For some companies, marketing still means printing a glossy brochure as a handout for customer meetings. Needless to say we don’t think this approach is optimal to become digital nor global.

As said in my previous blog post “how to shift to a digital and global business culture”, the very first thing you need to do is to stop your opportunistic approach and  find your product market fit. This might sound like another buzz word coming from consultants but believe me:

• This is what will drive growth.
• This is what will attract investors.
• This is what will increase your valuation tremendously.

Why ? Because this is what will enable you to generate leads and revenue in a predictable and repeatable manner. 

So now, how do I find my product market fit?

First you want to be “the big fish in the small pond” as Geoffrey Moore explains in Silicon Valley’s bible “Crossing the Chasm”.

Focusing your whole sales development on a “small pond” is an extremely complicated decision. This means accepting to miss on some opportunities. So it better be good!

We have developed a full methodology to help our customers select the right market segment and identify their Ideal Customer Profile.

The first question is:

• “Do I answer an explicit need for my customer or am I a “nice to have” solution”

The second is:

• “How competitive am I to answer this need”

Once you are able to answer these questions for each segment, you are probably ready to select one. You now need to test it by talking to at least 20 potential customers you don’t know to get their feedback and see if your value proposition resonates with them. You’ll know you have reached your product market fit, if your intern is able to sell your product 🙂

To go deeper, you can read Xavier’s post on how he pivoted his start-up Brixlogic from an XML multipurpose platform to a fintech solution leading to great sales success. 

Now that I have my product market fit,…

How do I generate leads with my marketing $?

First, understand who your main buyer persona is, and investigate how you can reach her. 

Several options will probably come up:

• Should you go to conferences? (if such things still happen in our post corona era)
• Should you focus on online marketing and drive traffic to your website with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Advertising (SEA) or social selling?
• Should you invest in social media to reach your audience?

Try and iterate to see what brings most results. For each marketing campaign, define goals, KPIs, a budget and analyze whether you are satisfied with the results. Start small and keep growing as results are coming.

Your success will also depend on your content. Do not position yourself as a provider, but as a problem solver. Every content should be useful and relates to a problem your buyer persona is facing.

If you need more information on how to find your product market fit, you can see some tools here. If you want to talk about it, just contact us now!