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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

The post B2B Messaging: Cutting Through the Noise appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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How often do you check your rear-view mirror? It’s impossible to safely drive a car while focusing on that view – and only seeing where you’ve been is a terrible way to figure out where to go.

But it’s unsafe to go forward with no idea of what came before. Somewhere in between is a useful set of tactics, right?

Give this especially poignant song from Pearl Jam a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week…

HubSpot Benchmark Data

Throughout the pandemic, HubSpot published some great data and trends from their user base of 70,000+ client companies. We may want to look back at some of this data – and perhaps see things so much clearer for B2B in 2023!

The last update published was in February 2022. Here are some of the trends:

• Deals Closed had risen to 24% over benchmark vs. 20% in January
• Sales Emails were continuing to increase – way up YOY
• Sales Conversations were showing a healthy increase (53% over benchmark)
• Contact Growth had dropped vs. January, but still 30% over benchmark

HubSpot may not be publishing these trends ongoing anymore, but they did recently share an overview of all of 2022.

So how have those trends changed?

• 2022 web traffic struggled to outpace 2021. With the worst of the pandemic in the rear-view, people sought to disconnect more. But part of the dip was also affected by…
• Marketing emails dropped by 4% and open rates by 12.89%! Both sales and marketing emails saw big increases over the pandemic, so email fatigue probably caught up with some prospects. But despite these drops…
• Marketing leads and conversions went up year-over-year. Web conversions saw an 11% increase, with inbound leads up nearly 7%.

What does this all mean for the road ahead as we gather speed through Q2 and beyond? Marketing lead and conversion plays are more important than ever – and aligning with sales activities.

And what about you? Do your strategies for 2023 match these trends? Or maybe the trends have made you wise on where you’re missing out!

Streaming’s Generational Blind Spot

A really fascinating point in this article: as an industry, we need to focus on engaging with (and finding value in) any demographic being under-served by dominant platforms. It’s not enough to check our rear-view mirrors – we need to be checking our blind spots, too!

Knowing that 25-34s grew up amid the transition from physical music to streaming, we might expect them to be well-adapted to the new format. But in reality, these consumers seem reluctant to give up the listening methods of their upbringing. 25-34s in the US spend the least time streaming music of any segment under 45, and the most on other formats, such as CD, radio, and vinyl.

What about B2B? As this age group rises in the ranks of your customers, this might impact your sales and marketing strategies. Are there older technologies they’re not yet willing to let go of once and for all? And if so, how do we, as marketers, adapt?

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

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Can you hear that?

Every time I ask Alexa to do something, I wonder – who’s listening? Where’s this data going? And when I start my car every morning, I get a message saying that data is reported back to the manufacturer… how paranoid should I be? I try to do as much as I can to limit the chance that personal information on my phone can be used against me.

Hmm… does that make my Samsung phone a paranoid android??

“Alexa, play Radiohead on Spotify”… and please listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week.

What’s Your Smart Speaker Collecting?

I love my smart speakers. And I’m not alone. Google Assistant, Alexa, Apple’s HomePod… tens of millions of units are sold every quarter. These devices are fun and useful, but what else are they doing? Watching? Listening? Spying?

As a consumer and a marketer, I’m paranoid about what data I’m giving up – but also very intrigued by how the data is being used. If you’re going to the trouble of collecting the data, you might as well use it! And if you can make my life easier in the process… so be it!

Smart speakers are always on because they’re listening for their “wake word” (“Ok Google,” “Hey Siri,” etc)… and they record and remember everything said after the wake word. The problem is, some smart speakers use third-party developers outside the manufacturer. And according to Alan Cross, this is where the paranoia should kick in.

If one of these third parties is hacked – or unscrupulous – you could end up with eavesdropping and information theft. Alexa speakers are great for buying stuff. But without appropriate precautions, it’s (at least theoretically) possible for someone to buy stuff on your credit card using your Alexa device.

