Rich Brooks

Few people are comfortable with change, and certainly not when it feels like the change is unnecessary and will likely require additional work. However, people do look for purpose; they want to feel like their contributions mean something. To get people on board with a new B2B strategy, lead with the vision of what their lives will be like once this new strategy is adopted. Paint the picture of more leads, happier clients, and how their jobs will be more rewarding (assuming that's true.) Once you can show them the future, you can start to get them involved, elicit feedback, and ensure the whole team is pulling together.

Sometimes critical feedback is constructive, and sometimes it's not. When a client responds harshly or aggressively to content you've provided, there's likely something else going on...the worst thing you can do is add fuel to the fire. Instead, use verbal judo. Be respectful, ask questions, and bring the temperature in the room down. I've found that more often than not a client recognizes they've overreacted, and maybe we're a lot closer to the final product than they may have original thought. I've also gotten a bunch of apologies and "I may have overreacted" responses at this stage. That deflation of emotions often leads to breakthroughs in crafting the content that the client needs to succeed.

When SEO is done right, it's really about optimizing the content for your ideal customer and the pain points they are currently experiencing. Too often we prioritize creativity over clarity. Agencies especially can be guilty of this, looking for awards rather than conversions. Even within the constraints of keywords, content length and depth, and other SEO concerns, there are plenty of opportunities to be creative, have a clever turn of phrase, and persuade someone to take action. You can further express creativity in imagery on the page, video embeds, and company branding. I was once told "business concerns trump SEO concerns every time," and I feel this is a great guiding principle.

Every digital channel these days is highly competitive, from search to social to email. I've found that one of the most effective ways to stand out and establish yourself as an authority is through public speaking. While on stage you have a captive audience, you're not competing for attention, and you're often literally raised up over the people you're speaking to. Try not to sell from the stage, but rather share helpful advice and insights that will win people over. You can use a QR code or call-to-action at the end of the presentation for the audience to get your slides, receive additional resources, and contact you. Public speaking is a great source for lead generation.

While AI can be a powerful tool at helping you create content, without proper prompting its output--even in the early stages of generating topics or outlines--can be generic at best and tone deaf at worst. To avoid this, first feed it a well-defined buyer persona. I create them through a combination of customer interviews and AI generation. When AI understands your ideal customer--their pain points, their objections, and their goals--it does a much better job of creating the topics, outlines, and even copy that will help attract and convert more of your ideal B2B clients.

Ups and downs in any industry are typical, and being resilient can help you weather these changes. The problems come when we give ourselves too much credit or assign ourselves too much blame. It's important to recognize there are outside forces we can't control, like the economy or upcoming elections, that might have oversized impact on our campaigns. Instead, focus on the work itself, rather than the outcomes. Although it's difficult to ignore a downturn or a poor return on a marketing investment, focus instead on the things you can control. Also, don't let a bad day/week/month at work become a downward spiral; hit the gym, eat right, get enough sleep, go for walks in the woods...whatever it takes to replenish your limited resources.