Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Hans Smans
Head of UK Growth Marketing at AND Digital
Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Hans Smans
Head of UK Growth Marketing at AND Digital
About Hans Smans
Hans Smans is the Head of UK Growth Marketing at AND Digital, a position he has held since January 2024. With over 20 years of experience in B2B marketing, Hans brings expertise in developing comprehensive marketing strategies that align closely with sales objectives. His background includes leading marketing efforts at technology companies like Motorola Solutions, where he honed his skills in building strong customer relationships and driving business growth through innovative marketing approaches.
How has your approach to identifying customer opportunities evolved in recent years, particularly in the B2B space?
Our approach to identifying customer opportunities has evolved significantly. While we still use top-of-funnel strategies, our real value now lies in developing a deep understanding of complex customer challenges through multiple in-depth conversations.
We've moved away from offering predefined solutions, instead tailoring our approach to each customer's unique circumstances. Crucially, we've developed the ability to uncover challenges that customers themselves may not be aware of, providing value beyond just responding to stated needs.
In today's B2B market, the key differentiator is how we apply technology to solve specific customer problems, not the technology itself. Our marketing team now focuses on gathering deep insights and matching them with our expertise, rather than simply promoting solutions.
Our job is to look beyond a customer's initial request, understanding underlying challenges and proposing solutions that address root issues. This process has evolved our marketing cycle. It's no longer just about marketing-to-prospect or marketing-to-customer interactions. We now bring in project leads or engineers as part of our marketing efforts, leveraging their detailed knowledge to provide more comprehensive insights. This cross-functional collaboration allows us to address core challenges our customers face, even those they haven't fully articulated, positioning us as strategic partners in the evolving B2B landscape.
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We've moved away from offering predefined solutions, instead tailoring our approach to each customer's unique circumstances. Crucially, we've developed the ability to uncover challenges that customers themselves may not be aware of, providing value beyond just responding to stated needs.
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In a world where technology is increasingly commoditised, our key differentiator lies in building strong, trust-based relationships. This trust isn't just about delivering on promises; it's about establishing personal connections and demonstrating organisational reliability.
How has the relationship between sales and marketing evolved in your organisation, and how does this impact your approach to customer engagement?
The relationship between sales and marketing in our organisation has transformed significantly, with traditional boundaries becoming increasingly blurred. This evolution has positively impacted our customer engagement approach.
We've shifted away from conventional sales tactics, recognising that in today's B2B environment, breaking through preconceptions isn't achieved by traditional sales approaches. Instead, we bring in subject matter experts from outside the sales and marketing teams to build trust and credibility.
In a world where technology is increasingly commoditised, our key differentiator lies in building strong, trust-based relationships. This trust isn't just about delivering on promises; it's about establishing personal connections and demonstrating organisational reliability.
We've embraced a more fluid, collaborative approach to customer engagement. While specific sales skills remain valuable, they now represent only a small portion of the overall process. The majority of our work involves ongoing, shared responsibilities between sales and marketing, acknowledging that customer journeys are no longer linear.
This evolution has led us to view customer engagement as a continuous, collaborative effort, leveraging the strengths of both teams throughout the customer journey.
How do you approach building and maintaining long-term relationships with your customers and prospects?
Our approach to building and maintaining long-term relationships is rooted in the firm belief that most of our business, both now and in the future, will come through relationship management. This is the cornerstone of our success in the B2B world, and we anticipate it becoming even more crucial going forward.
We employ a cyclical and collaborative engagement process that involves both marketing and sales throughout. While marketing handles initial nurturing and sales closes deals, about 80% of the process is a combined effort. Typically, we have 7-8 touchpoints before a meaningful conversation occurs, ensuring a thorough understanding of the prospect's needs.
Our strategy begins with soft engagement through platforms like LinkedIn, sharing content and making connections without an overt sales approach. As relationships develop, we move to more direct conversations, leveraging the personal connections established through events or previous interactions.
Even after a project concludes, we maintain regular touchpoints through careful stakeholder mapping. This continuous nurturing ensures that our relationships extend well beyond individual projects, creating a seamless experience from initial contact through sales engagement and beyond.
By integrating marketing and sales efforts throughout this process, we create a cohesive experience for our customers and prospects, fostering the long-term relationships that are vital to our success in the B2B landscape.
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We meticulously categorise contacts and customise our communications accordingly. For instance, C-suite executives receive different engagements compared to middle management or influencers within the company.
How have you adapted your marketing strategies to engage entire buying groups rather than individual leads, given that buying groups now average 9 to 10 individuals?
Our strategy for engaging buying groups is centred around rigorous segmentation based on personas we've identified. Contrary to involving multiple stakeholders from the same customer in one event or touchpoint, we carefully tailor our approach for each individual within the buying group.
We meticulously categorise contacts and customise our communications accordingly. For instance, C-suite executives receive different engagements compared to middle management or influencers within the company. This segmentation extends to all our marketing efforts, including webinars, physical events, email nurturing, and social media outreach.
Our approach involves aligning our subject matter experts or senior management with their counterparts on the customer side. This process is largely manual and highly individualised. We consider each account separately, mapping out who matches whom, existing relationships, and previous interactions.
By tailoring our messaging and engagement strategies to each stakeholder's specific role and concerns, we ensure that every individual receives information most relevant to their position and decision-making role. While this method demands more effort and resources, it has proven more effective in navigating the complex dynamics of modern B2B buying groups, ultimately leading to stronger, more targeted relationships and better outcomes for both our clients and ourselves.
About AND Digital
AND Digital is a dynamic technology consultancy that accelerates digital capabilities for businesses to drive growth and innovation. By partnering with organisations of all sizes, from startups to global enterprises, AND Digital delivers strategic insights and practical solutions that transform digital performance. With a focus on building digital skills alongside delivering products and services, AND Digital empowers teams and ensures businesses are agile and ready to thrive in a digital-first world.
About 6sense
6sense is on a mission to revolutionise the way B2B organisations create revenue by predicting customers most likely to buy and recommending the best course of action to engage anonymous buying teams. 6sense Revenue AI is the only sales and marketing platform to unlock the ability to create, manage and convert high-quality pipeline to revenue. Customers report 2X increases in average contract value, 4X increases in win rate and 20-40% reduction in time to close deals. Know everything, do anything, with 6sense.
