The Problem with Kids: How Your Products and Services are Truly Perceived

It’s not easy to convince someone else that their next, great idea isn’t so great. The best way to present this information is by knowing for sure. Doing an A/B test of a big, new idea against the current idea will help everyone know which ideas are actually resonating with visitors and which aren’t. In this post, Jeff Ogden, tells us why it’s so important to carefully plan any shifts in post-click marketing or any other type of marketing to ensure success.

I adore my kids. Three boys – 17, 14, and 11. Great kids. Want to watch my videos or flip through our family photos?

Of course not. You don’t know them and you’re happy for me, but you could not care less.

Welcome to the real world of Business to Business sales and marketing. No one cares.  If you are looking to do B2B lead generation, stop thinking like a parent.

Comparing kids to a company’s products and services works.  When David Meerman Scott said to his boss at Thompson, “No one cares about our products and services.” what his boss actually heard is “Your kids are ugly.” David was fired.

No one likes to be told his kids are ugly. But David was right.

Herein lies the conundrum for business to business companies. They’re proud of their fine products and services. But no one wants to watch the videos or view the photo albums of their “kids” – products and services. Unfortunately, that is what 98% feature on their websites. “We’re the leading provider of ……………” “A multi award-winning search marketing firm.”

No one cares.

Look at it from the point of view of the buyer.

Let’s say I’m going on vacation and I need our lawn mowed. Your kids might be perfect, but I’m not looking for a kid – I’m looking for lawn mowing services.

This is why Ideal Customer Profiles, Buyer Personas and Mapping Content to the Buyer Variables (Title, Buying Stage, Industry) and Content Marketing are critical in business to business marketing today. Focus on what buyers need and not what you have to sell. That’s the best way to do b2b lead generation.

You must take time to carefully plan your approach for success today.

Want a free comprehensive guide to this new world? Download the highly acclaimed and free white paper, How to Find New Customers.

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Jeff Ogden

Jeff Ogden is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation Made Simple” http://www.findnewcustomers.com Check out the online show every Friday at 11am ET, “Laugh and Learn with the Fearless Competitor.” Find New Customers is one of few B2B lead generation companies in New York. Find New Customers helps companies like yours (with 150 to 5,000 employees and complex products) implement lead generation programs to improve the way you find and acquire high quality sales leads using best practices in online lead generation. Quality leads matter. In fact, a recent study found that sales teams with fewer, high quality sales leads closed more than sales teams with more leads of dubious quality.

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