To survive, you have to understand Smarketing

29.10.2019

“Studies show that over 75 per cent of people don’t believe advertising anymore.” The most traditional and many times trusted way to increase sales trough marketing is not working anymore. If almost 8 out of 10 people doesn’t trust the adverting that companies are making it shows its almost like throwing cash to the trash. Sales and marketing are in change, and on the way to fuse closer together. I read book called “Smarketing : how to achieve competitive advantage through blended sales and marketing – Tim Hughes, Adam Gray and Hugo Whicher”. This book dives to future of sales and marketing, smarketing.

Original advertising is not all alone with reduced outcomes. There is speak about “the dead of cold calling” and “non importance to meet customer face to face”. Still it seems people have no answers what to do, if original ways to sell are not effective. In here we have to remember that there is no such thing as “a silver bullet, that can cure all ills”. We can find right mind set to “new age of sales” from change of buying behavior.

Before diving to the cultural changes, lets focus on common answer to break new challenges nowadays. Many of us my say immediately that technology is answer to reduced results. I bring this up because its important to understand that it can’t be a solution itself. As this was disclosed in book (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018) “Fool with a tool is still a fool”. Sure, technology is a vital platform for success, but you have to understand how, why and when to use it.

Nowadays buyers want to be educated, not to be sold. People want insight, know trends and how you can make an impact for them. People really doesn’t want to use time to hear about the company or products, they want to hear things that are important to them.

For many years marketing departments have had the situations where they are really teaching people. Customers have been ignorant what products do, whether they are reliable and whether the competitors are better or worse. Not anymore. Customers may even know more than seller. Customers have a hard data on their fingertips not only from seller but other customers and competitors. If customers have all the knowledge, what they want? Above all they want help.

Some of marketers think that people focus on their marketing material. Truth is probably that they went online to third-party content which was impartial and not highlighting unique sell points in the way company’s marketing team might. Many marketing and sales people has the right way. Still it seems its hard to understand people want the content, which helps them and its not pitchy. “We are all now modern buyers; we all research things on the internet and we all avoid being pitched to, so why, as soon as we sit at our desks, do we think it is a good idea?” (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018).

For sales and marketing are becoming extremely difficult to forecast accurately. Whether we do original methods which are not working properly anymore or we hit new sales and marketing ways like creating content its often filled with hopes and dreams. For example “good content” is no barometer for success and even if it was creating some buzz. Content may have gone viral but it doesn’t promise any sales.

“As marketers and sellers we have to look at our customers holistically, understanding that people want to buy over different channels, but also want to consume different content: long-form, short-form, video, etc” (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018). The need to understand “how to connect the dots” to make sure customer has right thing at the right time is greater than ever. We can not deside where buyer is nor who interacts with the buyer. Also the competition is just one click away.

In the book which I read “Smarketing – Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018) is good intro for one of key components of sales today. There Mr. asked from his student “What would be the ultimate sales strategy?” First answer was lunching all day with customers. Mr. though: “Yeah, you would have long time to interact with customer, but its not very scalable.” Next Mr. and students played with calling and emailing customers every day but they came up that it would be just annoying. They also handled ad marketing. Mr. asked the group, “who today has been onto social media?” Everybody put their hand up. Next Mr. asked, “who today has been looking at adverts?” No hands went up. Why? We are on social media because we want to be there. If you are buying ads, it would seem that nobody is looking to read them. “So how do you get in front of your customers every day (in a way that scales). Simple, post something every day on LinkedIn and social media. You are probably thinking, “So what, who cares what I post?” Think about when you page through your LinkedIn feed; you know who’s boring and who’s interesting. Yes? Those people that are posting ‘corporate twaddle’: is your network really talking about some new supplier-focused, white paper? Of course they are not. Students all laugh, shaked heads and think why are those poor salespeople and marketers stuck in the 1980s?” What do you think your customers are thinking? The same: ‘Why do they keep posting all that corporate rubbish?’ For your customer there is only one person that matters and it’s them.” (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018)

Social media profiles are there for everybody to see 24/7, around the clock. Nowadays its hugely important that people get help when they want it and sees you more as a human than a salesman. In social media people judge you and have conclusions based on your prolife and what you do post. They judge if you’re interesting or not. Also, they judge you are you professional or not. So if you want to be the one whom people buy, you have to think wisely what and how you present yourself in the internet. Social media is also the key to get closer than ever to your customers. Its hugely important for understand how to sell and market and what help offer for customers and when. “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves. Steve Jobs” For example, if you know that your customers have headache just before having flu, you can market your offering to people who are fighting now against headache, if your offering is cure for flu. Not the best example, but I think it does the work.

“We are 71% more likely to buy from a review. It helps if we know the person but as TripAdvisor and Amazon show, it might not be so. This means that for the salesperson to sell or the marketer to market today, they need to build trust with the buyer.” (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018) The customer needs to see that the transaction is “worth it”. There have to be some value exchange between the buyer and seller. One of the ways that a salesperson can create trust is to set themselves up as an expert. This is why “personal branding” is working good increasing sales nowadays. People approach easily experts help, when they doesn’t shown as salesman. Here its important understand that the modern buyer is really a clever one. If they think you’re pitching or it looks like you are not legimate, they will run away.

In social media and personal branding to make successfully income you should do account based marketing (ABM). It’s like “treating individual accounts as markets in their own”. Then to position your company and its services with the aim of acquiring a greater share of clients’ business and earning continued loyalty.” (Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018) In these surfices you should concentrate not to have lot of leads but having quality leads. ABM provides to use digital marketing and social selling skills to educate and engage “right up and down the funnel”. This engagement will also create deep relationships with customers. This means that seller and marketer will understand an industry’s pain points and motivations. As sales and marketing (smarketing) are working together, the company is able to create content focusing on the customer’s issues as well as wants and needs.

For the ages in sales and marketing we have been told that it cost more to make new customers than to develop an existing ones. All this is on focus more in future. Relationships in accounts are not just about selling, it impact also by have new accounts by referrals, which is one of the most effective statements on selling nowadays.

In the end I want to rise relevant measurements styles in smarketing vs. traditional sales and marketing. I think this shows where you should concentrate when applying smarketing style:

Traditional measurement: Responses – Leads – Opportunities – Revenue

Smarketing measurement: Intent – Account Engagement – Customer Satisfaction

(Hughes, Gray, Whicher 2018)

References:

Hughes, Tim. Gray, Adam. Whicher, Hugo. Smarketing : How to Achieve Competitive Advantage Through Blended Sales and Marketing, Kogan Page, Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tampere/detail.action?docID=5527503.
Created from Tampere on 2019-10-29