Selling the solution

How will we use this story? 

Let's think back to Ballmer. 

We want it to permeate every client and colleague touch point. 

We want success metrics reinforcing the story. 

We want every communication to incorporate aspects of the story. 

The story needs to reinforce the simplicity of integrating our solution. 

Of making life easier. 

And exceeding expected outcomes. 

Remember Storyselling is all about your clients, and colleagues?

While they have different fundamental needs, they also need each other to feel part of something bigger than themselves.

So you'll be selling your solution story in three different ways: to clients, colleagues, and everyone.

Selling your story to clients

The B2B marketing landscape is constantly evolving, and what works best for one company might not be ideal for another.

However, some methods, platforms, and tactics consistently prove effective in generating leads and driving growth.

Here are 10 highly impactful options to consider:

Methods

1. Content Marketing: Create valuable content (articles, white papers, ebooks, webinars) that educates, informs, and positions your brand as a thought leader. Target specific buyer personas and pain points.

2. Account-Based Marketing (ABM): Focus marketing efforts on a defined set of high-value accounts for personalised engagement and relationship building.

3. Social Media Marketing: Leverage LinkedIn, Twitter, and other relevant platforms to connect with potential customers, share content, and participate in industry conversations.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimise your website and content for relevant keywords to improve organic search visibility and attract qualified traffic.

5. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Utilise platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads to target specific audiences with laser-focused paid advertising campaigns.

6. Email Marketing: Build and nurture email lists to deliver targeted, personalised messages that educate, engage, and convert leads.

7. Conversational Marketing: Implement chatbots and live chat features to provide immediate support and answer customer questions in real-time.

8. Influencer Marketing: Partner with industry experts and thought leaders to leverage their influence and reach new audiences.

9. Public Relations (PR): Secure media coverage and build brand awareness through press releases, industry events, and thought leadership contributions.

10. Referral Marketing: Incentivize existing customers to recommend your products or services to their network, leveraging the power of trust and social proof.

Platforms

• LinkedIn: The go-to platform for B2B connections, lead generation, and content sharing.

• Twitter: Ideal for real-time engagement, industry discussions, and thought leadership initiatives.

• YouTube: Powerful platform for video marketing, explainer videos, and showcasing company culture.

• Industry-specific platforms: Consider relevant online communities, publications, and forums where your target audience gathers.

• Marketing automation platforms: Tools like Hubspot, Marketo, and Pardot help automate tasks, manage leads, and personalise campaigns.

Tactics

• Personalization: Tailor your messaging and content to individual needs and preferences.

• Data-driven decision making: Utilise analytics to track performance, measure impact, and optimise your strategies.

• Mobile-first approach: Ensure your website and campaigns are optimised for mobile devices.

• Gated content: Offer valuable resources like ebooks or white papers in exchange for contact information, building your email list.

• Video marketing: Leverage the power of video to engage audiences, explain complex concepts, and showcase your solutions.

• Run webinars and online events: Offer educational and interactive experiences to engage potential customers and generate leads.

• Use interactive content: Implement quizzes, assessments, and calculators to capture attention and increase engagement.

• Partner with complementary businesses: Collaborate with non-competitors to reach new audiences and offer joint solutions.

• Invest in colleague advocacy: Empower colleagues to share company content and insights on their social media channels.

• Track ROI and measure results: Continuously monitor campaign performance and adapt your strategies based on data insights.

Remember, effectiveness depends on your specific industry, target audience, and business goals. Choose a mix of methods, platforms, and tactics that align with your strategy and measure their impact to optimise your B2B marketing efforts.

Here’s how this shakes down for Logisticks:

1. Content Marketing: An eBook titled "Amplifying Experiences: How Data Intelligence Drives Personalization" sharing frameworks (not templates) for mapping integrated journeys based on continuity moments that build loyalty.  

2. ABM: Custom danglers/swag sent to retail execs at target high-value brands with a note reinforcing we exist to accelerate their vision not just provide piecemeal tech.

3. Social Media: Spotlight client innovation wins like Miraja's on Logisticks's LinkedIn which partners can reshare natively to their own audiences celebrating aligned success. 

4. SEO: Optimise pages around "post-purchase experience platform" and "order journey personalization" to attract retailers seeking help in areas we distinguish in based on the story.

5. PPC Ads: Educate on "omnichannel continuity" best practices for modern CX vs pure lead gen offers - speaks to top-funnel gaps many still overlook.

6. Email Marketing: Send a monthly "Continuity Wins" newsletter highlighting client achievements, new predictive innovations, and proactive insights to drive expansion. 

7. Conversational: Chatbot answers basic capabilities questions then directs visitors to relevant pieces like the Miraja case study based on their business context.

8. Influencers: Co-author byline articles with heads of digital transformation at prominent brands on lessons converting satisfaction metrics into revenue growth through journey mapping.  

