Which is more important - sales leads now or brand awareness tomorrow?
12 May 2021
Many of the businesses I speak to have their short-term goals planned out and know them in detail. But for many, looking just twelve months ahead is too far for them to know where they want to be. It's important to know what you want to achieve in the next month, but it's just as important to know what you want to achieve in six months' time, in a year, and even in five years. In fact, it's not a bad idea to at least have broad goals set out for ten years too!
In B2B marketing, short-term goals tend to be about lead generation, and long-term goals tend to be about brand awareness. Unfortunately, many companies ignore long-term marketing goals and tend to see advertising as a cost rather than an investment.
Lesson from a big consumer brand
There are lessons to be learned from mistakes big brands have made. For example, when investors took over Heinz, they saw advertising as a cost. They assumed that because everybody already knew the brand, brand awareness was already so strong that they could increase profits by slashing advertising spend. This was successful in the first year as they cut costs without losing sales, but over three years, sales plummeted. They had to write down $15.4 billion, and the value of the brand dropped significantly. It's not enough for customers to simply know the brand; it has to be at the top of their minds, and they need to be constantly reminded of it.
Investment in your long-term marketing?
It makes sense that long-term brand awareness is just as crucial in B2B as it is in B2C. After all, it's still about being remembered and being at the forefront of people's minds. When someone needs your product or service, you want them to think of you. Long-term marketing might even remind them that your product or service is something they would benefit from.
Setting your long-term objectives
The 50/50 split isn't about half of your objectives being long-term; it could even be one single objective that you put 50% of your time and budget into. But you clearly need to decide on at least one long-term marketing objective to do that.
Objectives are SMART. That is, they are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-Bound:
- Specific: Is the objective sufficiently detailed to accurately what is to be achieved and measure real-world problems and opportunities?
- Measurable: Does the objective have a quantifiable measure of success or failure that can be used as a metric?
- Actionable: Can you put in place realistic actions that will allow you to achieve your objective?
- Relevant: Is the objective relevant to the problem faced by your business?
- Time-bound: Does your objective have a clear cut-off point by which success should have been achieved?
When thinking of your marketing objectives, you should also be thinking about your audience. Who are you talking to, how many people do you need to reach to achieve your objectives?
There are a few things you need to think about when setting your long-term objectives. The first thing is your brand itself. It's absolutely vital to get this right at the start of your marketing plan. I've written about this in detail here.
You also need to ensure that your brand is distinct. It's no good having an incredibly strong brand if it's so similar to your competitors' that you become blurred in the mind of your customers. Being distinctive also makes you easier to remember. Research has shown it to be incredibly important for brand awareness, and having a distinctive brand helps you stick in your customers' minds.
Your long-term objectives should be based on building brand awareness, getting your brand and message in front of those who don't already know you personally. If you have the budget for it, I would recommend that you consider using paid advertising to maximise your reach to the greatest number of people possible.
How I set marketing objectives
I find it easiest to start with the long-term overall business objectives and work backwards. I have a 10-year overarching objective, five-year objectives that help me reach that, two-year objectives, one-year objectives and monthly objectives. Each stage helps me reach the later stage.
Marketing objectives should be about helping you reach those over-arching business objectives. To become that full-service marketing agency that is the first choice for top global B2B technical and industrial brands, I need to grow my brand with this target market over time. My very long-term marketing objectives are borne out of this. I know I need to be visible4 to a certain number of influencers in the market. So, for example, I need high-level speaker spots, and I know I need to up my advertising and PR budget every year.
Those annual and monthly objectives are also important. I know I need a certain number of new clients per month to hit my revenue and hiring targets. Therefore, I know I need a certain number of leads (based on my conversion rate), and my short-term marketing activities are based on this.
Measuring Success
It can be relatively easy to see if you're on track to meet your short-term objectives, but if your long-term objectives are set for five or ten years in the future, how can you measure how well you're doing and if your objectives are working?
Ideally, you should find out how well known you are in your sector. This means conducting market research, but many smaller businesses aren't in a position to do this. If that's the case, then ask people in your industry whose opinions you can trust. You may also be able to gauge it yourself. I knew that I was on to something when I discovered that people already knew my brand when I passed them my business card at networking events. It really brought home to me how well-known I already was within local networking circles when I won a raffle and just my first name, Samantha, was called. I wasn't sure it was me until a room of almost one hundred people turned around and called me forward to get my prize.
Ultimately, as awareness of your brand slowly grows, your sales should improve gradually over time, and leads should start coming in from outside your lead-generation activities. A note of caution, though; it may be a year before your brand awareness activities begin to bear fruit. Be patient, and be reassured that all your careful planning and hard work will pay off in time.
If you would need help setting marketing objectives, email me at samantha@labrakita.co.uk or call me on 07791 521439.