Adam Preis, MCIM

Tech is an enabler for human expression. Not the other way around. Professional networks are forged on mutual interest, oversecting agendas, and powerful story telling that is brave, original, and credible.

All virtual collaboration tools, just like currency, are backed by something. Cash was once backed by gold, before being backed by basket of currencies. All collaborations in the virtual world, are ultimately backed by real human interactions. Everything else is just an enabler.

Don’t just attend virtual events, host them, participate in them. Find a virtual community or an association, join it, put your name up for participation. Host your podcast, get on one. Use your PR department to help to connect your interest/expertise with biz/market needs. Above all — craft compelling stories that your trusted colleagues can help you rip to shreds to built it back up. But better. This is an art.

If you believe that all the hard work in positioning and messaging empowers you to leave the fruit of your hard labour in some dusty drawer while you pat yourself on the back — think again. Effective content strategy instruments feedback loops tied to the channel and audience you’re engaging with. To see what sticks, what needs to pivot, and what should be scrapped, instrument check points at 30-60-90 days. Lean on your sales ops and marketing ops to help to bring all this magic together. And then be open about what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes areas of perceived failure yield more than short term successes. Set up your teams to fail and learn.

Segment, segment, segment. What is your category, what are you adjacent categories. Where are you most competitive today and in the future? What’s the customer acquisition cost (CAC) in each, how do you bake that into your audience analysis, prioritisation, ideal customer persona (ICP) development? Plenty of questions to answer and the list goes on.

Break down your discovery into manageable buckets. The first bucket is about ‘the why’ - why are you aligning, to what purpose, within what context ans category, what’s the market need, what’s the product-market fit. The second bucket is ‘the what’ - what goals are aligned at C, KPI and OKR level, how do soft metrics roll-up into hard ones (investor, board level). Then there is the third bucket, or ‘the how’ - how do you instrument measurement and baselining, how do you build and cascade feedback loops. A critical exercise requiring patience and thorough inquiry.