November 5, 2024

Issue #689

You know the saying: "Not everything that glitters is gold," right?

In the startup world, it’s easy to get dazzled by the idea of appealing to everyone. But chasing after every shiny opportunity can lead you to miss out on what truly matters.

So let’s roll up our sleeves and explore how to turn potential into gold!

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PRINCIPLES

You can’t catch all the fish in the sea

For startups aiming to stand out in crowded markets, focusing on specific strengths and niche audiences amplifies impact.

By identifying and doubling down on what your product does exceptionally well, your company can effectively carve out a unique identity that resonates with your target segment rather than aiming to be “all things to all people.”

This clarity not only sharpens messaging but aligns go-to-market efforts for improved efficiency, positioning your brand as a specialist rather than a generalist and driving stronger customer loyalty and market presence.

And as Robert Kaminski, Co-Founder of Fletch, shared on LinkedIn last week:

“Good positioning requires the willingness to have a strong opinion about who you are for and what you do best.

Trying to show up as ‘the best for everyone’ will effectively destroy your differentiation (and make your GTM efforts chaotic and inefficient)."

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TACTICS

Strategy ≠ tactics

(Even though his content is written for marketing teams, we do think this one is particularly applicable to all GTM)

According to Pierre Herubel, Founder and Coach at Authority-First Content, there's a problem in the way GTM teams are operating (which he shared some weeks ago on LinkedIn):

“There is no clear target audience. There are no clear objectives and roadmap. The whole product is not fixing any painful problem.

They focus on building up tactics rather than strategy.”

To try to solve this dilemma, lets define each one of them first:

Strategy: Strategy is the big-picture plan to achieve business goals, focusing on positioning, target audience, and value proposition.

Tactics: They’re short-term steps that, while essential for execution, must align with the overall strategy to be effective.

When faced with underperforming campaigns or initiatives, it’s essential to distinguish between surface-level tactics and underlying strategic issues.

He shared the following (don’t forget to read his entire post here):

Forms, social proof, CTAs, and H2s are important.

But they are only surface-level elements.

So marketers should also focus on strategic foundations.

In some cases, they can fix strategic problems:

- Reframe the value proposition to make it sharper

- Rewrite the messaging strategy to make it persuading

- Rethink the brand positioning to become more unique

In some other cases, it's not even about marketing.

It's about business strategy:

- There is no clear target audience

- There are no clear objectives and roadmap

- The whole product is not fixing any painful problem

Great marketers know how to adapt to 'problem's level':

- Surface-level: experiment and optimize marketing tactics

- Marketing strategy-level: rethink the marketing foundations.

- Business strategy-level: gather evidence and talk to leadership.

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THE AD OF THE DAY

Who can resist the thrill of a Halloween ad launch?

Daniel Murray, Founder of Authority, shared on LinkedIn last week, some of the latest Halloween ads. Which one is your favorite? (Or if you have another ad in mind, send it our way.)

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STUFF YOU CAN’T MISS

• November 11 - 14 — Web Summit 2024
  

70,000 people will gather in Lisbon, Portugal for one of the biggest tech conferences in the world, featuring speakers from leading companies across nearly every technology vertical. Book your ticket to join them here.

• November 12 - 14 — B2B Forum

B2B Forum, the B2B marketing conference from MarketingProfs, is coming to Boston, MA. Learn how to drive growth, elevate brand reputation, prove ROI, and stay ahead of the ever-changing marketing curve. Register here.

• November 20 — GTM Partners Better Together Roadshow: San Francisco

If you’re a GTM leader, join the first B2B go-to-market conference focused on unifying teams and tech. The Crossbeam team will be at the next event in San Francisco, learn more here.