Scale Your B2B Faster With Connected Growth

In today's fast-paced, digitally-driven business landscape, a new crisis is emerging—a crisis of disconnection. Channels are saturated, teams are siloed, and valuable buyer data is scattered across disparate systems. The result? Stagnant growth, missed opportunities, and a widening gap between businesses and their customers. 

But what if there was a way to turn the tide? What if the key to unlocking unprecedented growth and success lies in bridging these gaps? 

Welcome to the transformative world of Connected Growth—a strategic approach that puts connection at the heart of business success. In this blog post, we'll delve into what Connected Growth is, why it's crucial, and how you can implement it to turbocharge your B2B business growth.

The B2B Crisis of Disconnection

Let's start with some sobering statistics.

A staggering 63% of businesses agree that their previous growth strategies are now less effective.¹ 

Teams are working in silos, with 69% of marketers reporting a lack of strong alignment with sales. And when it comes to data, 81% of marketers feel they're in the dark, lacking access to high-quality information.

These numbers aren't just digits on a screen; they're a wake-up call for businesses everywhere. As budgets tighten and the marketplace becomes increasingly competitive, the task of connecting becomes not just challenging but critical. 

The cost of doing nothing is no longer just a missed opportunity; it's a recipe for business stagnation.

The Changing B2B Landscape

The way people spend their time, how they buy, how they share information, and how they expect to receive customer service is all changing. 

What's not changing, however, is the importance of connection.

In a world where customer expectations are higher than ever, and brand loyalty is increasingly hard to come by, the businesses that succeed are those that make meaningful connections.

Symptoms of Disconnected B2B Growth

From content chaos to cobbled tech stacks and siloed campaigns, the signs of disconnected growth are all too common.

Here are a few of the classic symptoms of a disconnected approach to growth.

Strategy

Disconnected: 
A loose ICP & persona focus causing every other aspect of growth to be ineffective - from CRM, to campaigns, content, and much more.

Connected: 
Laser sharp definition of the ideal customer profile and detailed understanding of the personas and their needs to be addressed.

Content

Disconnected: 
Ad hoc and fragmented strategies create scattergun content that struggles to generate results and enable your teams.

Connected: 
A cohesive content strategy that balances the need for hearts and mind content as well as different needs across sales, marketing, and service teams.

Campaigns

Disconnected: 
Spray-and-pray paid media campaigns engage in the wrong channel, at the wrong time, wasting precious media budgets.

Connected: 
Highly-targeted campaigns with focused messaging engaging buyers across the customer journey with an ‘always-on’ presence for maximised results.

RevOps

Disconnected: 
Tech stacks that are cobbled together over time cause friction in the customer journey and make teams and process very inefficient.

Connected: 
Connected systems, data, and process driving visibility, automation, and efficiency.

Sales Enablement

Disconnected: 
Sales teams miss target because they are not spending enough time selling as they don’t have the right tools, process, and support.

Connected: 
Sales and marketing working in lockstep leveraging automation and AI to scale customer engagement.

Website

Disconnected: 
Stagnant ‘brochureware’ websites don’t help the customer to meet their needs, ultimately having a big impact on bottom line growth.

Connected: 
Engaging websites focused on meeting the needs of your buyers across their journey, powered by your CRM and iteratively improved based on robust insight. 

The High Cost of Disconnected Growth

As budgets shrink, the task of connecting grows harder; the cost of doing nothing grows higher. Businesses that fail to adapt and connect are not just risking stagnation; they're setting themselves up for failure. In today's digital age, disconnection is not an option; it's a direct path to obsolescence.

Customer Connection Drives B2B Growth

Now, let's flip the script and look at the brighter side of the equation. Businesses that connect their people, systems, and data, connect with their customers better and grow faster. The top 20% of growing companies understand that meaningful engagement with customers isn't just a buzzword—it's a powerful catalyst for driving sustainable growth and building lasting relationships.

The Connection Gap

HubSpot's research reveals a startling fact: companies that prioritise customer connection in their growth strategies are growing 5x faster than their disconnected counterparts. 

This phenomenon, known as the "Connection Gap," is especially pronounced in less digitally mature industries like manufacturing, which sees an even larger connection gap of 40 percentage points. 

These industries stand to benefit even more by focusing on customer connection, offering a significant growth opportunity for those willing to adapt.

The Power of Customer Obsession

The best companies have reinvented themselves to obsess over customer connection. 

They understand that it's not enough to have a great product or service; you need to connect your systems, people, and data in order to deeply connect to your customers.

This is not a superficial change; it's a fundamental shift in business philosophy that places the customer at the heart of every decision, strategy, and action.

Want to win big in the B2B arena? Let's create a customised marketing strategy that aligns with your business goals and drives revenue growth. Start by exploring our strategy services and how they can help you thrive.

Growth Compounds By Connecting Across the Customer Journey

It's not just about making a connection at one stage of the customer journey. 

Companies that engage with customers across all journey stages — attract, engage, and delight — experience a 19% growth advantage over single-stage connectors. 

This is not a one-department effort; it's a company-wide initiative that requires an end-to-end customer connection strategy, one that shines through in every touchpoint you have with your prospects and customers.

The Multiplier Effect of Multi-Channel Connection

The more channels you use within each journey stage, the better your growth prospects. 

Companies in the top 20% of connections are committed to meeting their customers where they are, using multiple features to engage at each lifecycle stage. 

