EPISODE SUMMARY
Marketing can appear complex with all of the tools and strategies that promise to help a business grow. In this episode of SaaS Story in the Making, host Matt Wolach and Founder and CEO of Box Out Marketing, Tyler Garns, talk about how an effective marketing strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Garns shares his expertise on marketing and how businesses can employ simple actions that can lead to their desired results.
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making
Episode: Episode No. 194, “Here’s Why You Don’t Have to Be a Marketing Genius to Create an Effective Marketing Strategy.”
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor
Guest: Tyler Garns, Founder, and CEO of Box Out Marketing
TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Stop Doing What Everyone Else is Doing
There are a lot of marketing strategies that work for a lot of businesses. But it doesn’t mean that it can work for you too.
Garns mentioned that one of the companies’ mistakes in marketing is doing what everyone else does. Every business has its unique structure that requires a specific strategy to be effective. Mimicking systems will not work. Garns said, “It’s just not the right strategy in general. And even if it is, and everyone else is doing it, then you’re not necessarily going to stand out.”
Having the right marketing strategy molded from your business model can give you the best results. Also, it can be a lot easier to curate your own, as you are shaping it according to the company’s goals rather than following someone else’s tracks. Not only can it move towards your expected outcome– it also makes it unique for you and allows you to stand out.
Start Defining your Strategy through your Business & Pricing Model
Garns describes that finding the right marketing strategy for your business is like defining your land. Your boat should not be wandering in the sea and rowing towards wherever. Instead, you should utilize your efforts and row towards your aim to get your efforts all out.
Your business and pricing models are keys to creating your marketing strategy. First, Garns mentioned that they bucket it into four models: local services, online services, eCommerce, and influencers (speakers, coaches, consultants, etc.). You can decide how the process will flow and the actions you need to employ.
Along with the business model is pricing. Considering the product pricing puts you to decide whether you need to inform and warm up your prospects or sell right away. There should be a defined sales process that matches your pricing model.
Matching your marketing strategy to your business and pricing models allows you to define a strategic process that can work well for your business and appeal to your prospects. Know when you should warm them up by continuously informing them about the product or appeal to impulse buy– because nobody is clicking around buying $10,000 worth of stuff.
Have Fast and Slow Tracks
There is no one-size-fits-all in marketing strategies. But however you want to create it, Garns said that it’s always essential to have fast and slow tracks.
Fast tracks are for prospects that are ready to buy from you. As Garns said, “[they] come into your funnel… They just need to get a few questions answered, get some clarity, and they’re good to go.” They are the kind of prospects that may want to continue to the next level in an instant. The fast track somehow eliminates some of the follow-up steps as the prospects only need a bit of clarity, and they’re good to go.
On the other hand, the slow track is for relationship-building for prospects. They are not as close to your funnel as the latter. It may take several follow-ups before they decide to close the deal. This is also where conversations are necessary to establish that personal relationship and build trust.
The slow track process can be employed easier through automation. However, Garns emphasized that it is possible to employ human capital. He said, “use automation to build the relationship… before you get on the phone.” When the relationship is established, the human capital is ready to clarify further information and close the deal.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Business Owners Throw Money at the Marketing Problem
Business owners are not marketers. And most of the time they don’t have any ideas on marketing. This is one of the reasons why they throw money at the marketing problem.
The business owners being unaware of their marketing strategies, may fail. It can be easy to find a marketing agency with expertise in this field, but it lacks a personal touch. Garns said that the business’ vision needs to be aligned with everything. And business owners need to take ownership of the marketing strategy.
Hiring someone to focus on marketing can help reduce tasks. However, they can be lost. To get everything aligned and focused on the same goal, you need to own your marketing strategy. That way, your actions align with your goals, and you can put effort into them.
Today, there are more possible ways to reach out to prospects. Garns mentioned that putting more effort into multi-channel marketing can help. This is also when you can channel creativity and broaden your horizons to find ways to reach your prospects.
Keep it Simple
Today’s technology allows access to a wide range of analytics for businesses to the point that it may overcomplicate things. To effectively employ a marketing strategy, you need to go back to basics. Garns emphasized that “you don’t have to be a marketing genius.” Instead, identifying which actions generate well is enough.
Identifying your lead source provides you with basic analytics on which ad worked well. You can organize it and review which should be enhanced and which should stop. Garns said that It’s common for some businesses to acquire analytics, but not from the lead source.
Holding on to the basics and keeping the process simple avoid unnecessary complicated details.
TOP QUOTES
Tyler Garns
[02:17] “Most business owners are masters of their craft. They’re great at what they do. [But] they’re not necessarily marketers. And so what they tend to do is, they just throw money at the marketing problem.”
[02:55] “The business owner and the founder– the visionary needs to take some ownership of the marketing strategy, tie it in with their big business vision, and make sure all that stuff’s aligned, and then they can delegate appropriately.”
[06:24] “You have to define your own land; you have to know that it’s the right strategy for your business model. Once you’ve got all that stuff lined up, then you can go– you can go hard.”
[14:07] “We spent money. And did we make money? Or did we lose money? That’s the ultimate question. And if you can track that well and be confident in that data, You can go crazy [and] you can grow really fast.”
[16:08] “The multi-step, multi-touch attribution stuff doesn’t help unless we know the basics– the foundation and where we’re at.”
Matt Wolach
[06:48] “They often drift or grow in circles because they’re not doing the right thing at the right time, with the right amount of focus on a particular topic.
[03:45] “Most of the deals are done after five follow-ups. So a large majority of people are not following up or doing it very few times.”
LEARN MORE
To learn more about Tyler Garns and Box Out Marketing, visit https://www.boxoutmarketing.com/tyler-garns/.
You can also find Tyler Garns on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylergarns/.
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.
