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Traveling back into the city after spending some days in the country (or in my case, at the lake) is always a shock. The noise – it hits me hard! You don’t realize it until you’ve been away from it. Eventually, it turns into background noise, but it’s quite a shock at first.
How do you handle all the business noise out there – are your sales teams able to cut through to their prospects?
Whether you’re in the mean streets of the city or the relative tranquility of a quiet weekend getaway, give this song by Van Halen a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week.
Cutting Through the Noise
Simply getting on prospects’ radar is a major hurdle in B2B lead gen today. Every channel is clogged with marketing – both good and bad – and marketers are challenged to make the most of their automation investments and create content that connects.
Over the past month or so, I’ve been saving cold emails I’ve received from vendors trying to sell me stuff – and it’s been horrible. I see so many of the same subject lines over and over from different senders – are they so lazy that they all just use the same templates from their sales and marketing tech? Like Van Halen says, I see the same old faces and I hear that same old talk.
So how do you cut through the noise and get in front of those prospects? Some say intent data is the answer… but what kind? First, second, and third party intent data all have specific advantages and disadvantages – and it comes down to four factors: accuracy, cost, control, and quantity.
This infographic explains the pros and cons of each and helps you understand which one is best for meeting your business objectives.
My experience with second and third party intent data has been… iffy. Maybe you’ve had a different experience? But anything you can do to break the routine and reach the right person with the right message at the right time is key – and an integrated campaign with both human and digital touches is the way to go!
Spotify’s White Noise
I stumbled on this super interesting article the other day. As you may know, Spotify acquired the podcast creation app Anchor in 2019 in an attempt to scale their podcast business quickly. Now over 40% of all podcasts are being hosted on that platform. In particular, one segment of users found massive success with Spotify’s tools: white noise creators.
As of January, white noise and ambient podcasts accounted for 3 million daily consumption hours on the platform, inadvertently boosted by Spotify’s own algorithmic push for “talk” content (versus music).
Once Spotify realized how much attention was going to white noise podcasts, the company considered a move that would redirect audiences to comparable programming that was more economical for Spotify, boosting the platform’s gross profit by up to $38 million annually.
Spotify says they haven’t moved forward with this plan… though podcasters say their podcasts have vanished from their accounts and their downloads have dropped dramatically.
Spotify’s challenge with white noise podcasts mirrors a similar conversation happening in the music world. Universal Music Group and Warner Music have both voiced their displeasure at the fact that songs filled with noise are paid out of the same royalty pool shared by their superstars.
But what Spotify and these music giants don’t seem to realize about the biggest streaming platform’s push into podcasts: taking listeners’ time away from Drake or Taylor Swift (or Van Halen) removes them from the music ecosystem long before they’re driven to white noise soundscapes!
Are you seeing something similar in B2B? Our prospects are always searching for the latest thing, and that could be you. But if you’re having trouble getting in front of them, maybe what’s pulling their attention away is something you hadn’t even thought to watch out for!
As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!
Looking forward,
Rick
Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat