82 tiny changes to transform your B2B marketing
Switching up your B2B marketing is all about doing small, manageable changes that — when stacked up — transform your marketing for the better. Here are 82 of those manageable changes from all corners of Earnest:
Climbing inside your customers’ heads
1. Give one of your customers a call each day
Find out what your customer really thinks – and show them you’re human at the same time.
You can even pretend you’ve got your own secretary and hold music if you want.
2. Follow your competitors on social and see what your audience are engaging with
Just make sure you don’t stalk them too far back and accidentally like a 2014 beach holiday post on Instagram.
3. Every time you meet a customer, ask them for their best source of new information about their industry
‘To become a telecoms service provider, you must read like a telecoms service provider’ Rene Descartes, 1641
4. Go to the physical locations where your customers work
Don’t do this if they work from home. Market research doesn’t stand up in court.
5. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What do they really want?
New shoes probably, now that you’ve run off with them.
6. Remember it’s better to be relevant to 30% than bland to 100%
Play the percentage game! Free to play and the prizes are endless.
Following your customers around
7. Try to buy your own product and try your own customer journey.
If it needs some work, get it fixed.
If it’s perfect as is, well done you. I bet you’re really proud of yourself.
8. Try to buy a competitor’s product and try their customer journey
If theirs needs some work, feel smug.
If it’s perfect, steal their ideas and never look back.
9. Look at Hotjar, and see what users actually do
Get under their skin. Peer into their dreams.
Get the essence of their very being and use that to sell them HR software.
10. Try accessing your website on a mobile phone while on a train
Does it work? If not, fix it – it’ll be your user’s first experience of you after all.
If the site does work, up the ante. Try accessing it on Windows 95.
11. Look at the top foreign language search terms for your business
‘Guten tag! Sprechen sie conversion rate optimisation?’
Getting your name out there
12. Make one new connection on LinkedIn each morning
Then try not to get overly-excited when they accept. Play hard-to-get. Don’t let them know you’re always thinking of them.
13. Join an industry association, club or community
Infiltrate their ranks. Make connections. Climb to the top. Become the supreme leader of the Logistic Management and Automation Bowls Association. Never look back.
14. Pick a worthy fight on LinkedIn
And when we say worthy, we mean worthy. Like pineapple on pizza. And whether it’s gif or gif (it’s obviously gif, come on now.)
15. If you’re in B2B – go to a consumer marketing conference or event
It’ll be just like an old western saloon scene. Everyone’ll drop silent and the piano will stop playing. The bartender will reach for the shotgun – that kind of thing.
16. If you’re in B2C – do the opposite
B2C and B2B are essentially the same thing – only one really means business.
Building your marketing dream team
17. Get your team together once a month for a lunch and learn
The fastest way to a marketer’s brain is through their stomach. We don’t make the rules.
18. Speak to different generations within your team to learn their perspectives
Don’t go in unarmed. Equip yourself with a slang dictionary. And remember that millennials are easily startled by phone calls.
19. When reviewing work, if you like something, leave a comment
Spare a thought for your poor creatives as they toil against the forces of mundanity and AI, fuelled by nothing more than positive reinforcement and righteous fury.
20. Talk to the newest person on your team, ask for their help
Don’t do this if it’s to help with the diabolically complicated coffee machine. That’s just cruel and inhumane.
21. Bring biscuits to the team meeting
Cookieless future? Only on the internet. Truss up those biscuits and deliver them on a silver platter garçon.
22. Get your team together once a month without an agenda
And talk about anything but marketing.
There’s a whole world out there. They haven’t even heard of ABM. Don’t be scared. They have meeting rooms to hide in if it all gets too much.
Staying one step ahead of your industry
23. Delve into Reddit to see what people are saying around your niche topic
Reddit has an active sub-reddit for your thing, whatever it is. Even if it’s bread stapled to trees.
24. Set Google alerts for your industry – and do a weekly news round up
Spice things up by acting like a real TV presenter. Set up a project manager with a green screen to cover the weather. They’ll love that.
25. Listen to an industry podcast or webinar and take note of tone, register and style.
The customer must accept you as one of their own before they let you partake in social activities – like grooming for fleas.
26. Attend a conference outside of your industry
Find out first hand how others do business – and make the most of the freebies until they kick you out.
27. Read The Lex Column at the ft.com
Dress up in a bowler hat and bring a briefcase to a local park bench for the full FT experience.
