Leading Marketing with Empathy and Storytelling

– Subscribe to the Podcast or Write a Review: –
Spotify – Stitcher – Google Podcasts – TuneIn – Apple Podcasts

Business owners are approached by so-called Marketing ‘experts’ daily and pressured to buy unrealistic solutions.

This can be exhausting, costly and valueless.

But what if that wasn’t the standard?

Marketing can be profitable, have a return on investment and give insights to make data driven decisions.

Today, I caught up with Evan Knox, CMO at Caffeine Marketing, to discuss the power of marketing and what you should look for as a business owner.

We also talked about:

• How Evan started his career and why Caffeine Marketing was created
• Understanding the similarities and differences of Marketing and Sales Funnels
• Self sabotage and how to avoid its pitfalls as a prospect
• Key attributes to successful marketers, business owners and clients

Marketing Experts

DIY v.s. Hiring an Expert

Marketing is an area of expertise that is constantly changing based on platforms, updates and new features. Question is, can you keep up?

Learning the ins and outs of marketing can be worth the investment if you have the time and are willing to learn. Although not easy, once you are able to create strategy, campaigns and momentum for your brand, your presence will be known to potential consumers and drive impact to your business.

On the flip side, it may be advantageous to partner with a marketing expert to do this type of work.

“You have to always have a sharp edge in marketing. And if you’re not willing to continually grind that edge, I don’t think that you should try to master marketing.”

Evan Knox of Caffeine Marketing

Think of it this way, good marketers will be able to guide you, the hero, through the narrative you want to build for your company. If you don’t think you have time to write the novel you wish to publish out into the world showcasing your brand identity, maybe consider looking to an expert who could be excited to do this with you.

If you are able to understand where your time will best be utilized, you can make a decision on whether or not you want to take on the marketing for your company.

Complexity in Marketing

Oftentimes as humans, we make things as complex or as simple as we want to. This can be especially true in marketing.

From a CMO perspective, you need to be thinking about how you want your brand and story to resonate with your audience. This requires you to align with senior level leaders, sales teams, and the marketing team.

If everyone is not in alignment, clear expectations can not be made and the risk of failure becomes greater.

“We’re always thinking, what’s the problem that they’re experiencing, how can we uniquely solve their problem, and then ultimately what does success and failure look like. Then you can use the StoryBrand framework a little bit more to where you can identify how to put yourself as the guide. So, how can you have empathy and authority?”

Evan Knox of Caffeine Marketing

Marketing Funnel in 3 Steps

1) Brand Awareness

The first problem that you are trying to solve in marketing is making people aware that you exist. Creating brand awareness allows you to build community around something new, or it allows you to revive the excitement customers once had around an already established brand.

2) Consideration

Now that they know that you exist, you have to remind them what’s the problem that you are uniquely positioned to solve. Then move into how you are going to make their lives better on the other side of working with you and what’s at risk if they don’t work with you.

“Communicate this messaging to them over and over and over often it takes people eight times just to fully digest what it is you have to offer.”

Evan Knox of Caffeine Marketing

3) Conversion

The final step of conversion is when potential customers take action and you are able to capture them in what you defined as your goal. This can be anything from downloading a free guide on your website, subscribing to your YouTube channel, or following you on Instagram. These are all things you could consider a conversion, thus supporting the notion that you are getting a return on your investment from your marketing efforts.

Final Sales Tips

• Define your goals as a company and align on expectations
• Don’t be cheap in the wrong areas, instead invest in things that have an ROI
• Ask yourself, “What is at stake if I don’t invest in marketing?”
  
  

This post includes highlights of our podcast interview with Evan Knox, CMO at Caffeine Marketing

Subscribe to hear this episode and many more like it. For the entire interview, you can listen to The B2B Revenue Executive Experience. If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, we suggest this link.

‍