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

Memorial Day isn’t just about barbecues and the start of summer. For many, it’s a day of reflection and contemplation. As marketers, how often do we reflect on the past and think about the motivation driving our activities?

I started this weekly email/blog during COVID to share best practices and learnings with the B2B community… and to infuse some musical references and forge a link with my personal interest in sales, marketing, music, and tech.

I hope you still get some value from these emails, and of course, always want to hear from you!

Check out this new song by Foo Fighters as we see what the experts are saying this week…

Demand Gen Reflections

How have your campaigns been performing? Where are you now in terms of your demand gen for 2023? As you reflect back on your year so far, perhaps you’ve had your share of failures and successes. What are some of the challenges or pitfalls in your demand gen? If you’re like many B2B organizations, they could be:

  • Not talking to your customers enough
  • Not generating results from your content
  • Not converting your leads into opportunities and clients
  • Not having the right data to make decisions

After many years of B2B campaigns and millions of leads generated, I can say that quality always trumps quantity. Many marketers choose quantity, wasting time on leads that aren’t likely to buy. Instead, businesses should focus on high-quality leads to grow their sales. Good things take time and it’s important to set long-term goals.

Perhaps it’s time to go back to square one and reflect on those goals… it might be necessary to rework them with the long term in mind.

The Foos’ New Drummer

You may have seen that Foo Fighters announced their new drummer, Josh Freese. The band revealed the news in a tongue-in-cheek livestream titled “Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts,” which promised a few surprises.

Recorded in their studio, the livestream opened with the band teasing the identity of their new drummer by calling in a slew of famous cameos, including Tommy Lee from Mötley Crüe, RHCP’s Chad Smith, and Tool’s Danny Carey.

In January, the band announced they would remain together and continue performing after the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins. There has been much speculation this year regarding the replacement for Hawkins, and the band had been tight-lipped about possible recruits.

How do you think the band handled this whole process? In typical Foos form, they had a ‘genuine-ness’ and a sense of humour throughout. Replacing a key member of the band could have alienated fans or contradicted their overall perception. Would you have done anything different to maintain continuity?

It’s one thing to say, “I’ll take care of everything from now on.” But it’s a whole other thing to assure your stakeholders that they’re in good hands. Reflect back on what was done previously to ensure you can maintain the same standard that your fans (or your customers/clients) will hold you to.

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