Is that another newsletter from a brand I bought something from 11 years ago? Has that sales rep really texted me on LinkedIn again? I am never going to open that, he is wrecking my head. We have all thought these things at one time or another. But let’s add some context.
Email marketing and direct messaging on LinkedIn carry a bit of a stigma. They are often seen as pushy, too ‘salesy’, not personalised enough, or a waste of time to read. Well, Shamrock Rovers captain Pico Lopes thought the exact same thing, and now he is playing at a World Cup for his father’s birth nation, Cape Verde.
The follow-up is a marketing rule as old as time. Everyone has heard of the marketing funnel, the seven touchpoints necessary before a purchase, or the journey of shifting consideration to conversion. Marketing jargon, you might think. But it makes sense.
Let’s hypothetically step into the Cape Verde FA’s boardroom. We want to do something unthinkable: we want to qualify for the World Cup. Are you joking? Well, now the question lies, how do we do that?
Marketing (and I use that term loosely in this context). Pico Lopes, a mainstay in the League of Ireland plying his trade for Irish champions Shamrock Rovers, has a Cape Verdean father. Jackpot! Let’s get him into the team.
Email? Phone call? Visit him? No. Let’s connect with him on LinkedIn. That is exactly what they did. They connected and dropped him a message (in Portuguese) offering an amazing opportunity for the Tallaght man to play international football and hopefully bring them to the biggest sporting stage.
The ultimate sales message, if we do say so ourselves. This was an offer no one could turn down. What happened next, you ask? Radio silence. The Cape Verdean FA was, quite literally, left on read.
Through persistence, and, of course, Google Translate, they went again. The follow-up. B2B Marketing 101.
But let’s be clear: this wasn’t blind, annoying spam. This was a laser-targeted message with a golden proposition. They went again. And this time, Pico didn’t just open it. He responded. He engaged. The digital team’s numbers for this campaign would have blown any C-suite board away! A sale! From the follow-up. A clear B2B follow-up process (we think!).
We’re rambling. The focus of this piece is that, sometimes, conversion cannot be measured immediately. It is vital to stay present. And yes, reviews are important. But a lot of the time, it is hard to quantify certain metrics and certain marketing campaigns, but that does not mean the campaign was unsuccessful. Your brand is present, your brand is top of the potential consumer’s mind, and when push comes to shove, your brand will be the only logical decision.
They say only 5% of B2B buyers are active in the market at any one time, which sounds more like a Tinder bio than a line in a marketing blog, but the sentiment holds true. If you only chase that immediate 5%, you are burning through budget. You need a process to nurture the other 95% so you are the only option when they are finally ready to buy.
The moral of the story? It is vital to remain present, it is vital to have a clear marketing plan and funnel, and it is absolutely vital to have a clear follow-up process. Because who knows? Your World Cup dream could be sitting in your inbox right now, and you don’t even know it yet!
That’s the art of marketing. You shouldn’t have to rely on luck or Google Translate to get results.
At Marketing Network Group, we build the exact B2B frameworks that turn left on read into your next big partnership. Trust us and, maybe, open your messages more!
