Ideas

Guide · Brand vs performance marketing

The ROI of Brand Is Real but Slower Than a CFO Wants to Wait

When a CFO asks for the ROI of brand, the most credible reply treats the spend as a bet, sized to what the business can afford to lose and judged on evidence agreed in advance.

Guide · Choosing who to sell to

Build B2B Customer Segmentation Around the Buying Decision

Four steps turn a pile of won and lost deals into segments that each get their own offer, and a silicones maker shows what one of those offers looked like.

Guide · Choosing who to sell to

B2B Target Audience Research Methods Start With Non-Buyers

For a B2B company, the target audience research methods worth using look hardest at buyers who went elsewhere, because site data and survey lists only describe people already coming to you.

Guide · Choosing who to sell to

Win-Loss Analysis Shows Which Buyers Pick You and Why

Read the wins as closely as the losses, and a win-loss analysis shows which buyers choose you and whether they're the ones leadership meant to win.

Guide · Brand vs performance marketing

B2B Share of Voice Counts Only When Buyers Know It's You

A weekly share of voice figure gives brand marketing a number leadership will accept, provided someone checks that the mentions behind the figure say something only your company says.

Guide · Brand in the age of AI

Your Brand Is a Competitive Moat Only If It's Distinct

Once a rival matches your product and price, a brand works as a competitive moat only if it says something no competitor says.

Guide · Brand in the age of AI

Competitors Copying Your Features Expose a Copyable Pitch

Anything you ship, a rival can ship after you, so the answer to competitors copying your product features is a promise backed by data or results they don't have.

Guide · Brand vs performance marketing

Most B2B Teams Aim the 95-5 Rule at the Wrong 95%

Reaching buyers long before they shop is the point of the 95-5 rule in B2B, yet most teams spend that reach on firms that look like the customers they already have.

Guide · Brand vs performance marketing

Long-Term Brand Building Loses Budget to the Weekly Report

When long-term brand building and short-term sales activation are judged in the same weekly report, brand loses, because its results take months to show.