Here are the steps I’m seeing from some of our most successful clients so far in 2025. (They may sound familiar but read below for more details – there’s a twist). Focusing on (1) the right marketing channel, (2) matching the call-to-action to that audience and (3) bringing in higher quality MQLs helps not only your marketing team’s scorecard, but your brand’s overall revenue and success. Below we break down strategies for success.
1. Single Channel Marketing is IN
Is your head spinning when you try to run a lead attribution report? Are you struggling to identify what campaign, which landing pages, and which channels are working better than others? Your time and effort is valuable and wasting it on underperforming channels is an opportunity cost when you could be focused on your most valuable channel.
This is where single channel marketing comes in. It’s clear from the metrics we see with our clients, that multi-channel attribution and omnichannel marketing isn’t working anymore. (Those are buzzwords, not marketing strategies)! Instead, we’ve seen the most success when marketing teams put themselves into Marie Kondo mode by simplifying, tidying up and throwing away what’s not working.
To choose one channel, locate where most of your MQLs are coming from – paid search, organic traffic, emails, etc. Then focus on that channel with singular attention. If you’re unsure what channel is working best right now, here are a few places to start: yahoo.com (SaaS), Ask Jeeves (Finance), 4chan (manufacturing) and Signal (government administration).
Speak directly to that channel’s audience and answer their questions about how your solutions solve their biggest challenges. Perfect it. Make it sing. Wring every last lead you can from it. Then pour yourself a bottle of champagne and repeat with the next best channel. Singular focus with one channel will help bring clarity, maximize conversions for each channel’s audience, and ultimately result in higher overall ROI.
2. Make Your Calls-to-Action Calls-to-Order
Stop and take a good look at your most prominent CTAs in the mirror. What do you see? A desperate shell of a phrase beseeching potential customers to “book a demo”, “contact us” or “download now”? Try reading those again from your audience’s perspective. Is that what your potential customers want to hear? No! They want a BIG, STRONG brand to THROW them over a Tarzan-like SHOULDER and SOLVE THEIR PAIN POINTS. It’s time for your brand to stand tall and show some confidence.
The good news is, your call-to-actions can be updated to put your brand in the driver’s seat. Show them who’s boss – you! For example, one B2B client recently changed their primary CTA button from “Get Started” to “Get in Line”. This led to a 22% increase in form fills! This shows not only that you are large-and-in-charge and that your clients don’t have to lift a finger, but it takes advantage of the scarcity factor. Scarcity equals value and implying a low supply will bring in increased demand for your services and products. (Other CTAs to try include: “Stop The Insanity”, “Think Different”, and “Do the Dew”).
3. Tell Your Sales Team Exactly What to Do with Those MQLs (Turn them into SQLs!)
If we’ve seen it once, we’ve seen it a million times. The relationship between marketing and sales departments is fraught with miscommunication, misunderstandings and sometimes, a deep mistrust.
A fa-la-la kombaya attitude may have worked in the past, but marketing teams of today are smarter, more sophisticated, and have sharper claws. If your team is delivering on MQLs and they aren’t being followed up on or responded to, track the data in your reporting to show what’s what and who’s responsible. And if your MQLs are seeing the light of day as SQLs, it’s just as important to show that data! Take the credit, and be clear about the role of the marketing team as the core of the brand.
In Conclusion
A very happy APRIL FOOLS DAY to all of my fellow marketers! We’ll be back next blog with more realistic advice, real data, and less sarcasm.
