I live with my wife, Kim, and our dog, Layla. When it comes to making meals at home, Kim has that down to a science. One thing I can say is that we often have leftovers.

For example, when we do Taco Tuesday, we almost always get a second meal out of the cooked food. That is probably because packaged food has been optimized for a family of four, and we are an audience of two. So we have a Taco Tuesday AND a Taco Thursday (bonus for us). You can't buy a half-pound of ground beef, a half-package of taco seasoning, a mini head of lettuce, and half a box of Spanish rice. Tortillas, cheese, and taco sauce come in a multi-use container, so we are good there. Layla usually gets a sample of unseasoned meat, a tortilla, and cheese.

The bottom line is that food packaging is never right-sized for our family. So we have to learn to adapt and enjoy twice the taco joy.

Right-Sized Marketing

Most marketing tools and techniques are packaged to reach the largest audience possible. We work hard to lower costs, but we also play games that trick us into believing we are getting a good deal.

Just like buying and freezing 10 lbs of hamburger that was on sale for 10% off, we aim to maximize our ad clicks to lower the cost per click. When you dig deep, who are those clicks, and would they be actual customers? Would you actually use all 10 pounds of beef before its expiration date or before it gets freezer-burned?

In a recent call with a client doing advertising on LinkedIn, we discussed how he had 3700 impressions, with only 17 clicks. It may seem like a failure, but one of those was a Fortune 100 company that actually visited their website and filled out the contact us form. That one sale could be 10 times (or more) the cost of advertising, which is a huge ROI.

He reminded me that Seth Godin is a strong proponent of the idea that you should stop trying to reach the broadest possible audience and instead focus on serving a small, specific group exceptionally well—what he calls the “smallest viable audience.” He said,

“We fall all over ourselves to dumb it down, average it out, pleasing everyone and anyone. When you seek to engage with everyone, you rarely delight anyone. And if you’re not the irreplaceable, essential, one-of-a-kind changemaker, you never get a chance to engage with the market.”

Prime Beef Costs More

We have had a few new clients who have tried to create content using AI and post it on social media, but have seen dismal or no results. That is because AI is using the most popular content, geared toward the largest audience. What they needed was to talk to that one or two people who could and would actually be the perfect avatar and customer.

Our process involves interviewing the client to understand their current customer base's feedback and then using that insight to craft content in their voice. It's uncomfortable at first because they feel like they are sharing secrets, and they are not comfortable being the center of attention, but the results soon turn skeptics into believers.

One recent post was an interview with a company owner. In less than a week, it became the 5th most viewed post on their website. It has engaged both new and current customers. It adds credibility with personality to give the content a more personal and less cold feel.

Although it costs more than an AI post, the ROI could be significantly higher than their previous attempts.

Leftovers

When choosing topics, we review analytics to identify the most engaging past content. Then, just like Taco Thursday, we reheat the information and add some fresh cold ingredients to give it that just-made flavor we all crave.

Repurposing old content that is still engaging is great, but it's often simply reposted or emailed without a refresh. People who have already read or listened to it may just go “Been there… seen that.” People who have never seen it may sense that its tone was two or three months or years ago.

When it comes to Taco Thursday, only the meat and rice are reheated. The tortillas, cheese, and lettuce are fresh. Making them taste almost as good, if not better, than the original Taco Tuesday feast.

The more fresh ideas, concepts, and perspectives you can give old popular content, the better it gets with age. And I don't mean sharing it with AI and letting it rewrite it for you. Because AI can only rewrite what has been written in the past, you'll still get old ideas, concepts, and perspectives. You want fresh ideas, concepts, and perspectives from your current customers. This can be the difference that convinces new customers to click through and inquire, and past customers to re-engage to update their own tools, systems, or processes.

Fresh ingredients truly give new life to old concepts that are as tasty today as they were when you originally cooked them up.

Closing Thought

There is no doubt that the price of feeding ourselves is on the rise. You can't always save, but you can conserve. Making the most out of what you buy or pay for will help minimize expenses while enjoying quality food. Better quality food will always yield better results.

Your audience is voting with impressions, but it's the click that shows who is sitting at the business table with you. Those clicks are the lifeblood of your business. Trying to cut corners will lead to less-than-optimal results. You owe it to your clients, prospects, and more to put your best on the table for them to feast on.

In a move with great corporate irony, Salesforce (which sells software to create better person-to-person sales relationships) just laid off 4000 employees. CEO Marc Benioff attributed the reduction to the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems that now handle about half of all customer interactions. Although this makes good financial sense, removing human interaction from the customer support process may mean that AI will be dealing with AI-generated tickets where no human will ever have to get involved or interact.

For those who want to talk with a human, call the help line, try pressing “0”, and maybe eat your leftover microwaved tacos while on hold.

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.