9. PR: Spotlight growing client adoption through continuity capabilities as proof points reinforcing Logisticks's vision to address escalating consumer expectations and anxieties.

10. Referrals: Provide assessment frameworks for diagnosing fragmentation gaps that partners can share within their executive teams or broader networks to kickstart productive conversations.

The throughline is educational, insight-led content with helpful frameworks, celebrating client achievements, and enabling partners to amplify our credible voice. Please let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!

Selling your story to colleagues

It's exciting to hear you have a compelling story about your business's value! Sharing it within your team can boost morale, engagement, and understanding of your company's impact. Here are some ways to leverage your story for maximum impact:

Internal communication

• All-hands meetings: Open with a powerful anecdote from your story to set the tone and share key company messages.

• Team meetings: Briefly weave elements of the story into discussions, highlighting successes achieved through teamwork.

• Internal newsletter: Dedicate a section to featuring client success stories and how they align with your overall narrative.

• Intranet/internal platform: Create a dedicated page showcasing the story, client testimonials, and team member contributions.

• Engagement initiatives:

• Storytelling workshops: Encourage colleagues to share their own stories aligned with your company's narrative, fostering ownership and connection.

• Internal contests: Hold competitions where colleagues use elements of the story to create presentations, videos, or social media posts.

• Gamification: Develop internal games or challenges based on your story and key values, promoting engagement and learning.

• colleague recognition: When acknowledging achievements, tie them back to the specific impact they contributed to within your overall story.

• Everyday integration:

• Email signatures: Include a tagline or short sentence summarising your story in colleague email signatures.

• Office environment: Display visuals and quotes related to your story in common areas for constant reinforcement.

• Training materials: Infuse elements of your story into training materials to connect theoretical concepts with real-world impact.

• Performance reviews: Use your story as a guiding framework when discussing individual roles and contributions to the company's success.

Additional tips

• Tailor your approach: Consider different formats and channels to cater to diverse learning styles and preferences within your team.

• Keep it fresh: Regularly update your story with new examples and successes to maintain engagement and relevance.

• Emphasise emotions: Weave in emotional elements within your storytelling to resonate with your team on a deeper level.

• Measure your impact: Track colleague engagement, morale, and understanding of the company's value proposition to gauge the effectiveness of your storytelling efforts.

Remember, authentic storytelling builds trust, inspires action, and creates a shared sense of purpose. By incorporating your compelling story into your internal communication and initiatives, you can empower your team and drive your business towards even greater success.

Here’s how that looks for Logisticks colleagues:

• All-Hands Meetings: Start each all-hands spotlighting a recently delighted client like Miraja Fashions and the journey to get there, highlighting cross-functional collaboration. 

• Team Meetings: When relevant to current priorities, reference how elements like personalization or proactive support manifested in the Miraja story to bring successes to life.

• Newsletter: Dedicate a "Continuity Wins" section showcasing client achievements from initial issues to expansions fueled by the Logisticks partnership over time. 

• Intranet: Create a Community tab for employees to share their own client success stories with photos/videos from onboarding wins to live accounts outpacing goals.

• Storytelling Workshops: Host roundtables for account managers to swap stories of aha moments that strengthened client bonds so best practices permeate across the org.

• Contests: Run a friendly competition for client success taglines/slogans that capture the essence of journeys powered by continuity.

• Gamification: Award continuity coins/points for cross-functional referrals or client success contributions that individuals can redeem for swag/experiences.  

• Recognition: Praise individuals for tangible continuity contributions like workflow optimizations that elevated client excellence overall rather than one-off wins.  

• Email Signatures: Append a tagline like "Strengthening Connections Through Continuous Journeys" underneath names.

• Office Displays: Post notes/photos from delighted clients like Miraja around the office as visual reminders of the impact employees empower daily.

• Training: Incorporate Logisticks's own journey and battles solved through continuity into new hire onboarding learnings.

• Reviews: Discuss how focus areas like automation proficiency or cross-team collaboration directly fuel and amplify client success based on the Logisticks story.

The goal is crafting touchpoints that consultatively guide clients to success reflecting our own startup journey of strategic shifts and alignment powered by a bold vision of lifecycle continuity.

Selling your story to everyone

There are no end of ways you can bring your client and colleague community together using your solution story. But here are five story-centric marketing initiatives to create that cohesive community with motivating impact:

Annual Continuity Summit

Host an annual conference for both clients and colleagues to network, brainstorm innovations, and celebrate shared continuity successes through workshops, awards ceremonies and vision keynotes on the future of integrated experiences.

Impact: Fosters collaboration, accelerates adoption of new capabilities, and strengthens emotional connections through recognizing achievements on both sides.

Success Metric: Net Promoter Score assessing event satisfaction and partnership reinforcement.

Customer Advisory Board

Form an advisory panel of engaged customers that meet quarterly to provide input on roadmaps, test new messaging approaches, and supply real-time market insights to influence Logisticks's strategy.

