Michael Brenner is the Founder of Marketing Insider Group, a content marketing agency that helps companies reach, engage and convert new customers. With over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing, Michael has seen firsthand the challenges businesses face in capturing the attention of today's savvy, distracted buyers. As an author, keynote speaker and recognized leader in the content marketing space, he helps organizations rethink their approach to customer engagement.
In this episode of How to Unf** Your Startup*, Michael and I dove into the strategies startups must employ to reach buyers in an increasingly noisy marketplace. With loads of stories and hard-won insights, Michael shares his formula for crafting marketing messages that resonate and building an inbound engine that drives sustainable growth. Our conversation drives home the importance of a customer-centric mindset in all aspects of startup operations, from leadership to demand generation.
Here are 6 key takeaways from our conversation:
"The bullseye is the customer. Every organization, even in accounting and HR, there are things that they do that are touching the deliverables, the outcomes that customers really care about."
Making the customer the focal point of your org chart is a powerful way to align every department and decision around creating value for buyers. This customer-centric orientation is essential for cutting through the noise and reaching your target audience.
"It's all about making the customer the hero of the story. If your story is Star Wars, you're not Luke Skywalker. Your customer is Luke Skywalker. Maybe you're Obi-Wan Kenobi. You can be the mentor and the guide. but you're not Luke Skywalker.”
Effective storytelling transports the listener and stirs emotions. By framing the customer as the protagonist who overcomes challenges and achieves their goals, you create a narrative that people can't help but pay attention to. Build stories that place your buyer's needs and desires at the heart of the action.
"Just try and try, test and figure out what is a customer centric message that focuses on their interests, their challenges, their concerns, their problems."
In a world flooded with advertising and sales messages, customers want content that helps them solve real problems and make informed decisions. Shift your marketing from a promotional mindset to one of providing valuable insights and education tailored to your audience's needs.
“We've got to find the content that people are interested in and create a platform for them to engage in. But it's gotta be on their terms. I think that's the trick. It's gotta be based on the things that they're interested in.”
Relevance is the key to engagement. Invest time in deeply understanding your target buyer's world - their goals, challenges, questions and preferences. Craft messaging and content that speaks directly to the things that matter most to them, rather than pushing generic, one-size-fits-all communications.
"75% of the traffic that comes to company websites comes from organic search...thinking about your website as a demand generation capturing machine, an inbound marketing engine is still really important."
Your website is your most powerful owned media asset. Focus on creating helpful, search-optimized content that pulls your ideal customers in and captures their information, rather than relying on interruptive outbound tactics. An inbound approach builds trust and positions you as the go-to resource in your space.
"Companies are starting to do human interaction in person after the pandemic, especially in the SaaS space. It’s the second most effective cost-effective lead generation approach."
Even in our virtual-first world, face-to-face engagement remains a powerful way to build relationships and drive revenue. Look for opportunities to connect with customers in authentic ways, whether that's meet-ups, intimate events, or visits to their location. The key is finding reasons to interact that deliver real value.
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