Forcing brand messaging on an influencer leads to inauthentic content that fails to resonate. A better approach is to educate them on your product and collaborate on an angle that aligns with their established voice and topics. Authenticity drives distribution and engagement, making the partnership more effective than a boilerplate promotion.
Implementing a signal-based GTM motion doesn't require immediate investment in technology. You can validate the approach manually by tracking signals—like people commenting on competitor posts on LinkedIn—in a spreadsheet. Prove the hypothesis at a small scale before investing in tools to automate and scale the process.
When you're not a subject matter expert in the audience you're selling to (e.g., marketers selling to developers), the most effective strategy is to rely heavily on your customers. Use qualitative interviews to deeply understand their world, which provides the authentic language and positioning needed for your messaging and campaigns.
With thousands of potential buying signals available, focus is critical. To prioritize, evaluate each signal against two vectors: the expected volume (e.g., how many website visits) and the hypothesized conversion rate to the next funnel stage. This framework allows you to stack rank opportunities and test the highest-potential signals first.
Relying on UTM link clicks for B2B influencer campaigns is a failing strategy, as social platforms penalize external links and users rarely convert directly. Instead, use a combination of time-series analysis (correlating campaigns to signup spikes) and self-reported attribution on forms to get a more accurate picture of an influencer's impact.
A core, often overlooked, part of a marketing leader's job is managing the team's composition like a sports GM. This involves making difficult decisions, such as letting go of a high-performing employee whose role is wrong for the company's current stage, in order to reallocate budget and headcount to functions that will drive immediate growth.
An unexpected benefit of a B2B creator program is its potential as a talent pipeline. Common Room sponsored a creator who became so engaged with the product's value that they later hired him to lead their SDR team. This creates a powerful feedback loop where an authentic evangelist now dogfoods the product and leads a core GTM function.
Upon joining, a new marketing leader at Common Room cut the marketing budget in half by eliminating low-impact activities like a generic content agency and events. This freed up resources to double down on promising areas, resulting in a 30-50% pipeline increase the following quarter, proving that strategic cuts can fuel growth.