Whether it's outbound calling in manufacturing or sales emails in IT, the key takeaway is that diversification of channels leads to better connection and, consequently, better growth.

Industry-Specific Growth Drivers

Different industries have unique features that drive growth. For manufacturing, it's outbound calling, tickets, and meeting links. In the software or IT sector, sales emails, ads, and meeting links are more effective. 

This tells us that a one-size-fits-all approach won't work; your connection strategy must be tailored to your industry's specific needs and challenges.

Growth is Maximised When Companies Leverage Both Scaled and Human-Led Connection

The combination of human-led and scaled (one-to-many) tactics across each stage of the customer journey is key to maximising growth. 

When both tactics are used across the entire lifecycle, companies see a 19% growth increase. This balanced approach ensures that you're not just meeting your customers where they are but also providing a personalised yet efficient experience.

The Connected Growth Model

Our Fusion Model is designed to accelerate your B2B business growth by connecting your people, systems, and data to ultimately create better connections with your potential and existing customers. 

It's strategic, systematic, and customer-centric, reducing friction in the buyer journey and enabling data-driven decision-making.

Six Elements of Connected Growth

1) Strategy

Many businesses operate without a cohesive growth strategy, leading to disjointed efforts that don't yield optimal results. 

A well-defined, connected growth strategy aligns all departments around common goals, KPIs, and initiatives. This ensures that everyone is pulling in the same direction, leading to more efficient use of resources and accelerated growth.

2) Content

Content that is not aligned with the brand or the needs of the target audience often falls flat, failing to engage or convert. 

Engaging and informative content that resonates with your target audience not only attracts more visitors but also nurtures them through the sales funnel. This leads to higher conversion rates and customer retention, driving long-term growth. Creating a content strategy that balances ‘hearts and minds’ content as well as the needs of different teams fuels an efficient content engine.

3) Campaigns 

Spray-and-pray campaigns that are not targeted effectively waste resources and fail to engage the right audience, at the right time, with the right message. 

Precision-targeted campaigns reach and engage your buyers at the right time and place, increasing the likelihood of conversion and customer loyalty. This focused approach maximises ROI and fuels sustainable growth.

4) RevOps

Disparate systems and manual processes lead to inefficiencies, data silos, and a lack of visibility into performance metrics. 

Integrated systems and automated processes provide real-time visibility into performance metrics, enabling data-driven decision-making. This drives operational efficiency and allows for automation, contributing to agile and sustainable growth.

5) Sales Enablement

When sales and marketing operate in silos, opportunities are missed, and customer experiences are inconsistent. 

Sales and marketing alignment, leveraged by automation and AI, ensures that the customer receives a consistent and personalised experience across all touchpoints. This not only increases the likelihood of conversion but also fosters customer loyalty, which is key for long-term growth.

6) Website

Traditional websites often act as static 'brochureware,' offering basic information but failing to engage visitors in a meaningful way. They are not optimised for user experience, leading to high bounce rates and lost opportunities.

A CRM-powered, personalised website adapts to the needs and behaviours of its visitors. By leveraging data insights and AI, the website can offer tailored content, calls-to-action, and user journeys. 

The website becomes more than just a digital shopfront; it turns into a dynamic platform for customer engagement and conversion. By aligning your website strategy with other elements of Connected Growth, you can create a seamless and highly effective customer journey that drives long-term growth.

The Fusion Blueprint

Our Fusion Blueprint is a comprehensive approach that takes 2-4 weeks to deliver your blueprint for success. It involves audits, workshops, and a final strategy blueprint that outlines specific growth activities for the next 12 months. 

The modules include:

• Goal Setting - Establish clear, measurable objectives that align with your company’s broader mission and key performance indicators (KPIs).

• SEO Audit - Website technical SEO audit and keyword research to identify high-performing keywords to target in your SEO and content marketing efforts.

• Content Audit - Evaluation of existing content assets to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.

• AI Review - A comprehensive analysis and assessment of your current AI capabilities, strategy, and potential opportunities, tailored to drive connected growth in your Sales and Marketing processes.

• Buyer Personas - Detailed profiles of two of your target personas, including their needs, pain points, and decision-making processes.

• Social Media Audit - Review your social media channels to assess effectiveness, engagement, and areas for improvement.

• Paid Media Audit - Audit your paid advertising efforts to identify inefficiencies and areas for optimisation.

• Website Audit - Comprehensive evaluation of your website’s performance, usability, and conversion pathways.
• Positioning & Messaging Audit - Audit and recommendations for your value proposition statements and key messages.
• Tech Stack Audit  - Analysis of your current technology stack to identify redundancies, inefficiencies, and opportunities for integration.
• RevOps Audit - Review of your revenue operations to ensure alignment between marketing, sales, and customer success functions.
• Sales Enablement Audit - Assessment of the tools, resources, and data available to your sales team to identify areas for improvement.

How It Works

The Fusion Blueprint helps you to rapidly pivot to a Connected Growth approach. Here’s how it works.

1. Kick-Off Call: Initial discussion to outline the scope, objectives, and expectations.
2. Workshops & Audits: Interactive sessions involving key stakeholders and audits of current capabilities and opportunities.
3. Connected Growth Blueprint: The final blueprint outlining a cohesive growth strategy for the next 12 months.

Conclusion

The theme is clear — the fastest-growing B2B companies make customer connection a priority. They think holistically, engage in multiple channels, and leverage both scaled and human-led tactics. 

With a potential 5x growth opportunity at stake, there's no better time to start your journey towards Connected Growth.