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

It’s been raining here the past few days. It’s nice to see the warmer weather reappear, but hard not to let the gloomy skies get you down.

Do you notice any swings in weather impacting your B2B sales? What about your teams? Check out this cool song by The Dead Weather as we see what the experts are saying this week…

How Weather Affects Marketing

With new data, technology, and tools, we’re now able to leverage weather indications with much more accuracy. For example, when spring temperatures increase, hair removal products spike as bare legs hit the streets. At the same temperature, BBQ sales rise 200%.

Although rain can kill BBQ sales, lawn care purchases go through the roof – grass grows faster in wet weather. Even the presence of sunlight affects our moods and willingness to pay for products. We’re willing to pay more for certain products depending on sunlight conditions.

And when it comes to music lessons – bad weather can be a great marketing opportunity!

Does weather impact your B2B sales and marketing? How can we leverage some of those B2C strategies – rain or shine – to impact our B2B activities?

I wanna hear you! I’m certain there are some great examples of B2B companies leveraging this data successfully. I’d loved to know what you’ve seen or done!

Marketing Lessons from Fender Guitars

What would you do if 45% of your customers were first-time buyers of your product and 90% of those buyers gave up on your product within the first year? Fender Guitars CEO, Andy Mooney, faced this exact problem as he took the helm of the legendary 70-year-old company.

The first thing he did was dig into the research to understand who Fender’s customers were – and three remarkable data points emerged:

1. Nearly half of all new guitar buyers are first-timers. 45% of every Fender guitar sold went to somebody who had decided to learn guitar.
2. Half of those new buyers were women.
3. Engagement with the guitar is a two-bump curve. People engage when they’re young, then fall off when they start having families. Engagement tends to spike again once the kids leave home.

Finally, Mooney did the math. The average lifetime value of a Fender customer is $10,000 in guitars, amps, and accessories. With a million new guitar buyers each year in English-speaking countries alone and that pesky 90% abandonment rate, simply doubling retention to 20% (200,000 committed players) opens up a billion dollars of new revenue opportunity!!

To address this opportunity, they told their customers, “I wanna teach you,” and developed Fender Play and Fender Songs – online services designed to solve the customer problems discovered in the research. Fender Play gets new players up and running quickly, while Fender Songs takes already-competent players and allows them to build playlists of songs they want to learn. It’s all made available at consistently high quality, yet the cost is kept low – at $42 annually it’s literally less than one live guitar lesson.

In stark contrast to the Gibson marketing flub we discussed last week, it seems that Fender is increasing engagement and building even more brand loyalty.

How are you following Fender’s lead with your own customers? Gonna take them by the hand and walk them to your house (proverbially, of course!) to foster that sense of community and loyalty to your brand.

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

The post Marketing, Whether the Weather is Good or Bad appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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

Sometimes I wonder where November went. With year-end rushing toward us, it feels like we’ve got to ride like hell to finish strong. So, buckle up and listen to this cool tune from Big Sugar, one of Canada’s best live bands ever!

Here is what the experts are saying, and some takeaways from the past week:

Doubling Down on Accounts and Research

This unpredictable year has been about Stabilizing, Reinventing, and Growing wherever you can. I like TOPO’s three-phase strategic framework that integrates these concepts:

• Stabilize
• Renivent
• Grow

Many of our clients successfully adapted and focused on re-examining their USP and their prospects’ current needs while taking a deeper look into their target buyer group. Our market research clients have found opportunities through investigating spending patterns and the impact on buying behaviour. And we have regular conversations with clients about piloting ABM programs for them to test – it’s all about directing marketing resources toward more likely targets. Focus, focus, focus!

What are you planning to keep moving forward?

Speaking of Planning…

After the 2020 chaos I’m tempted to simply say I have absolutely no idea and good luck to everyone! But Sagefrog’s 2021 B2B Marketing Mix Report details trends and emerging tactics B2B marketers might find useful for the upcoming year. Top areas of marketing spend in 2021 budgets:

• Website Development – 51%
• Digital Marketing (SEO and SEM) – 44%
• Content Marketing – 33%
• Branding – 27%
• Social Media – 22%

It’s no surprise that companies are investing heavily in website development and digital marketing. Content marketing offers companies the best method to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Branding becomes ever more important in the virtual world to re-think gaining and retaining attention. The role of social media has taken a step forward for B2B – particularly the use of LinkedIn. Where are you investing in your 2021 plan?

When Music Does Good

There are so many challenges around us, but this story moved me by the power of music and the kindness of people. The Manchester Camerata Orchestra has been bringing music, improvisation, and joy into the lives of care home residents, including those with dementia, via its award-winning Music in Mind project for eight years. As a result of COVID, they are now piloting a remote resource offering backing tracks, Zoom feedback and mentoring – so care staff can continue the vital, interactive work.

This story resonates with me due to both the music connection and my own family connection to dementia and Alzheimer’s. I hope we can all find a way to encourage and inspire others.

For Your Entertainment – if you’re interested…

We’re in the giving season, so if you want to see me playing “Ride Like Hell” with Big Sugar back in 2011, click here… no hecklers, please!

Remember, be thankful and ride hard! As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat | President | Virtual Causeway | 519.866.1600 x622

The post Planning for the new year… focus! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.