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B2B Marketers: The Devil IS In the Details!

by Jennifer Beever

Design DetailsMarketing is not about graphic design. Marketing is about getting results, including generating quality leads, engaging prospects and converting leads to clients and sales revenue.

This is one of the points that Mike Schultz & John E. Doerr make in their book, Professional Services Marketing: How The Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success. They warn against focusing too much on design details and too little on results. The authors provide five pieces of advice for marketers:

1. Keep Your Eye on the Prize. Marketing has to be iterative, flexible, and responsive to new client needs.

2. Collaborate with Care. Limit your marketing team to a few knowledgeable people.

3. Apply Ockham’s Razor. Less is more – fewer designs, fewer people, fewer options. (Read my previous post about this, What Does Occam’s Razor Have to do with Marketing?)

4. Don’t Rewire the Network Yourself. Don’t take it upon yourself to dictate colors and design details. Rather, ask this question of a good designer – “What design would get the best response from our prospects?”

5. Stop the Insanity. Schultz and Doerr warn against Dithering, becoming Dilatory, or suffering from Delusion.

I appreciate what Schultz and Doerr are saying. They go on to mention that professional service providers often equate the brand with themselves personally, because they are the deliverable. Therefore marketing becomes much more personal. In addition, they point out that service professionals are opinionated by training.

I believe we need to balance the details with the results. We need to make our best effort, yet brand and marketing efficiently with an eye to results. B2B marketers – what do you think?

Are you bogged down in marketing details and decisions? Contact us today – at New Incite we work with you to assess current marketing practices, establish timelines and systems, and execute for results.

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