As a CEO, you know that marketing is crucial to driving growth and staying competitive in the B2B space. But do you really understand what your Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is doing to ensure success? It’s time to start asking the tough questions to unlock the mysteries of your B2B marketing strategy.
4 Questions to Unlock B2B Marketing Mysteries
1. What are we doing to drive growth?
Asking your CMO what they are doing to drive growth is a crucial first step in understanding your B2B marketing strategy. Your CMO should be able to provide specific marketing tactics and strategies that they are using to generate leads and increase revenue. This may include developing targeted messaging and content for different stages of the buyer’s journey, investing in SEO and PPC advertising, or partnering with influencers or thought leaders in your industry.
It’s essential to keep in mind that the strategies your CMO is using may vary depending on your company’s goals, target audience, and industry. For example, if you are in a highly competitive industry, your CMO may invest in account-based marketing to target high-value accounts. If your company is focused on thought leadership and building credibility in your industry, your CMO may be investing in content marketing and developing relationships with industry influencers.
Asking your CMO what they are doing to drive growth is not only important for understanding your marketing strategy, but it also demonstrates that you are invested in the success of your marketing team. By showing interest and support in their efforts, you can help create a collaborative and effective culture aligned with your business goals.
2. How are we measuring success?
It’s not enough to simply invest in marketing activities—you need to be able to measure their impact. Ask your CMO what metrics they are using to track success. Are they looking at website traffic, conversion rates, or revenue generated from marketing activities? Do they have a system in place to track the ROI of each marketing campaign? Understanding how your marketing team measures success will give you a better sense of whether your marketing investment is paying off.
It’s important to understand which metrics are most relevant to your business goals. For example, if your main goal is to generate more leads, then your CMO should be tracking lead generation metrics such as the number of leads generated and the conversion rate of those leads. On the other hand, if your main goal is to increase revenue, then the revenue generated from marketing activities may be a more critical metric.
In addition to understanding what metrics your CMO is tracking, it’s also essential to know how they track those metrics. Your CMO should have a system in place to track the ROI of each marketing campaign. This may include using tracking URLs, UTM parameters, or other tools to track website traffic and conversions generated from specific marketing channels or campaigns.
Ultimately, understanding how your CMO is measuring success will give you a better sense of the impact of your marketing investment. By tracking the right metrics and measuring ROI, your marketing team can demonstrate the value they bring to your business and help you make informed decisions about allocating your marketing budget.
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3. What gaps do we have in our marketing strategy?
Identifying gaps in your marketing strategy is crucial to ensure your marketing efforts align with your business goals. As a CEO, working with your CMO to identify gaps in your current marketing strategy is important.
One key area to assess is your buyer personas. Are you effectively targeting the right people with your messaging and B2B content marketing? Are there segments of your target audience that you’re not reaching or engaging with? Working with your CMO to reassess your buyer personas can help ensure your marketing efforts effectively reach and engage with the right people.
Another area to assess is the channels you use to reach your target audience. Are you focusing too much on one particular channel, such as social media, and neglecting other channels that may be more effective for your target audience? Are there new channels or platforms that you should be considering to reach your target audience more effectively?
Lastly, it’s essential to identify any specific initiatives that your marketing team is struggling to get off the ground. For example, are you struggling to generate earned media coverage or build relationships with influencers in your industry? If your in-house marketing team is overwhelmed, it may be time to bring in an agency to backfill where the team can’t manage or simply offer new perspectives.
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4. What can we do to fill those gaps?
Once you and your CMO have identified gaps in your marketing strategy, it’s important to work together to develop a plan to fill those gaps. Ask your CMO what resources their team needs. Do they need more budget to invest in certain marketing channels or initiatives? Do they need to hire additional team members with specific skills? Would collaborating with an agency help the business see results faster?
Your CMO should be able to provide you with a detailed plan that outlines what resources are needed to fill the gaps in your marketing strategy and how long it will take to implement those strategies. It’s important to remember that some initiatives may take longer to implement than others, so prioritize them based on their potential impact on your business goals and the strong suits of your marketing team. If you have the brightest minds in web design but need help creating masterful content, there’s no shame in partnering with an external agency to give your brand the boost it needs.
Ultimately, the goal of filling gaps in your B2B marketing strategy is to improve the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts and drive business growth. By working closely with your CMO to identify gaps and develop a plan to fill those gaps, you can ensure that your marketing team is effectively supporting your business goals and maximizing the return on your marketing investment.
As a CEO, understanding your B2B marketing strategy is crucial to driving growth and staying competitive. Having regular, honest conversations with your CMO can help you understand the mysteries behind your business’ marketing strategies, identify areas that need improvement, and make a plan to execute those improvements. Want another perspective on your B2B marketing strategies? Reach out.
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