Go-To-Market: Effective Marketing Campaigns Start Here

B2B marketing is complex and requires careful planning, as well as a clear strategic orientation. However, many companies fail when it comes to efficiently implementing these basics in practice.

When B2B marketing fails, it is rarely because the responsible teams have invested too little energy and resources. On the contrary: companies often take a lot of measures that they drive forward with a generous marketing budget. And then they fail.

This is the moment when companies contact us and want to know why the results of their marketing come to nothing. In this blog post, we explain why the reason for this often lies in a missing or inconsistent go-to-market strategy (GTM strategy), and what the responsible teams can do in order to create more successful marketing campaigns.

Strategy guide and Excel template: target-oriented go-to-market planning.

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Why B2B Marketing Campaigns Don’t Work

Here are some of the most common obstacles:

Missing strategic foundation: Success often fails to materialise if the company’s strategic goals are not clearly defined. Without clear orientation, the marketing measures lack direction and impact. This results in aimless activities without clear priorities and measurable success.
No overriding plan: Another problem is the lack of a logical, well thought-out, and coordinated marketing plan. Individual measures are executed, but without an overriding plan that ensures that all activities have useful synergy and work toward a shared goal. This causes fragmented campaigns that do not achieve sustainable success.
Incomplete or inefficient implementation of the strategy: Many times a strategy is indeed formulated, but it is not pursued consistently. Incomplete implementation often leads to missed potential and results that fall short of expectations.

The solution lies in developing a well thought-out marketing strategy that is aligned with the company goals, executed with a clear plan, and continuously optimised. In short: a go-to-market strategy.

Positive impact of a GTM strategy

on the marketing results

Clear orientation: Strategic marketing always aligns with clearly defined goals. All decisions and measures are deduced from these B2B marketing goals

Focused target group address: The definition of target markets and ideal customer profiles minimises wastage and irrelevant leads. The resources are applied in a targeted manner in the most promising market segments

Relevant content: Developing the buyer personas and a value matrix helps to create relevant content that suits the target group and addresses the customers’ needs and pain points.

Efficient campaign planning: A structured campaign plan enables effective content dissemination via the right channels and ensures a full sales pipeline.

Sustainable success: The GTM strategy is continuously adjusted along the buyer’s journey. This is how the marketing measures lead to better results and more traction in the lead funnel over the long term.

Manpower steigert Unternehmenseffizienz durch standardisierte CRM-Prozesse

Acht Länder, acht unterschiedliche Marketing-Prozesse – vor dieser Situation steht Manpower. Die Folge: Uneinigkeit darüber, welche Leads Priorität haben, sowie erschwertes Benchmarking und Austausch über Best Practices.

Um internationale Vergleichbarkeit zu schaffen und Lernprozesse im Unternehmen anzuregen, will das nordeuropäische Marketing-Team um Projektleiterin Tina Hingston ein länderübergreifend konsistentes Lead Scoring und Reporting einführen. Dafür holt sie sich Unterstützung des Strategiepartners andweekly.

Die Marketing-Landschaft bei Manpower

Von der herausfordernden und zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierung geeigneter Fachkräfte sind Unternehmen in vielen Branchen und Regionen betroffen. Das Ziel von Manpower ist es, dem Personalmangel weltweit mit innovativen Lösungen zu begegnen. Die ManpowerGroup mit Hauptsitz in den USA und Niederlassungen in rund 80 Ländern zählt zu den weltweit führenden Unternehmen in der Personalbranche.

Kerngeschäft ist die Vermittlung von Fachkräften aus zahlreichen Branchen an Unternehmen, die sich nicht mit zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierungsprozessen beschäftigen wollen. Darüber hinaus hilft Manpower, kurzfristige Personalengpässe zu überbrücken und Produktionsspitzen mit geeigneten Human Resources auf Zeit abzufedern. Zum Unternehmen gehören zahlreiche Tochterunternehmen – darunter auch der IT-Dienstleister Experis, den wir bereits bei seiner Marketing-Strategie unterstützt haben.

