Over the last weekend, we watched a little TV. When you speak, teach, and pontificate for a living, it's nice to have a little downtime and just LISTEN!
Sometimes we choose sports, sitcoms, or gameshows, but this time we chose a documentary and a news magazine.
The first story we watched was about the Webb Space Telescope. If you are unfamiliar, the Hubble Space Telescope increased the range we could see into space versus land-based observatories. It has circled the earth at 360 miles up since 1990. The Webb Space Telescope was conceived in 1996 and launched on December 25, 2021. It orbits the sun at over 1 million miles and has a 5-layer sun shield to increase its ability to see deeper into space.
They can both see billions of years into the past. How can they see the past? Well, light from the sun takes 8+ minutes to reach Earth so every image we see of the sun is 8 minutes old.
A light year measures how long it takes light to travel a year to get to our eyes. That distance is 5.878 trillion miles per light year. The closest star to our solar system is Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.37 light-years away. That is only about 25.7 trillion miles.
The Webb Telescope is capable of observing objects that were born over 13.4 billion years ago. That means that what it sees happened in the past by the time the light gets captured and transferred back to Earth.
I know, math is hard! It is just mind-blowing to realize how our lives of 100 years are just a blip in time.
The Future
The second show we watched was a 60 Minutes extended episode that featured a new Texas company that is 3D printing houses. They are using CNC robotics and AI to pour layers of concrete that stack to create walls. These walls are hurricane-proof, termite-proof, built more quickly, and are more environmentally friendly.
The connection here is that NASA has hired that company to do the same on the moon and, eventually, Mars. Since you can't easily ship materials to space, it uses moon dirt and lasers to build things like a landing pad, roads, and buildings for living spaces.
NASA has begun the new Atimus project that will return humans to the moon with the goal of building a base to use to allow easier-to-complete missions of humans to Mars.
All of this may sound like science fiction, but it's really happening today and into the future.
Business Past & Future
Okay, I am sure at this point you are saying “Cool. But what does this have to do with marketing my business?” Well, I'm glad you asked!
I believe that good business marketing has three legs like a stool: current, past, and future customers. Look at these three as different audiences, who get and respond to different messages, and what and how you can measure with different expectations.
The 70/30 Rule
I have heard various CMOs and marketers say that 70% of your efforts and budgets should equate to measurable sales, and 30% should be used for prospecting, branding, and building new business.
That 70% is the gold that has already done or is currently doing business with you. Yet businesses tend to focus on leads and prospecting and neglect the biggest asset we have in B2B business: Relationships!
Let's break down that 70/30 rule even further.
I have found that the success formula for most businesses means that 45% of your efforts should be focused on your current customers, 25% of your resources should be utilized to reconnect and farm past customers, and 30% of your resources should be spent on prospecting and nurturing leads.
That means that 30% of your content should be focused on creating awareness and creating prospect engagement. 45% of your content should be focused on educating current and past customers about new products and services. This should also include reusing old content to bring it to the forefront of people's minds. That final 25% of content should be focused on pre- and post-sales communication. That could include, instructions, ideas of best practices for use, and optimization.
Content Optimization
So we have discussed the three kinds of content: Awareness, Educational, Pre-Sales, and Post-Sales. But what does that Mean?
Awareness Content: This is short and easily consumable graphics and video shorts that get attention, and help people associate your products and services with your business.
Educational Content: These are articles, blog posts, and even eBooks that give more in-depth information that may spark questions or ideas. They are generally housed on your website. They can be used to entice people to trade their contact information to access or further discuss. Webinars and videos also fall into this category
Pre-Sales & Post-Sales Content: This can be PDF infographics, worksheets, and manuals. These are generally served up via email during and after the sales process.
The main point is to meet people where they are currently in the customer journey or sales process. That means that all three are active and relevant all the time.
Finally, this content should be updated regularly to reflect changes in the business environment along with product and service changes and process evolution.
Content Distribution
Having content on your website is preferred to simply having it on social media. Content on your website is an asset that can be distributed to social media and in email, to drive traffic back to your website.
Driving traffic back to your website lets you collect and examine data that can't be found (or trusted) on social media platforms.
Adding calls to action banners, links, and more in that content, will prompt people (who are ready to engage) to pick up the phone, fill out a form, or even join your email list.
The ultimate goal of any B2b business is to use past, present, and future relationships to nurture conversations between your sales team and those past, present, and future customers.
Closing Thought
Every person and business has a past, present, and (hopefully) future. When it comes to the past (like looking back in time in space), learn from it. When it comes to the future, take what you have learned (like trying to build infrastructure on the moon) and use it to plan, test, and implement. The present is the only part of the space-time continuum that we truly can control.
Our current customers are our present. Past customers show us an evolution of our business that we can use to predict what motivates and excites future customers.
It all comes down to tagging and segmenting people and businesses, and developing distribution messages that promote quality business relationships.
“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
– Steve Jobs
Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about your marketing mix! Do you create multiple messages for multiple audiences? 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.
