Free mistakes guide · 7 pages
7 mistakes B2B companies make when they first invest in marketing, and what to do instead
Get the free guide ↓These are the seven mistakes we see most often when a B2B business owner starts investing seriously in marketing: buying tactics before a plan, measuring the wrong numbers, spreading budget across too many channels, and more. Each comes with an early warning sign and what to do instead, so the first year builds pipeline you can see.
- The 7 mistakes and the early warning sign for each
- What to do instead, in plain terms
- The three numbers an owner should see every month
- A first-year plan in four quarters
Written by the PlanConversion Strategy Team, from programs run for ABB, KNIME and Nakisa. For b2B business owners and general managers.
What’s inside
Everything in the guide
Practical and specific: questions, checks and decisions you can use in your next meeting, not theory.
What to do instead, in plain terms
The three numbers an owner should see every month
A first-year plan in four quarters
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The first three mistakes
- Buying tactics before a plan. A website, then ads, then an SEO retainer, each from a different vendor, with no target number tying them together. Instead: start from the pipeline you need and work back.
- Measuring leads instead of sales conversations. Lead counts rise while sales says nothing changed. Instead: count qualified meetings and opportunities in your CRM.
- Spreading a small budget across every channel. Each channel gets too little to learn. Instead: one or two channels where your buyers already look, done properly.
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7 mistakes B2B companies make when they first invest in marketing
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Questions
About this guide
How much should a B2B company spend on marketing in its first year?
Work back from the pipeline target and your conversion rates rather than a percentage of revenue. The pipeline gap calculator does that math with your numbers.
Should we hire or use an agency first?
Our decision guide on agency, first hire or fractional CMO walks through that choice.
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