Gray Matter at White Space

Creative minds often make abstract interpretations of left-brain concepts. The analytic brain understands that 1+1+1=3, but the artistic one might say… “Does it, really?”

When founders and business owners look at this equation from a marketing perspective, they don’t see a cut-and-dry answer. Adding up a collection of marketing tactics doesn’t mean they’ll arrive at a definitive “sum” of success.

For example, you can have:

• A rockstar SEO advisor
• The latest, greatest MarTech solution
• A top-level website designer
• Copy-writing extraordinaire

Does each operate on its own? How does each contribute to a complete business strategy?

Meet today’s CEO, Chris. Even though referrals convert the best for his business, he couldn’t rely on them exclusively to get the growth he needed.

This was not for lack of effort. Chris had done the groundwork to set his business up for success. His company had great tech, superb service, accolades from his customers, a high NPS. But, there wasn’t enough volume in his referral pipeline to get the lift he expected.

Still, year after year, he moved more resources into sales, refined the process, and aligned his messaging. 

Unfortunately, this is one case where the facts are the facts... and unless something changes, things will continue to stay the same.

The B2B Customer Experience: Small Business Strategies Fill Big Business Shoes

I’m in a circle of scrappy, ambitious small B2B business owners—and I serve the same type of businesses in the Strategy Lab. Recent research by Merkle revealed some interesting buying trends in the B2B space, but the study, "Architecting the Ultimate B2B Customer Experience," focuses largely on enterprise B2B players.

What does this research say about driving factors for success that apply to us? 

Here are a few of the key points from the study, along with the opportunities for the small business leader.