Sourcing the very best food for thought
28. Follow the B2B Institute on LinkedIn
And then keep posting that Eric Andre gif in their comments. You know, the ‘Let me in’ one.
29. Sign up to the Earnest newsletter
What? Who put this here? What a great idea, you should definitely do this.
30. Unsubscribe to 5 e-newsletters you never get round to reading
Play the Marie Kondo game! Does this e-newsletter about AI organisational tools spark joy? No sir, it does not.
31. Subscribe to 5 e-newsletters you think you should be reading
Like the Earnest newsletter! Did we mention the Earnest newsletter? If not, you should definitely sign up to the Earnest newsletter!
32. Follow Danny Asling on LinkedIn
On LinkedIn only. Not in person please.
Thinking strategically
33. Don’t keep your strategy to yourself, stay open to other opinions
You’re not on your own! We’re all just people after all! Except that one person in content who we think might be a lizard.
34. Write the headline you’d like to read a year from now on the front cover of the Financial Times about your company
‘London/New York Agency Discovers Content Person is Lizard: Gives Them Promotion.’
35. Get familiar with your company’s business objectives
Sun Tzu said: Know thy business objectives, know thy marketing strategy. He did. It’s right at the back of the book.
36. Do the ‘Post-It note brief’
Write your objectives, audience and budget requirements on three separate Post-It notes. If you can’t make it that simple and clear, keep editing until you can. Post-It notes have to be regular size. None of these whiteboard-sized Post-Its. You think we were born yesterday?
37. Always give big decisions the overnight test before you apply them
If it still feels good in the morning, go for it. This applies to rogue purchase decisions too. Do you really need another houseplant? Do you?
Thinking creatively
38. Ask ChatGPT to write an ad headline to promote your offering – print it out and remember never to run anything like it
Alternatively, ask ChatGPT to make the copy punchier and watch it combust in a flood of rage and feedback loops.
39. Get comfortable with negative emotions in comms. They’re frequently more powerful than positive ones.
Here’s one to get you off to a good start: That feeling of discomfort you feel when you log onto a Zoom meeting and no one is saying anything.
40. Ask a non-marketer for their feedback on your content idea
Pick your time. Not at a romantic anniversary dinner date. Not at a funeral.
41. Think of a household name you want your brand to sound like
The Fonz? Sean Connery? Meryl Streep? Or – bear with us – how about Kermit the frog?
42. Companies are generally shy of standing out from the crowd, even if they say they aren’t.
Stay brave. Persuade them to be brave. No one ever won an award for a one-page PDF. Take the plunge. Shine on you crazy diamond.
Seeking creative inspiration
43. Spend 10 mins looking at the ads on your fave sites – and think how you could do better
Yeah! Dunk on those nerds! Call themselves marketers – the audacity.
44. Take photos of ads you like the look of on your way to work
This doesn’t include your own ads, you cheeky rascal, you.
45. Think about the award you’d love your marketing to win.
Read all the shortlisted entries for the previous year. Such as best newsletter of the year, for example.
46. Read a physical book
Turn the crisp pages. Smell that gorgeous new book smell. Hurl abuse at the missing bookmark because you’ve lost your page.
47. When developing ideas, resist the temptation to look at what everyone else is doing
Stray not onto the path of creative competitor analysis – for this is the road to humdrum and despair.
Seeing the wood for the trees
48. Ask that grump in IT what they think of your company’s brand values
If they advise you to turn it off and on again, I don’t know what to tell you.
49. Learn how social listening works and see what the internet says about your brand
Get down with the good, the bad and the ugly. And the hurtful. And the mean. And the downright creepy.
50. Ask 5 of your customers to give you a testimonial and offer a charity donation to say thank you
The office Ribena fund does not count as a charity (but it’s always worth a shot).
51. Ask customers what you could do better, not just what you do well
And listen to them! Even if it hurts and makes you want to stomp up to your bedroom, slam the door and hurl yourself onto the bed in floods of tears.
52. Read your own marketing with an open mind. Does it sound like someone you’d like to talk to at a party?
Or does it sound like someone who corners you by the fridge, and goes into too much detail about their divorce and the custody agreement of their cat?
Mixing up your media
53. Dedicate 10% of your campaign budget to doing something you’ve never done before
Something marketing-related obviously. Don’t use 10% of your campaign budget to take up burlesque dancing or pottery.
54. Test something, even if it’s just a different CTA. It all starts with a simple test
Dress up in a labcoat if it makes you feel more comfortable. Shout eureka at sporadic moments. Ponder over the destructive power of what you’ve created.
