What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Life has a funny way of throwing you curveballs when you least expect it. And picking yourself back up can be one heck of a challenge. But without fail, the trees will bloom and the grass will grow – just as we grow within ourselves, personally and professionally.

This Foo Fighters song has always been significant to me – about growth, change, urgency, movement. Give it a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week.

Who is in the Driver’s Seat?

How are your sales and marketing teams coping with today’s buyer’s journey? With large buying committees, self-service journeys and content overload, sales and marketing teams are tasked with blending automation, content, analytics and resources in their strategies to deliver meaningful, personalized buyer engagements that increase deal velocity.

B2B buyers have officially moved into the driver’s seat when orchestrating purchases and researching vendors/solutions. According to Demand Gen Report, top priorities for organizations in this new era of selling include:

  • Leveraging automation and behavioural signs to identify and target prospects most likely to convert
  • Focusing on top content formats that resonate best in each step of the buyer’s journey
  • Identifying needs of buying committees and supplying relevant information that appeals to all members

And I wonder, how often do you engage with committees in your buyer’s journey? Are you able to effectively map your buyer’s journey and provide appropriate content for each step – and each stakeholder – along the way? Or do they feel out of their head as they try to engage with you?

Times Like These

With Taylor Hawkins’ sudden passing over the weekend, there has been a multitude of memorial postings and messages by artists and fans worldwide. I’ve always been a fan, but seeing them for the first time at Dreamforce #6 in 2008 made me really love this band. The huge guitar sound, pounding and reckless drums, powerful vocals and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor – all had me wondering if anything could ever be this good again.

I thought I’d share some of my favourite Foo Fighters songs, and those of the crew here at Virtual Causeway:

“Everlong” (The Colour and the Shape, 1997) – Great song about risk, holding your breath and leaping into the unknown. And such a cool riff!

“Times Like These” (One by One, 2002) – Check out the acoustic version if you have a chance – great vocal performance.

“This is a Call” (Foo Fighters, 1995) – An energy, an optimism, a starting over – and stadium-sized hooks in this one.

“My Hero” (The Colour and the Shape, 1997) – The drums move the song forward in a way that almost takes over the track, but doesn’t, thanks to the strength of all the other elements.

“These Days” (Wasting Light, 2011) – The shift in Grohl’s voice from vulnerability to frustrated growling absolutely injects the song with utter sincerity.

Check out a full list and ranking of their songs here.

The only thing I’ll ever ask of you (but not really!) is: What are YOUR favourite songs? And what is it that makes them so great? I’d love to hear from you…

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