This makes me think about B2B – what data are we collecting from our clients and prospects? Many B2B marketers use intent data in their campaigns – but how accurate is it? Is this crossing the line and trying to act on those people’s activities? Your preference here is of no consequence – just make sure you’re transparent and USING the data intelligently.

Speaking of Streaming…

It was inevitable that after Spotify announced layoffs last week, all sorts of analysis would take place. Music Business Worldwide has picked apart all manner of stats – all of which leave you wondering what on earth is going on at the streaming giant.

A few stats that leaped out at me:

• Over $1B spent on podcasting in the last three years
• Only $200M earned from podcasting in 2021
• Nearly $500M (50% of operating costs for Q3 2022) – spent on sales and marketing
• $26M paid to Dawn Ostroff over three years

One can’t help but read through the article and feel that too many poor decisions have been made, the results from which have been entirely underwhelming.

Yes, Spotify has to be aggressive – but it also needs to be successful. Right now that is arguably not the case, with profit still eluding the company some 12 years in, and podcasting not shaping up to be any kind of competitor to music for revenue. I guess ambition makes them look pretty ugly…

I also wonder if we’re seeing a general return to sanity – not just around Spotify, but tech in general. Valuations have become ludicrous, as have salaries. As belts tighten, I wonder what Wall Street’s appetite for this will be in coming months and years.

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

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Happy Halloween! As the days grow shorter and shadows grow longer, we recognize the start of Spooky Season. Many celebrate by watching their favorite scary movies, decorating for Halloween, and heading to the pumpkin patch.

What scares you? Bats? Graveyards? Your Q4 sales forecast?

Give this thrilling song a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week.

B2B Horror Stories

Phantom leads, scary sales proposals and ghosting prospects – I’m sure you have lots of horror stories. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s to never be surprised!

We’re all aware of the proliferation of fake accounts on social media – how many Facebook or Instagram profiles have you seen that seem phony? Recently, there’s been attention on a new frontier of fake social media accounts – business profiles on LinkedIn.

And to the untrained eye, it can be really difficult to tell whether profiles are bogus – and there are serious business implications for false, unverified, or even outdated online profiles.

Scary, right?

It’s important to remember – LinkedIn profiles aren’t always the best source of actionable contact information. They can be outdated and inaccurate (or fake). You’re missing out on a huge opportunity and no one’s gonna save you if LinkedIn is your only contact database!

Many B2B professionals rely solely on LinkedIn data for their outreach. While LinkedIn is a critical source of data, it’s also important to balance it with others. I always recommend multiple data sources to ensure you’re focusing on the best data possible. You can have the best marketing campaign in the world – but if it doesn’t reach your prospects, it’s wasted dollars.

Spooky Distortion & Feedback

Remember the scene in Back to the Future when Marty plays the Eddie Van Halen tape of loud guitar for his sleeping teenage father in the ’50s? It’s a funny scene, but not too long ago, all music was expected to sound clean and clear.

Early electric guitar amplifiers were built to try and produce clean and chime-y guitar sounds at high volumes. But as with any new invention, some progressive players started experimenting with ways to toughen up their sound – to get more power, more growl, more rawness. And over a period of about 20 years, the clean, pure sound of the original electric guitars gave way to something dirty, distorted, filled with harmonics, and various amounts of feedback and noise.

Check out Alan Cross’ great explanation of the history of distortion and feedback here.

What examples do we have in B2B where someone took a product or invention and experimented to find a way to alter it to create a new application? Do you have any customers that are doing this with your product today – and if so, does it scare you, or excite 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

The post When B2B Gets Spooky appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Were you at Forrester B2B Summit last week in Austin? Over 2000 marketers convened last week at the conference – and the excitement was palpable. Was it the research? New technologies unveiled? I think the BIG news of the conference was just how… normal… things seemed overall!

Play this song by Austin’s own Black Pumas as we listen to what other people say this week.

#forrb2bsummit learnings

It was great to connect in person with colleagues and see first-hand new research and tech. But the excitement wasn’t all because of 2000 marketers eager to use their corporate expense accounts again – there were some interesting marketing and technology insights from the conference too:

Increased Prioritization of Customer Obsession. Mapping your organization to the 5 levels of customer obsession – customer naïve, customer aware, customer engaged, customer committed, and customer-obsessed.

