Rohit Akiwatkar's Linkedin Analytics

'How we buy' vs 'How we expect a prospect to buy' We never prioritise buyer’s journey in our B2B marketing campaigns. Leaving a huge gap between how we buy and how we expect prospects to buy. ****************************************************************** How 90% marketers think about B2B buying: Ad ➝ Gated content ➝ (5-email "nurture") ➝ Sales follow-up ➝ Close+Won ****************************************************************** How B2B purchase actually happens? Visit the website ↓ Google the brand ↓ Ignore it for a few days ↓ Check their social media ↓ Visit the website again with specific needs ↓ Ask their network or private community on Slack ↓ Check their competitors and Read reviews on G2/Clutch ↓ Talk to the other decision makers ↓ Book a demo or discovery call ↓ Sales helps to work out the business case and share case studies ↓ Start with a initial low-ticket engagement ****************************************************************** As marketers our priorities should be to: - Create educational content for the buyers - Create native content for the platforms - Improve online reputation - Create brand awareness - Improve on social proof Stop pushing buyers through a neat funnel and be where the buyers are. [Image source: Gartner]

7 things I wish I knew as a junior marketer: [1] It was never about the content. It is about the customers [2] No one will notice you. Do excellent work, document and share up. [3] Having mentors is a cheat code to skyrocket your career [4] Simple campaigns > complex campaigns [5] Testing marketing strategies well is as important as creating them well [6] If you want to create the best marketing solution for a domain, be an expert in that domain. And most importantly: Communication is everything. If you can't communicate your marketing skills, they have no value.

"Hey Rohit, I'm stuck at my role and struggling to reach the Team Lead or Manager role." ✦ Here’s how to deal with the situation: - Making it to a Team Lead stage is often met with the excuse that companies are looking for people who have been there before. - It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. - How do you land that first Team Lead role if you've never been before? While experience is valuable, it can be short-circuited. ✦ Here’s how to do it: [1] Business strategy: - Connect business strategy to marketing strategy and understand how marketing fits into the bigger picture. [2] Acquire domain knowledge: Deep understanding of customers, industry and service/product. [3] Cross functional knowledge: If you in content, knowledge of SEO, social media and design can give you an edge over others. [4] Business functioning: Make friends in other aligned functions like sales, pre-sales, customer success and product teams. [5] Developing leadership skills by: - helping others - coaching your juniors - working collaboratively - taking work from your seniors

95% of people are happy with taking orders and executing it..sometimes doing extra. But it's the other 5% that move faster in their career. Because they communicate better. How top 1% marketers communicate with stakeholders - a 3-point checklist I wish I had 10 years ago (pay attention to the last one): 1. Tie your ideas to business outcomes using metrics ❌ Don’t say, “We increased website traffic by 30% this quarter.” ✅ Say, “The 30% increase in YoY website traffic brought in 200 new leads, resulting in a projected $1million increase in potential revenue.” 2. Use straightforward language instead of marketing jargon ❌ Don’t say, “We leveraged a multi-channel ABM strategy to enhance touchpoints and improve MQL velocity.” ✅ Say, “We personalized our messaging across LinkedIn, email, and webinars to engage decision-makers faster, which helped us close deals sooner.” 3. Equip stakeholders to champion your ideas ❌ Don’t assume your job ends when stakeholders nod in agreement. ✅ Your mission: Make your stakeholders look like strategic leaders. Package your campaigns into concise decks with clear value propositions. Help them sell your ideas up the chain and make your marketing efforts a company-wide win. Creative ideas alone won’t drive success. Your ability to tie them to business outcomes will.

