MARKETING FEATURE CONT.
And email? Well, it’ s still the workhorse of B2B marketing, but you’ re competing with over 120 + emails a DAY in addition to aggressive spam filters.
To be clear, I’ m not suggesting you don’ t post on social or use digital. What I’ m saying is that if you are not incorporating offline marketing into the mix, you’ re not going to be able to sustain the cost of digital-only marketing to get customers. By offline I mean:
• Phone prospecting( coupled with direct mail and personalized email, not spam)
• Networking events and associations
• Trade shows and sponsored events( like an executive golf event)
• Referrals
• Strategic partners and joint ventures
• Canvassing
I think the tsunami of AI-generated“ stuff” is going to create an environment where more people will only do business with people they know are real. TRUST-BASED MARKETING, a concept I’ ve taught for years, is becoming ever more important as people get faked and phished with AI-generated bots.
3: Go Upstream and Target a Higher-Value, Higher-Paying Client
Elon Musk was quoted as saying,“ It’ s OK to have all your eggs in one basket... as long as you control what happens to that basket.”
His philosophy is evident in all the companies he runs. For Tesla, he niched the company to only selling electric vehicles( specialization principle) and then invested heavily into building his own battery-manufacturing capabilities, including the Gigafactory, to gain control over production costs. He’ s taken steps to secure his own lithium supply, forming strong partnerships with miners and building his own lithium refinery.
All of this has enabled him to lead the industry in electric vehicles, allowing Tesla to charge more than other manufacturers selling their own EVs and outselling them over all other automakers. In addition, because he holds the“ power” of being able to deliver a unique and superior EV, he then can charge higher prices and generate more profit and appeal to HIS target market, which is upper-middle-class empty nesters with a household income of $ 150K +.
You Must Shift to High-Value Clients
Many MSPs have no such“ power” to charge premium fees or to raise prices right now without the fear of high churn— and it’ s not due entirely to a slow economy or high competition. It’ s because they are delivering commodity services to commodity buyers who don’ t value what they do and / or aren’ t discerning when it comes to who they trust with their IT.
Read that last sentence again, because it’ s a whopper.
When CAC goes up, it’ s critical that you shift your approach to the attraction, development, and retention of high-value clients, not just“ more” leads and“ more” clients. Otherwise, you’ ll end up being unable to invest appropriately to get them.
As I already pointed out, if a customer costs you $ 27,000 to acquire, you need to look for someone who represents $ 100,000 in ARR and projects, or you’ ll be unable to get the ROI necessary.
For that reason, I am urging my clients to focus their efforts and investments on places we know have more“ high-value” clients— or what I call HVCs— and to be far more meticulous in list cleaning and qualification so that we don’ t waste marketing dollars targeting someone who can’ t be a great client for us long-term. YOU SHOULD TOO.
In fact, every business and marketing decision you make should START with the“ who,” not the“ what.” WHO do we want to attract? WHO has an unmet need they will cheerfully pay to solve? WHO has a flexible wallet? WHO will be a great LONG-TERM client for us to develop?
That choice should be made with careful consideration. You can choose to attract, develop, and retain HVCs, who are more discerning, financially stronger, and more sophisticated than those who make their decisions based mostly on price. Or you can take a shotgun approach to marketing and take whoever shows up.
To this point, you also need a strategy for DEVELOPING more HVCs from your existing customer base. THIS is the secret most businesses never understand: HVCs must be cultivated, not just found.
Robin Robins is the IT industry’ s most in-demand marketing consultant, sales trainer, and direct response marketing consultant who specializes in developing strategic marketing, sales and lead generation systems for MSPs, VARs and IT services companies.
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