The Overview #84 - Building Momentum

Hey there. This is The Overview, a weekly roundup of noteworthy B2B SaaS stuff. You’ll find interesting thoughts, articles, and more from around the internet.

In this post:

You might be talking to customers, but not everyone is

If you follow this newsletter, you’re probably more advanced than the average SaaS marketer. Honestly.

You’re hopefully already talking to customers, asking the right questions, and using that to power your GTM strategy and execution.

But trust me – there are so many companies out there working on on assumptions, at every level.

So yes – there are lots of SaaS marketers on Twitter telling you to talk to customers because not everyone is.

My unconventional theory of art and science

Copywriting, marketing, product marketing, strategy, everything we do is a melding of art and science.

But sometimes we’re so deep in one side or another… we forget to consider how integrating a bit of the other can help.

Take this tweet as an example: great creative work comes from data and research? Absoutely!

And vice versa; great analysis and data strategy comes from creative approaches and interpretations.

So when you’re struggling with data, or struggling with a creative task – think how you can look at it from the opposite angle.

Focus on the customer, please

Something that I think differentiates me from other B2B marketers, is that I studied advertising rather than traditional marketing.

Advertising all hinges on behavior change – getting people to become aware of your ad or your brand, getting them to engage with you, to change their perception, to drive them to buy your product instead of another. These all start with the customer perspective.

Whereas marketing generally tends to be all about the product, the price, the promotion, and the placement. Things that are generally within your control.

So, can you think more like an advertiser?

Swipe File: B2B messaging narrative structures

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You know I’m a fan of using literary theory in marketing. Here are five structures you could draw on:

? Tragedy → A cautionary tale with a negative outcome

A fairly universal model that is powerful for convincing prospects they have a problem worth solving.

? Overcoming the Monster → hero sets out to to destroy evil

A strong structure particularly for innovator prospects that have strong POVs on the status quo.

? The Quest → An aspirational journey

This works best with early adopter prospects that care about unlocking new capabilities to create a “new way”

? Rags to Riches → An underdog overcomes adversity to win

Particularly useful structure when targeting under-resourced prospects (small-mid sized businesses)

? Rebirth → Event forces hero to evolve

Good for highlighting trends that are driving change in behavior.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought – find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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