Impact: Advisors become tightly aligned brand advocates helping shape future direction.

Success Metric: % of roadmap features originating from board input.

Co-branded Webinar Series

Work jointly with retailer clients to host a monthly webinar series focused on different continuity topics that clients co-present with Logisticks executives as branded thought leadership.

Impact: Positions clients as forward-thinking leaders in integrated experiences while demonstrating true consultative partnerships.

Success Metric: Webinar registration rates indicating audience engagement.

Annual Continuity Awards

Launch an annual awards program recognizing colleagues and clients excelling in driving continuity innovation - with winners chosen across categories by peer voting.

Impact: Friendly competition incentivizes doubling down on continuity excellence and customer centricity.

Success Metric: Nomination rates and social sharing of entries.

Branded online community

Build an online community accessed by both clients and colleagues for open discussion, knowledge sharing, networking and access to exclusive content accelerating post-purchase innovation.

Impact: Promotes organic interactions and relationships across stakeholders united by shared mission.

Success Metric: Active daily user rates and return frequency showing habitual community engagement.

The unifying thread across these is deepening connections beyond simple transactions into symbiotic, vested partnerships between all who rally behind the continuity movement. 

Case study: FreightWaves

One of the great success stories in thinking client, colleague, and combining strengths and energy, belongs to Craig Fuller.

Craig is the founder and CEO of FreightWaves, a global supply chain market intelligence provider.

This is someone who’s racked up the miles. Craig’s been in the trucking industry for more than a quarter of a century, with experience spanning operations, sales, and marketing.

Craig was CEO of fleet payment processor TransCard when it was sold to US Bank, and founded the Xpress Direct division of US Xpress Enterprises, which grew to become the largest provider of on-demand trucking services in the US.

You don’t wait for freight with Craig. FreightWaves’ platform provides users with real-time data and insights on rates, capacity, and market trends.

You’d imagine such an inspirational innovator and disruptor would have both eyes firmly set on the future. Which from a business growth perspective, would be entirely accurate.

But Craig knows the immense power of contemporary media. And he’s harnessed it as the company’s form of inbound marketing.

Craig knew his story. When he wanted to expand his business, he knew that his story needed to be understood and appreciated by people in his target audience who weren’t necessarily yet ready to buy.

They might have been working with his rivals. They might have their own systems that were performing adequately for their needs, right now. When we talk about top of funnel marketing, it doesn’t necessarily mean we should be in a sell state. This is where relationships are built. Interests piqued. Ready for the moment your prospective client is ready to sign as your latest partner.

Craig and his team now run successful news publications American Shipper, and FLYING Magazine. It’s the most inspired form of spread betting, designed to spin faster the marketing flywheel that earlier was predominantly fuelled by word of mouth, and social media.

He acquired both these trade publications with a laser-focused view of how they would radically improve awareness of FreightWaves among his target audience.

Not only were existing readers of both magazines precisely the prospects he wished to court.

Craig envisioned enhancing those relationships with continually increasing value.

Not only would those magazines serve his primary business - but, conversely, so FreightWaves with its astonishing array of business intelligence would infuse those magazines with practical insights supporting readers’ growth.

Further downstream, Craig’s got plans for multimedia extensions, to capture mindshare whenever his clients are out on the road (podcasts) or overnighting (video).

By persistently delivering value, fostering firmer relationships, and being front of mind, you’re brokering effective partnerships that make your business feel like a natural extension of theirs.

You’re nurturing their needs with unprecedented depth. Featuring their stories of success in print. Emboldening their ambitions with a vigour that’s not felt elsewhere in the industry.

And that, right there - success stories - is another ace in your hand. Case studies are renowned for being the best way to spread your story. Because they are both social proof and a great way to galvanise consistency in how you broadcast the ethos of your business. Having someone else do your bidding, through the results you generated for their organisation - well, it doesn’t get more precious than that.

Your readers are that much more inclined to contribute than if you’d reached out to them, cold. They’re already receiving value from you on multiple fronts.

When it comes to the ask, it’s that story of candy and babies. The gambit is authentic, and honourable. There’s an understanding that your business is for them, and that as a united team, they’re winning by osmosis.

Nurturing is the secret to long-lasting affinity. Looking to Craig and other businesses that have adopted media first as a CapEx, then an OpEx, expense, is something most large organisations can easily adopt. Obviously inheriting a publication in play, as the most optimised way to deliver business benefits — but there’s no reason why you can’t start from scratch.

If you’re very small, consider a collaboration with others in your industry. There are so many wins from owning media, that those spoils can effectively be shared.

Your next move depends entirely on your might, will, and tolerance for experimentation.

But plainly if you’re serious about your customers, which in my view is the only sustainable stagecoach to success, you should immediately consider developing your own media property. There are too many rewards to leave on the table — and right here, right now, you have everything you need to set that wheel in motion.

Learn more about Craig’s unique storymaking journey on the My First Million show.