There has been much talk on how companies and brands have to rethink their strategies and pivot during these unprecedented times. Amidst this, marketers and agencies have also come under the limelight, and the value they will continue to bring. Mi9 spoke to two global thought leaders on how they view the role of Marketers moving forward. Below Ian Luck, VP of CustomerGauge in Boston, and Daniel Murray, a Marketing Ops Expert in Los Angeles, share their insights.
Ian Luck
Ian Luck is the VP of Global Marketing at CustomerGauge; creator of the Account Experience category maximising retention and growth for B2B companies. He is also the Founder of Marketingstrategy.com, the online community where one can find the most effective strategies for rapid growth, for marketers by marketers. Ian has marketed for some of the world's best-known brands like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Ryder, Force Factor, and CIT Bank. His content has been downloaded 50,000+ times and viewed by over 90% of the Fortune 500. His marketing has been featured in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Adweek, Business Insider, Seeking Alpha, Tech Crunch, Y Combinator, and Lifehacker. With over 10 start-ups under his belt, Ian's been described as a serial entrepreneur - a badge he wears with pride. If that is not enough, he is also a published author and musician, and when he's not obsessively testing the next marketing idea, he can be found hanging out with family and friends north of Boston.
So yes, Ian Luck was definitely someone Mi9 had to chat to and his insights did not disappoint us. Ian’s video can be viewed here.
Daniel Murray
Daniel Murray is all about driving revenue and creating value. He is the Senior Marketing Operations Manager at ServiceTitan in Los Angeles and has been in Marketing Operations for over five years focused on technology and SaaS. Daniel loves everything about marketing from data, to content creation, to paid ads. Did we mention that he is also a former D1 Football Player at University of Cincinnati and San Diego?
“The main thing I love about marketing is how much you deeply have to understand people and how they make decisions. It's an exciting and unpaved time to be a Marketer, and we all need to rise to meet the challenges we’re facing head on”
When we reached out to Daniel he was super keen to share his thoughts on the role of marketers moving forward. Below Daniel outlines four key tips for marketers on how they need to step up in this new era:
1. Focus on playing the long game
Now, more than ever, marketers need to focus on brand, building an audience, and building trust with their customers. People can copy your marketing, but they cannot copy YOUR brand! Everyone is also using the same channels in marketing especially in B2B, so creativity is more important now than it’s ever been, and will break through the noise.
2. Creating valuable and useful content
What I’ve learned during this pandemic is that creating valuable and useful content fast and at scale, is always a great strategy. And to be frank, has always been a great strategy. You might not be able to tie that investment back to direct sales, but the trust and raving fans you build for your brand will far exceed that. Also, building a brand will help you create demand. Deeply understanding and empathizing with your audience is so important. Marketing at the core is understanding people and how they make decisions.
3. Quality versus quantity
Companies need to stop just measuring their marketing success on leads generated, and measure their success on quality meetings driven (opportunities) and revenue. Also, marketing teams should know not every channel needs to deliver direct revenue, like quality content for example.
4. Make it easy for your customers
For me in Marketing Ops, I focus on how can I make it easier for our buyer to buy now, not how can I make it easier for a sales person to sell. Companies should be adjusting their processes to make it easier for their buyers. PERIOD! This will improve your conversion rates tremendously.
