If you wait until the product launch or commercialization phase to crank up your marketing engine, you may be too late to generate positive results. Putting the word out today doesn’t necessarily lead to revenue today (or even tomorrow). There is a lag time to move prospects from “aware” to “interested,” and from “engaged” to “customer.”

1. The B2B
Marketing
Valley of Death
By Christopher Ryan CEO,
Fusion Marketing Partners
“If you wait until the product
launch or commercialization phase
to crank up your marketing engine,
you may be too late to generate
positive results”

2. In a recent Kaufman.org article, titled
The Rise of Angel Investing,
Jonathan Ortmans touched on
the timing of angel investments
“Most entrepreneurs initially finance their firms
using their own savings but an investment by an
angel investor who puts his or her own money
directly into a startup, if done at the right time,
makes a critical difference to the success of the
firm.”

3. If the startup doesn’t receive the needed funding at
or before the valley phase, it might not be around for
long.

4. So how does
this “valley of
death” timing
issue apply to
B2B marketing
and sales?

5. Simply this:
If you wait until the
product launch or
commercialization
phase to crank up your
marketing engine, you
may be too late to
generate positive
results.

6. This doesn’t just apply to startup
companies; it is also important for each
product launch at existing companies.

7. Putting the
word out today
doesn’t
necessarily lead
to revenue
today (or even
tomorrow).
There is a lag time
to move prospects
from “aware” to
“interested,” and
from “engaged” to
“customer.”

8. In some industries
(e.g. enterprise
software), this sales
cycle can be six
months or more – so
the sales leads you
close today first
came to your
attention quite some
time ago.

9. The scary part about being in the valley of death is
the fear that no matter what you do, a successful
outcome is not assured.

10. This is why it is hard to raise money and it is why we B2B
marketers hold our breaths, hoping and praying that the next
campaign will be the home run that leads to product launch
victory.

11. So how do we improve the odds of victory?
One strategy is to apply
lean business planning
and minimum viable
product (MVP)
principles to ensure that
the investment in the
product is reasonable in
relation to the
Upside potential.

12. Another important step is to test the viability of the
marketing message and lead generation potential very
early in the process.
Risk of not testing
marketing message
conception design development testing release
x1
x10
x100
x1000

13. You can do this with online
methods such as pay-per-click
and SEO during the R&D part of
the process
(In fact, you may collect some data in your
early marketing tests that help get your
product development on a better path.)

14. The good news is that the valley of death can be a lot more
comfortable if you have a good sense of how the product
will sell based on your early testing.

15. As the book says, Hope is Not a
Strategy
when you ask investors (or your CFO) for money
based on data, not just great intentions, you are
much more likely to get that funding and achieve
a successful launch.

16. Learn More
Visit our website for more
insight about B2B
marketing and sales and a
look at my new eBook
The Essential Guide to
Building Your Lead-to-
Revenue (L2R) Machine

17. About
What We Do
Fusion Marketing Partners (FMP) provides outsourced B2B Marketing consulting
services to help businesses generate more sales revenue from every dollar
invested in people and programs. The result is a framework for generating
awareness, qualified leads and revenue that is repeatable and predictable.
How We Do This
Every business, including its market, offering, organization and capabilities is
unique. We work within your organization, from the CEO to the stakeholders, as
appropriate to create and optimize B2B marketing and sales processes. FMP
operates as an outsourced extension of your business operation. We supplement
your existing staff to build team performance or as your entire marketing
organization, deliver a blended set of skills.
Fusion Marketing Partners – 3730 Sinton Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
719-357-6280 info@FusionMarketingPartners.com