The Power of Automation & AI. Three key opportunities for technology and humans to work together: support technology, CX, and improved performance.

The Power of Purpose. Just like B2C, B2B customers bring personal awareness and preference to the buying process.

Smarter Demand, Scaleable ABM. The number of B2B leaders who desire demand and ABM to be fully aligned – sharing people, processes, and tools – has increased from 54% in 2020 to 82% in 2022.

At last year’s summit, we learned that the number of interactions required to make buying decisions significantly increased from 17 (2019) to 27 (2021), indicating a new level of attention and due diligence for purchases during the pandemic. Additionally, more stakeholders and influencers are taking control of the decision-making process, resulting in 60% of purchases today having 4 or more people involved (compared with just 47% in 2017).

This year’s summit didn’t provide updated stats, but I think it’s safe to assume they’re consistent, and we still wanna know our customers better to effectively market in today’s buying environment!

Piano Lessons Delay Dementia

Remember those painful piano lessons you had as a kid? Well, maybe it’s time to get it together and pick them back up in your golden years…

There’s already proof that learning a musical instrument is associated with the brain’s ability to change and adapt, and that music can help protect our brains against cognitive decline with age. A new study has investigated how 6 months of piano training can affect the brain compared to simply listening to and learning about music, in healthy older adults who have had no formal musical training.

This is a topic near and dear to me, so seeing these positive results gives hope. And if it is to you as well, maybe it’s something to consider to help some loved ones and watch them shine.

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 Map Your Organization to Your Customers appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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I can take the cold. I’ve lived in Canada all my life, and even if I don’t like it, I should be used to the winter weather. What I can’t get used to is the darkness –  dark when you wake up, dark at the end of the workday. And you don’t realize how much you miss the sunshine until you have an oh-so-rare, bright, sunny day.

Give this song by the Black Keys a listen with me as we shine a little light on what the experts are saying this week.

HubSpot Data Shines a Light

The data from HubSpot has me a little perplexed. Closed deals are up significantly over January 2021, but created deals are much lower! Sales emails and conversations are way up over last January, as is contact growth.

So why are deals created so low? All of the sales focus was on closing deals? But closed deals were down over Q4 2021 – which I would usually expect in the beginning of the year, when typically activity is all about NEW opportunities. So where are they?

How will Q1 turn out this year? No one really knows where it goes from here but I do know I’ll be looking closely at the numbers to see how activity levels change over the next few months.

Timbiebs!

Have you ever had a Timbit? For the Canadians out there, these little donut holes have been ingrained in our lives and culture. And in November of 2021, Tim Hortons rolled out some special new flavours designed with Canadian pop music star Justin Bieber. These ‘Timbiebs’ caused quite a stir and people went wild for them… and all the Timbiebs swag.

According to Tim Hortons, this co-marketing campaign was one of the most successful traffic-driving initiatives in recent memory – resulting in unprecedented social engagement, merchandise sales, and increased appeal with younger guests.

How does this apply to B2B? Is there another brand you can partner with to expand your reach or increase awareness? Sometimes teaming up with just the right brand can grow your customer base, and the most unlikely of partnerships can help you go to places you used to go to reclaim some new or past customers and see the faces that you used to know.

What are some examples you can share?

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 Shedding a Light on B2B Sales Numbers appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Drummers get a bad rap. How many musician jokes are about them? But – what would our world be like without drummers? How important is that rhythm section to us? They drive the music. They hold it together. And in our B2B lives… who’s the drummer in your ‘band’ at work?

Give this Smashing Pumpkins tune (with Jimmy Chamberlin, one of my all-time favourite drummers) a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week…

Marketing Performance Amid Pandemic Challenges

Although many marketers have been largely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests that some are finally rebounding after the initial struggles they faced back in 2020.