Director of Marketing to marketing manager: "Hey can you prepare a quick summary of leads we got in the Q1 2025?” This immediately sets off a bad chain reaction of fear, panic, and uncertainty for the marketing manager. How? ✦ Prepare - what format? Presentation, spreadsheet, document ✦ Quick summary - Quick? Does boss needs it today? It’s already 4:30 pm. ✦ Leads in Q1 2025 - Is this related to my performance? Instead, if your boss had sent this message “Hey, I’m preparing goals for the marketing team for the next quarter. Can you please send me a summary of number of leads we got in the last quarter in a spreadsheet? Separate the data by months, channels and lead score. You can prepare it by end of this week. Planning to deliver the goals in the next week.” ✦ Notice how the message gives clarity on - Reason for the impromptu request - Timeline for preparation - Format of the output Communication is often touted as the most essential soft skill. But there are many facets to it. One such aspect is ‘Clarity in communication’. ✦ If you are a managing a team, include context and clarity in your communication. ✦ If you are at the receiving end, then seek clarity before the cognitive load weighs you down. What other aspects of communication do you think are important?

No marketing budget? Start writing. That's the least but most promising thing you can do. - If you write 300 words/day - Every year you’ll publish 50 posts - If each post brings you only 5 visits/day - Every year you’ll have 100k traffic - If your traffic converts at 0.5% - Every year you’ll get 450 leads Warning: This only works if you stick to the plan for at least a year. I have experienced this first hand at Simform. Most difficult thing is the consistency and belief in you content strategy. Here's a 4-step minimum viable content marketing strategy to maximize your writing efforts: [1] Identify your target audience and fix a positioning [2] Divide your main service into sub-topics, pick one sub-topic and create a marketing funnel [3] Distribute content on relevant platforms [4] Run paid advertising if you want to generate leads immediately Start small, stay consistent, and watch your content drive results!

I have interviewed 500+ candidates to scale my marketing team at Simform from 3 to 30. 90% of the candidates lack these 10 basic interview time skills. 1️⃣ Active listening - Many candidates fail to truly listen and understand the question being asked, resulting in incomplete or off-topic responses. - Active listening is crucial in effectively addressing the interviewer's concerns and demonstrating your comprehension. 2️⃣ Answering to the point - Providing concise and focused answers is essential. Rambling or going off on tangents can make it difficult for the interviewer to assess your qualifications and suitability for the role. - Aim to deliver clear and direct responses that address the core of the question. 3️⃣ Impact-oriented storytelling - Showcase your work by highlighting the impact you made rather than focusing solely on recognition or appreciation received. - Craft an elevator pitch that succinctly communicates the value you brought to previous roles or projects. 4️⃣ Specificity in answers - Prepare thoughtful answers to common questions such as why you want to leave your current position or why you want to join the company. - Provide specific examples to support your statements and demonstrate your qualifications. 5️⃣ Research and preparation - Take the time to research the organization and job description before the interview. Understand the expectations, responsibilities, stakeholders, and impact of the role. - Avoid asking questions that are already addressed in the description or can be easily found online. 6️⃣ Balanced self-promotion with humility - Focus on the results and outcomes you achieved rather than emphasizing personal accolades. - Present a clear distinction between team vs individual contribution. 7️⃣ Problem-solving ability - Candidates who fail to showcase their problem-solving skills may be ill-prepared for the dynamic nature of marketing work. - Be ready to answer scenario based questions. 8️⃣ Attention to detail - Marketing requires careful attention to detail, whether it's proofreading content, analyzing data, or managing campaigns. - Candidates who overlook details (typo in resume') not meet the meticulous standards necessary for marketing success. 9️⃣ Consistency in priorities - If you claim that money is not important, it may contradict your request for a significant salary hike. - Be clear about your priorities and align them with your compensation expectations. 🔟 Focus on the job content, not just the title - Don't get fixated on job titles. Understand the actual responsibilities and tasks involved. - Emphasize your skills and qualifications relevant to the role's content and requirements. Addressing these skills will improve your interview performance and boost your chances of securing the desired role. BTW - I'm hiring content writers and graphic designers. PS: ♻️ Repost this in your network to help someone ace their next interview.