Lokale Marketing-Vielfalt bei Manpower birgt Herausforderungen

Die ManpowerGroup unterhält in jedem Land ein eigenes Marketing-Team, das individuelle Ansätze im Online-Marketing verfolgt. Zwar wurde HubSpot als All-in-one-Plattform für Marketing in den meisten Landesgesellschaften etabliert, doch das HubSpot-Knowhow und der hinterlegte Lead-Management-Prozess sind sehr unterschiedlich.

Das Problem bei Manpower: Die uneinheitlichen Marketing-Prozesse der Landesgesellschaften führen zu inkonsistenter Lead-Qualifizierung: Ein Lead, der in einer Landesgesellschaft als Sales Ready eingestuft wird, kann in einer anderen als Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) eingestuft werden.
Daraus ergeben sich für Manpower folgende Herausforderungen:
Mangelnde Vergleichbarkeit. Unterschiedliche Definitionen und Prozesse machen es schwierig, die Leistung und Effektivität von Marketing-Aktivitäten zwischen verschiedenen Landesgesellschaften zu vergleichen. Ohne einheitliche Standards können sie Best Practices nicht identifizieren und erfolgreiche Strategien kaum replizieren.

Schwierigkeiten bei Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation. Inkonsistente Definitionen führen immer wieder zu Missverständnissen und Fehlkommunikation zwischen Marketing- und Vertriebsteams, insbesondere wenn diese länderübergreifend zusammenarbeiten.
Verpasste Verkaufschancen. Unterschiedliche und nicht immer optimale Definitionen von MQLs und SQLs bewirken, dass Mitarbeitende bestimmte Leads unter- oder überschätzen. Falsche Prioritäten in der Lead-Bearbeitung kosten wiederum wertvolle Ressourcen.

5 erreichte Projektziele

Standardisierung der Marketing-Automatisierungsprozesse für eine nahtlose Customer Journey in den verschiedenen Manpower-Landesgesellschaften

Entwicklung homogener Dashboards auf globaler Ebene zur einheitlichen Erfassung, Analyse und Vergleich der Performances von Marketing-Kampagnen

Optimierung der CRM-Strategie durch Implementierung von Best Practices für Lead-Erfassung, -Qualifizierung, -Scoring und Reporting mithilfe des HubSpot Marketing Hub

Erzielung von Effizienzgewinnen durch Reduzierung von Inkonsistenzen zwischen den Landesgesellschaften

Erhöhung der Transparenz zwischen den Landesgesellschaften hinsichtlich Lead-Generierung, Lead-Qualität und Marketing-Performance zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung und Performance

How a GTM Strategy Improves Marketing

The go-to-market strategy is the strategic foundation for all successful B2B marketing. The strategy consists of seven individual steps that guide companies from setting goals, to defining buyer personas, to a concrete campaign plan. Every step is based on the previous one, leading to a coherent overall picture with exactly the right marketing measures.

Common Mistakes of a GTM Strategy Under Own Direction

Developing and implementing a GTM plan by itself is already a great step into the right direction for a company. Such a plan combines the measures and prevents single-handed activities and snap decisions. Nevertheless, frustrations in the marketing and sales teams may arise if the following common mistakes interfere with the results:

Target group address too broad: Many B2B companies attempt to cater to too many market segments simultaneously, instead of focussing on specific, highly promising target markets. This frequently leads to diluted messages that do not properly address any target group.
Too many and overly detailed buyer personas: Companies often develop overly detailed buyer personas and lose track of the different needs, goals, and pain points. The result: inefficient marketing messages.
Single-handed marketing: A lot of times, the GTM plan is developed by the marketing department alone, without including the sales team. This leads to insufficient coordination and missed chances to address potential customers.
Not enough focus on KPI monitoring: Companies generally perform too few data-driven activities. There is a lack of KPIs that could demonstrate the impact of different measures. This makes it impossible to adjust them and optimise the strategy in a timely manner.

How B2B Companies Can Improve Results

If you want to sustainably improve your marketing performance, there are several effective approaches to follow. First of all, possible weak spots must be identified – whether in the existing strategy or currently ongoing measures. Only an exact analysis will find the critical points for adjustment. Building on this, measures can be taken that are based on sound evidence and therefore significantly more effective. Finally, it is important to embed these measures into a well thought-out overall strategy, in order to better coordinate the different marketing activities and make optimal use of synergies.

Approach B2B marketing holistically and strategically: with our downloadable go-to-market framework.