Most marketers (70%) are now reporting their business performance as better overall compared to last year. And 63% claim that their budgets and priorities reflect pre-COVID levels. When factoring in pandemic-related challenges, 91% of marketing leaders said that their team has been successful over the past year.

In the same period, the majority agreed that marketing has grown in importance. Most marketing leaders (68%) shifted their resources to product marketing during the pandemic, while 62% shifted toward digital ads. About 53% moved toward customer marketing.

What kind of changes have you made? Did the pandemic prompt you to explore new strategies or channels? All things must surely have to end, but the changes they cause are lasting, so we must be able to adapt as they come.

Who’s Your Favourite Drummer?

I probably learned just as much about business being in bands as I did while in business school. We may think drummers take the backseat to other musicians, but their role is vital, and perhaps they can help us learn the meaning of it all!

What can they teach us that we can apply in our B2B lives?

Everything you do is both a reaction to, and cause of, something. A drummer speeds up, the band speeds up. They slow down, you slow down. But when your bass player settles in on a line, the drummer hears it, finds it, and helps them keep it.

In business, especially startups, every decision has an impact. So they should be rooted in reason (a reaction to something) and executed with purpose (to cause something to happen).

Find the tempo and stick with it. Too slow, and it drags. Too fast, and it gets sloppy. Settle into that pocket and keep it steady.

Find a sustainable pace at which to work. Generating demand can be hectic, but that’s even more of a reason to work at your own pace, not someone else’s. Some days will need more push than others, but those days get more doable if the default pace is where it needs to be.

Every business, every department, every team has to have its own ‘drummer’ to keep things going at the right tempo. As a demand gen partner to our clients, WE are the drummer keeping that steady flow of leads rolling. Do you know who your drummer is?

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

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I’ve been looking at a lot of data this week. Sometimes after staring at spreadsheets too long, I see these data points as a thousand points of light – what do they tell us? What trends do they reveal?

Give this song by Neil Young a listen with me as we see what the experts (and the data) are saying this week…

HubSpot CRM Data

It’s all about the data, right? In looking at the HubSpot data through December 2021, we can see some interesting results compared to previous months:

• Just about all sales and marketing activity was down in December – not a big surprise for year-end, and consistent with December 2020.
• Sales Emails Sent remain below benchmark, as they have since the pandemic began – though Responses continue to sit well above.
• While Deals Closed took a small dip in December with everything else, there was a drastic drop in Deals Created (down 90% from November!), bringing them the lowest they’ve been in 2+ years!

Some troubling statistics here – and we continue to see that an omnichannel approach to marketing is required to compete in today’s marketplace. Maybe there’s a warnin’ sign on the road ahead – what do you think? What are you seeing with your teams as we enter the new year?

A Man of the People? Neil Young, Spotify, and Numbers

You’ve probably heard the latest Spotify/Neil Young news (if not, you can get caught up here). Joe Rogan and Spotify may feel like Satan to Neil Young’s camp, but not to their own fans. Seeing how this has played out really got me thinking about audiences and target markets. You may remember I looked at Spotify’s ‘wrapped’ back in December, and Joe Rogan’s podcast was the top streamed for a second year running. So if Neil Young’s streaming numbers were higher, would Spotify have made a different decision? Of course!

Music subscriber market share data was released recently. Amazon Music once again out-performed Spotify in terms of growth (25% vs. 20%), but the standout success story was YouTube Music, growing by more than 50% in the 12 months leading up to Q2 2021.

YouTube Music was the only Western DSP to increase global market share in this period. It particularly resonates among Gen Z and younger Millennials, which should worry Spotify, as their core base of Millennial subscribers from the 2010s is now beginning to age.

How does this impact B2B? As always – make sure you’re targeting the right content to the right audience on the right platform. With competition on the rise, we’re seeing Spotify keep hope alive by assessing two opposing parties and making a business decision based on what the largest portion of their target market will consume (and where they have a vested interest).

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 Data and Numbers and Stats, oh my! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Congratulations on making it to December 2021! Some of us have had a rough time of it, others have been able to successfully adapt. Regardless – what can you do to keep moving forward and make it to the other side?

