November and December are known in B2B as months where leads slow down and deals take forever to get across the finish line. It doesn’t have to be this way.
I’m convinced that some of you are already putting your plans on the shelves for 2021 and calling it a year well done. Some of you might have already checked out for the year and are looking forward to getting back to the office in January and figuring out what your team should and shouldn’t be doing…
I get it.
This week across the US it’s Thanksgiving. It’s also Black Friday. So the likelihood that you’re even reading this email is quite low. But if you are here. If you’re reading these words. You’re going to get something special today that other people (ie. your competitors’ CMO or Director of Marketing) will likely never see and as such…
They’ll be fully into the ‘winter’ without realizing that there’s a way to make these last couple of weeks great. Let’s talk a bit about exactly that… A few simple ways you can ensure that the rest of 2021 is the best of 2021…
USE ADVANCED TWITTER SEARCH
Every single day someone puts up a post on Twitter that they’re hiring or looking to buy something. People post on Twitter every single day sharing that they’re hiring agencies, designers, cleaners, real estate agents, and more. It’s a no brainer for any smart marketer and CMO to start viewing Twitter as an opportunity channel. It’s a place where with the use of Advanced Twitter search you can find people looking for the things that you’re offering.
I’ve seen people on Twitter put up posts that they’re buying software, gifts, plants and so much more. Find your buyers using search and engage with them.
FOLLOW UP WITH THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WENT COLD
Remember back in September when you almost closed that deal but they didn’t bite? Follow up. Remember that prospect that ghosted? Follow up.
Send an email asking how things are going and see if it makes sense to re-engage. The first follow up you send should be two days after sending a first email.. The second follow up should be 3-4 days later… The third follow up should be next week… The follow up after that would be the week after..
And then once a month until the end of time.
Some of you might think that’s too much. But the reality is… Sometimes emails get caught in spam filters. Sometimes emails get lost in the chaos. And sometimes people just need one or twelve more nudges to be convinced that you’re right for them.
OPTIMIZE ALL YOUR OLD CONTENT
Do you have YouTube videos that have thumbnails that will easily get scrolled over?
Do you have blog posts with references to old data? Are the dates in your title tags still 2021 vs 2022?
Make these updates now so you can thrive later.
LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES INSIDE OF YOUR DATA
Do you have a mailing list or CRM? Dive into the data and see if there’s anyone who has been opening one specific email over and over or a company that FWD’d your email to the entire team?
Use data to identify opportunities for 1-1 outreach. Look for moments in your clients, prospects, subscribers lifecycle that demonstrate an increased interest in a subject. As an example, if you send a weekly newsletter and notice that someone happened to open an email 14 times and clicked a specific link 7 times -> That’s a signal. It’s a signal that clearly this person was interested in something that was inside of that email. Does the specific link that they’re clicking have anything to do with your offering? Does it speak to a specific pain point? What is it that is triggering the interaction with this piece?
TURN THE WINTER INTO YOUR LEARNING SZN
What’s something you’re trying to learn about? Use the ‘quiet’ time of the winter to level up your thinking.
- Start studying the world of NFTs by studying projects like Sneaky Vampire Syndicate, Unstoppable Horse Yard, Chain Runners or Bored Apes… [not investing advice]
- Start studying new areas of marketing that you have traditionally overlooked like content distribution or general B2B growth…
- Start studying the classics of marketing and how you can apply them in a world that overemphasizes the growth hacks…
- Join a growth or marketing related Slack community, FB group or Discord… Or subscribe to a few great newsletters
- If you’re thinking of starting your own online business, study the nuances of starting an LLC and tax structures that could benefit you
All of these simple things can have a MASSIVE impact on your life long term
START THE REFERRAL ENGINE
Happy clients & customers should mean easy referrals & introductions. Don’t be afraid to ask the people who you’re already working with to introduce you to others they know. If you have a product — think about introducing a referral viral loop.
STUDY THE TOP CONTENT IN A NICHE SUBREDDIT
Want to create content that will make your audience love you?
Study the top posts in the niche subreddit your community browses for inspiration around the content they want. When you sort the content by top posts, you’re essentially creating a feed that only shows you content that resonated with the audience. This is the content that got the community talking or got the community aligned on a specific idea or topic. Once you have unlocked this insight; use it to create content that is consistently going to resonate with your ideal audience. This is essentially the Reddit equivalent of the Sherlock homeboy approach.
Then go create that content. It’s one of my favorite techniques and something I’ve talked about before. Reddit is MASSIVELY underrated from both a content inspiration play and a content distribution play. Don’t sleep on it.
START PLANNING YOUR PODCAST TOUR FOR 2022
Go to Spotify and search for the name of someone in your space that does interviews often. Reach out to the shows they’ve been on and make a pitch re: why you’ll be able to give their audience value.
OFFER A LIMITED TIME OFFER
This is gonna sound a bit wild but even in B2B, you should be thinking about how you can offer a deal that makes customers NEED to buy it. Maybe it’s a 3 month free, a deep discount or a free company wide training program.
HOST AN OFFICE HOURS
Earlier this month I held office hours with Amanda of Sparktoro and my inbox has been on fire ever since. More opportunities than we can handle. Office hours can help you build a stronger connection & drive real ROI.
JOIN FACEBOOK GROUPS
Almost every 2 weeks I see a post go up in a Facebook group where someone is looking for: An SEO agency, CRM recos, designers, react developers, custom WordPress site devs, and copywriters. Don’t sleep on this.
More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KC5l-7Xe4
DISTRIBUTE YOUR OLD CONTENT
That post from 3 months ago? Share it.
That ebook from Q1? Relaunch it.
That guide from last year? Amplify it.
The increasing number of social networks have made it more important for brands to invest in distribution. Not just because the channels exist… But because these channels are capturing more and more of your audience’s time. The channels they were once spending time on have been diluted due to other channels launching and capturing their attention.
Embrace the idea of creating things once and distributing forever.
Finally…
Get outside and enjoy some time with Mother Nature.
The metaverse in your backyard is just as cool as the one on your screen. 
