqualification, and account research?
• Who is in charge of warming up and how should they go about it?
• Who is in charge of outreach and what is the cadence for the outreach?
• What feedback should sales get from the accounts? 

These and more are what make a detailed playbook. 

Mind you, after creating the playbook you need to present it to the sales team, train them, and work hand in hand with them.

6- Massive launches of new programs instead of pilot campaigns on a small scope

Investing a lot of money in an unproven program can easily make you lose the trust of the execs and sales team. And if you do, rebuilding your marketing reputation from scratch will definitely be an uphill battle.

And unfortunately the truth is, the chances that your first campaign or marketing program won’t be perfect are very high. 

So, that’s why you first need to launch your program on a small scope, get the feedback from your market and strategic accounts, refine it, improve it, and launch it for the second and the third time.

When you see that the results are satisfactory, then you can start scaling the campaign to new markets and involve more people and more resources. 

P.S. Chances are you have 1 or 2 colleagues (well, maybe 03) who'd enjoy this as much as you do. Share it with them and earn some exclusive perks. 

Upcoming community events

Below is the list of the scheduled events. Click on the events you are interested in to save your spot. You're very welcome to join the conversations, ask your questions live, or share your experience.

• Building a content marketing team at B2B tech companies with Erin Balsa - Thursday, 10th February, 17:00 - 18:00 UTC+1
• Strategic positioning for B2B tech companies with Mark Evans - Thursday, 17th February, 17:00 - 18:00 UTC+1 

Full-Funnel Summit (29th -31st March)

You can attend and learn from the best B2B marketers for free.

Save your spot here.

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Questions from fellow Trenchers

Let's help each other. If you can contribute or answer any question below, just click the link and share your thoughts.

• Anybody in here run ABM programs? I would love some guidance or recommendations for resources on how to launch an initial ABM campaign at my company
• Does anyone have any thoughts on how to implement a built-in referral program?
• Looking for some advice on how to get my sales leaders to buy into publishing pricing

NOTE: If you found this content interesting and useful, chances are you have 1 or 2 colleagues (well, maybe 03) who'd enjoy it as much as you do. Help them by sharing this and earn some exclusive perks.

See you in Trenches 😉

Adechina D. Odjo,

Content Editor @Trenches