Give this Red Hot Chili Peppers song a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…

HubSpot Data – I Don’t Believe It’s Bad

It’s time to look at the HubSpot data – one of my favourite things to do! How have things played out over the last year?

• While Deals Created and Deals Closed have seen ups AND downs, they’ve ultimately seen more ups, and are ending 2021 well above the pre-COVID benchmark.
• Contact Growth has also varied, but in the last month or so had a major uptick! Perhaps a result of the ‘Great Reshuffle’ of 2021 – fresh faces (and fresh points of contact) coming into a lot of organizations.
• Sales Calls and Conversations have seen steady increases monthly.
• Likewise, Sales Emails Sent have increased, but the Response Rates continue to drop.

How long will responses slide? I see a lot of people preach email outreach vs. phone, but these numbers indicate that email alone isn’t enough. It just brings us back to what we always talk about here at Virtual Causeway: the multi-pronged approach, with a combination of human AND digital touches!

Opportunity? Spotify’s Year-End Streaming Stats

Have you shared your ‘Spotify Wrapped’ yet? Well, Spotify themselves shared theirs! Do any of your top streams match up?

• Most-Streamed Artist: Bad Bunny (a repeat from 2020)
• Most-Streamed Song: “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo (who has two songs in the Top 5!)
• Most Popular Podcast: The Joe Rogan Experience (another holdover from 2020)
• Most-Streamed Throwback Song and Album: Both nabbed by Fleetwood Mac, with “Dreams” and Rumours

Coming in a close second to Bad Bunny is Taylor Swift. If you’ve been paying attention to anything she’s been doing over the last two years, then that shouldn’t surprise you at all. With so much buzz around her, she’s been able to reel in quite the audience of new and old fans alike.

Are there any ways your business can take advantage of a captive audience like that? Perhaps test out some content that taps into your target audience. Where is the opportunity for you? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box to reel in your own customers – stranger things COULD change their mind!

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

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It’s been cool and rainy the last few days and it really feels like summer is over, doesn’t it? I feel like I really need to make a conscious effort to stay motivated and optimistic this time of year – how about you? Let’s collectively think positive thoughts and focus on finishing the year strong!

Give this cool song by Blind Melon a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…

HubSpot Benchmark Data – Summer 2021 Results

Since it’s the end of summer, let’s look at the HubSpot benchmark data and see how the summer turned out! Overall the data from July and August looks pretty good:

• Deals created increased over June. Deals closed remain steady in July/August
• Sales emails volume remains consistent, though email responses continue to decline
• Sales calls continue to increase, as do sales conversations
• Contact growth also grew in August

So what does this tell us? Sales and marketing activity continues to increase. And conversion rates (deals created, sales conversations, deals closed) are also improving. For the slow summer months, this seems to be a pretty significant positive trend we’re seeing.

We’ve seen similar results with our clients – the key continues to be a multi-touch and multi-channel approach to your buyer’s journey – digital and human touches that help move people through the process. When life (or your selling process) is hard, you have to change…

Keep on Dreamin’ – Touring Update

You’ve probably seen all the tour cancellations, and the concern regarding the future of live music (again). This great post from Bob Lefsetz shares some of the real economic forces driving today’s touring business, and how they’re trying to free themselves from COVID’s grasp on the nation.

You’ll see exactly how industrialized today’s touring business is. It’s not just the band – it’s the whole crew and team that helps put on the shows. And in today’s COVID environment, it’s even more difficult. Based on big stage productions, a 20-show tour might only break even for the last 5 shows. If you have to cancel a few dates because of COVID, you are screwed!!!

Things are still in flux, and now there’s now a phenomenon of ‘no-shows’ at concerts, something that’s never been an issue before – at least not at this level. What’s going to happen – will the tours be impacted? Will they stop entirely?

We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out. No one can say for sure just yet, but I know we can’t all stay here forever.

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 Sales and Marketing End-of-Summer Activity appeared first on Virtual Causeway.