We have a lot of sales conversations at our agency. Over the last five years of mastering our ability to craft aligned digital sales and marketing strategies for hundreds of companies of all shapes, sizes, and industries I've noticed a lot of commonalities. Last week I had one of these conversations that I believe exemplifies the common need that organizations face in their pursuit of digital success.
A recent conversation exemplifies what we run into often
A senior sales executive called in, looking to talk marketing. He worked for an eighty-year-old company that had recently re-branded themselves. He was looking for support from a local marketing agency because he wanted to put together a business case for digital marketing. He was hoping to treat his team as a guinea pig for the organization, sticking his neck out in hopes of demonstrating value and potential for scale. He....
- wanted to grow his client base
- had flexibility within his role to solve
- knew he needed to get in front of more of the right people
- knew his time was best used spent working qualified prospects
The problem this particular sales executive faced starts with the foundation. He simply doesn't have the proper setup to build from. There are so many missing pieces and poorly constructed assets that he's up against a significant set of challenges in developing a proof of concept for organizational scale.
The website isn't being found
Their website traffic is pitifully low. They are generating less than 500 visits per month, with almost none of it coming from search engines. It's always going to be difficult to generate business when you really aren't generating interest.
The organization isn't a part of the greater conversation
Their lack of interest is evident beyond their website. They haven't built any kind of social community and aren't sharing any kind of news or information. Their virtual radio silence was deafening across the digital landscape.
The little amount of traffic they are getting isn't being served at all
The website traffic they did receive really had little to do when they arrived. The site features a heavy navigation structure with lots of pages but very little value on any individual page. A lack of connected messaging, resources, and prompts to allow visitors efficient choice for inquiry all contribute to their struggles to convert leads.
Nothing is connected so there's no visibility into any metrics
He doesn't know what his traffic or lead numbers are because there's nothing in place to track data. Google Analytics, marketing automation software, and a CRM are all non-existent. They don't have a place to centralize their efforts or report on any kind of performance metrics. The lack of intelligent data points for a specific baseline poses a challenge to setting expectations and goal setting.
His current efforts are being squandered
Perhaps the worst part is that this guy is a thought leader in his industry. He's been working hard to develop a series of speaking engagements to generate leads and grow his personal brand. Because he doesn't have a vehicle to promote his events, attendance isn't what it could be. Because he has no way to generate reservations he doesn't really know how many people are coming. And, because he has no system in place for managing the people who show up and request his offered 'next step' he's forced to track and manage each prospect manually via spreadsheet. He's doing the best he can with what he has, but could do so much better with the proper digital marketing and sales system at his disposal.
The universal digital challenges we face
That's a pretty typical scenario we see here at Revenue River Marketing. Before any of us can really scoop and qualify new leads we have to build the right system. This is a much deeper issue than many organizations realize, and it stretches beyond the website or marketing automation system they have in place. A successful, productive digital marketing campaign requires a completely connected technology stack. We're all generally trying to accomplish the same thing, and the playing field is nearly exact for all types of companies across a multitude of industries.
- We're all trying to compete
- We're all trying to grow
- No matter our baseline, we all have opportunity for improvement
- All of our plans, assets, and promotions must be connected
- The recipes and ingredients may differ slightly
- The approach for solving is always the same
The recipe for success starts with developing the system to accommodate goals
System development starts with pinpointing each organization's best opportunities. A thorough examination of the existing baseline, followed by a detailed and prioritized plan of attack.
Our process and system development centers on the three critical foundational elements of a sound digital strategy. This 'trifecta of digital success' represents the true growth stack approach to solving for our customers.
Our approach attacks the entire marketing & sales funnel, from top to bottom
When the system is designed properly and aligned, each discipline successfully contributes to results. Each element of the united system can play their critical roles in client acquisition. The system simply works.
- The website is built to serve and convert visitors, with a user-experience that speaks to their individual challenges, and educates towards an applicable solution.
- The marketing system furthers the education, presenting compelling options for visitors to self-educate, while carefully tracking engagement against detailed qualification parameters behind the scenes.
- The sales system picks up where marketing leaves off, with a smooth transition and a disciplined process that passes critical lead intelligence to sales with clearly defined next steps.
If your system is lacking, the path to solve isn't as difficult as you might think
This isn't a massively difficult set of concepts to master. It just takes a team capable of helping you identify and engineer a system that meets your needs and goals. Once the system is setup you can craft a strategy to reach the types of prospects you value most. From there, you just need to embrace the discipline of building, educating, promoting, and participating in the conversation. If you think you need help, we should talk.