55. Spend media budget on the weekend
Your customers are always on their phones, and your competitors most likely aren’t. Take notes from Loverboy’s 1982 seminal hit. Pretty sure media spend is what they were singing about.
56. Test out a new channel each month with a small bit of budget
Changing channels freshens things up on your TV. Same thing with marketing (kind of).
57. Measure what matters – not just vanity metrics like clicks and impressions
Metrics mean insights like points mean prizes. The right points get the best prizes. Metrics mean insights, mean points mean prizes. Make sense?
Seizing the day
58. Start an hour early on a Monday morning – you’ll feel like you’re ahead of the game.
Sub-editor’s note: I cannot, in good conscience, condone acts that reduce bed time. You’re on your own here.
59. Cut meetings to 25 mins or 50 minutes (no more ‘back to back days’)
Give yourself a breather between calls. Use this time to get a cup of coffee, chat to the dog or delete all those chrome tabs that are causing anxiety to everyone when you screen share.
60. Make your next meeting a ‘walk and talk’
Prove to your colleagues you can walk the walk, and talk the talk, all in one go.
61. Get a standing desk and use it every time you have a virtual meeting
Yeah! Stretch those legs! Lengthen along the spine! Crack your back and wonder how you got so old.
62. Create your own fake commute
Take a nice stroll before and after working from home. Want the full experience? Find a group of people and stand uncomfortably close to them for twenty minutes to replicate crowded commuter train delays.
63. Before you attend a meeting, ask the host why you’re needed.
This will mean fewer meetings. Just don’t do this at your annual review. Or at a disciplinary.
Getting under the skin of your product or service
64. Find out the average price of your product or service is
It’s just like the Price is Right!
65. Find out the cost of sale or delivery
Actually I don’t know, I’ve never seen the Price is Right.
66. Find out the difference between the two – that’s the killer number!
Does the Price is Right even exist anymore? Feels like it must have been going on forever.
67. Explain your product to someone who knows nothing about your industry
‘If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself’. So you should obviously try to explain sustainable facilities management to your toddler. Obviously.
68. Look at competitors’ reviews on Trustpilot or G2 and take comfort in the fact that you are not alone
Nothing like a spot of schadenfreude to get you through next year’s forecasting meeting.
Winning over non-marketing folk
69. Work for a week within the sales department and get to know them
Walk a mile in a salesperson’s shoes and you might just learn something (and make a nice bit of commission on the side)
70. Ask sales and product teams what they think marketing’s role is – and what it should be
Approach carefully, maintain eye contact. If they start growling and showing their teeth, drop and play dead. They’ll lose interest eventually.
71. Ask salespeople to tell you what the ‘penny drop’ moment is for your prospects
Also known as the ‘jaw dropper’, the ‘scroll-stopper’ or the ‘mind-boggler’. Gosh, this is just like that Steve Miller Band song, isn’t it?
72. Ask your CFO what a good return on marketing would look like from their perspective
I anticipate the conversation will go a little like this.
Polishing up your communications
73. Next time you create a slide deck, cull 30% of the finished slides
Do what must be done. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. Strike those slides down.
74. Write a physical memo
If only so you can turn to someone in a meeting and, in your finest New York accent, shout ‘Whatsa matter? Didn’t get the memo?’.
75. Replace one email response a week with a phone call instead
Let them know you’re always there. Always listening. Always watching. Never sleeping.
76. Have a meeting in the pub or a cafe once a month
And get snacks. Always get snacks. No snacks, no meeting. Remember this.
77. Ask your mum what you do for a living and if she can’t tell you, figure out how to explain it to her
‘Ugh mom! It’s not just a phase! Content strategy is who I am!’
78. Screen your comms for jargon before sending anything out
You can shove your deliverables up your postbox. Talk like a human.
Squeezing the most out of your agency
79. Tell your agency your budget upfront – wherever you can
What do you mean we don’t have enough money for Beyoncé? I mean honestly.
80. Ask your agency to bring you the best idea they think you’d never run
Always big, always bold, possibly illegal – but never boring.
81. Ask your agency to take you out for drinks
But not on, like, a date. Unless you want it to be a date? Haha, no that’d be silly (haha, unless…?)
82. Tell your agency your honest challenges – whether that’s stakeholders, budgets, or deadlines.
Communication is key to any successful relationship. That and having a duvet each instead of sharing.
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