True Marketing

Sep 10, 2024 - Marcel Odena

Yesterday, I had a call with someone who showed interest in Magnetica’s services. In marketing-sales terms, this person would be called a “prospect,” and the call would be referred to as a “discovery call,” a quick conversation to see if there’s a business opportunity or not (and then move on). However, the situation didn’t quite unfold that way; we both engaged in a conversation, as equals, learning from one another.

For me, it was useful to grasp the reality of a company—his company—in Spain. One cannot do effective marketing without fully understanding the situation and challenges that the companies you aim to help are facing.

I believe I also helped him with a bunch of ideas, maybe even overwhelmed him a bit, and I also debunked some of the magic formulas floating around the internet that, in practice, don’t work as well as they claim.

Is there a market for what your company offers?

This was a question I asked at one point. Is there really a market right now for selling this? The answer is hard to gauge, especially in B2B, because often you don’t know what your competitors are selling and, therefore, you can’t figure out the volume of business that’s happening.

One thing is the need that companies might have, and another is whether they have a budget allocated to address that need.

What is the point of all this? You can put a lot of effort into doing the best marketing, advertising campaigns, etc., but if there’s no budget for purchasing your products or services, it will be difficult to make the investment profitable.

Another thing is if you play the long game; then, everything you do will bear fruit. When? When the budget of those companies returns. This can happen because the economy changes and suddenly improves. We’ve all experienced those times when you have to turn down projects because you’re overwhelmed, right?

True Marketing

In a scenario where demand is limited, you need to showcase your best attributes to be the chosen one. How? By explaining what your company does, what problems it solves, how it solves them, why it’s one of the best, which clients it’s helping, etc. To me, this is True Marketing.

There is a market with companies that have needs (clients), and there are other companies that can meet those needs (providers). The art of good marketing is knowing how to effectively explain to your potential clients that your company is a good option to meet their needs.

Marketing was never meant to be ‘fast food,’ but rather ‘slow cooking.’ Marketing is a long-term game, a steady, incremental effort that yields results in a random yet sustained manner over time. Why random? Because neither you nor I control the will of your potential buyer, and it is they who decide when it’s the right time to contact you.

Growth Marketing

Growth Marketing: There is a discipline within marketing called ‘growth marketing.’ I’ve seen roles like ‘growth hacker,’ etc. These are techniques designed to intensify marketing efforts and advertising campaigns, mainly to capture demand. Wait, did I say ‘capture demand’? But what if there isn’t enough demand? Well, there you have the answer: growth marketing won’t work.

Market Fit

A colleague I respect always used to say that having a product with market fit is easy to sell; it practically sells itself and is taken off your hands. The challenge is when you have to sell a product that doesn’t fit perfectly with the market; that’s when it becomes difficult to sell. You might generate leads, but closing the sale becomes a struggle.

Why? Because there’s something about the product/service that doesn’t fit what your potential buyer needs, such as:

Price: Your product might be excellent, but if it’s more expensive than the competition, it adds friction to the sales process.

Features: If your buyer expects your product to do 5 things and yours does 3 very well but lacks the other 2, it will be very difficult to sell your product if there are other companies offering all 5 features excellently (those companies would have market fit).

Other aspects we all consider before buying: the reputation of the company, reliability, what clients they have, where their offices are, in what language their employees speak (what will happen if you need support?), etc.

In 2018, I would dare to say that the economy was booming in general terms, and sales were strong. There was a lot of money circulating around the globe. Funding rounds for startups were happening all the time, and not just $300k rounds, but substantial ones of $3 million, $20 million, and so on. All this made growth marketing make a lot of sense. It made commercial prospecting very relevant.

What’s the key? Whether there’s a check to sign for the purchase or not. It’s that simple.

In my opinion, sometimes we struggle to accept reality and want to believe in magical techniques, sales and marketing wizards who can make the impossible happen.

The Mission of Marketing

In my opinion, the mission of marketing is not to sell directly (though it achieves this inadvertently, it’s not its main mission).

The main mission of marketing is to connect demand with supply:

Demand comes from companies with needs to be met, and they are either actively seeking solutions or passively waiting for someone to contact them and show them how their problem could be solved.

Supply comes from companies that are highly competent in a specific field (finance, IT, operations, security, etc.) and can address these companies’ problems.

Marketing effectively explains what a supplier company does to a client company with a need. That’s it, folks!

From there, the path to a purchase involves a sea of variables.

Marketing and Sales: Diligent and Coordinated

In my opinion, the efficient management of the marketing area in conjunction with the sales area is:

Marketing evangelizes about the problems your company solves, and along the way, generates ‘signals’ from people showing interest. These signals might come from individuals approaching your company, inquiring about your product or service, perhaps through a chat, a form submission, a WhatsApp message, a newsletter subscription, or any other means. There are countless ways to signal interest.

Sales, on the other hand, has its radar on to see which people are eager to be contacted and wish to speak with a human to ask certain questions before deciding on a provider. This is where a sales representative cannot afford to fail. This is also where your company’s product or service is tested for ‘market fit.’ If your product doesn’t have a ‘killer’ feature that your potential buyer is expecting, there’s nothing that can be done, no matter how friendly and pleasant the sales representative is. Conversely, even if you have a product with the best market fit, you might lose a potential buyer if you don’t manage sales diligently (e.g., if you respond late, if you have an arrogant attitude, etc.).

What does Google Ads do?

Google Ads captures demand when people search on Google. Why? Essentially, because they go to Google and type: ‘I’m looking for you, where are you?’ If they search for terms like ‘IT security companies’ or ‘interior design companies in — your city —,’ it’s a clear signal that they are looking for you.

What does LinkedIn Ads do?

LinkedIn Ads generates interest from your potential buyers by promoting your products or services.

Can it capture demand? Yes, but it’s slower because the need and timing are determined by the company when they see fit, not when you decide to launch your campaign. Therefore, you need to be present, with your campaign running for many months to be there when the time comes and the buying company thinks of you.

Competent Company

All of this assumes that your company must be competitive and have a good product or service. If this isn’t the case, it’s better not to start with marketing and instead focus on improving your product or service first to become competitive.

The end of the conversation

After more than an hour of discussion, we concluded our call. Both parties agreed that the smartest strategy was to focus on showcasing the value of the services you want to sell, without directly selling them. Explain what problems you solve, etc.

We all have a text editor and can explain what your product does, what problems it solves, etc. You can publish this on your website, on corporate pages, in the blog section, create PDF brochures, make a video (just record yourself explaining it), and distribute it through social media, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok (why not), etc.

The point is to realize that no one will buy what you’re selling if they don’t know what it is, and even if they do, if they don’t understand the value of what you offer and the problems it solves. And this doesn’t depend on anyone’s magic but on you, ensuring that your story is known.

Marcel Odena

CEO at Magnetica Advertising | LinkedIn Ads Expert

Since 2013 I've been working in the Pay Per Click Advertising Industry. I manage Google and LinkedIn Ads accounts for several B2B companies. I work to deliver results to my clients as well to contribute to do better B2B marketing. I like to learn and share my knowledge at the same time.