The Articulate Collective

On a hot summer day in the city, Batman and Superman, momentarily setting aside their heroic duties, find themselves in a rare moment of relaxation to ponder the trajectory of their fledgling start-up. Questioning the traditional growth playbook, particularly in terms of marketing, they sense the moment is ripe for disruption, and it goes something like this: SUPERMAN: [with urgency] We MUST follow the standard playbook! Take a linear path towards growth and delay strategic marketing until we are ready to scale! BATMAN: [in a deep, gruff voice] But the game has changed old chum. Money is no longer free and investors are looking for sustainable profitability, not just hyper-growth. We need to grow from robust foundations or we'll never last! SUPERMAN: [inspired] Truth, justice, and the American way! As disruptors, our job is to break the mold! Blaze a new trail! But Great Krypton, with marketing too!? BATMAN: [enthusiastically] Why not! But it would mean abandoning the standard playbook, and with it, the founder-led, product-led, sales-led formula. And... SUPERMAN: [interrupting excitedly] And laying the foundations for marketing-enabled growth much earlier?! BATMAN: [agitated] Holy Houdini you learn fast! SUPERMAN: But we don’t have the budget to hire someone to help with that right now! Maybe we should wait until we’re ready to scale! BATMAN: If we do that, we'll be building brand foundations while trying to implement performance marketing tactics at the same time! That sounds like trying to fly while sewing your own cape! SUPERMAN: [pensively] True. Startups typically delay investing in strategic marketing until it’s time to scale, then rush to hire a senior marketing team expecting them to implement a full strategy overnight and simultaneously drive growth! By Roa! That approach is clearly flawed! BATMAN: [with urgency] If we're going to be effective long-term, we need to secure those foundations earlier than we thought! We’ll need to act quickly! SUPERMAN: [optimistically] There’s always a way! BATMAN: [intrigued] Maybe we should hire a part-time CMO? An extension of our team that provides strategic leadership and support without the long-term commitment or full-time costs. SUPERMAN: [slightly panicked] We’ll need someone faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! BATMAN: [with a smirk] No, Clark. We just need someone who’s hyper-focused on deliverables. Someone who can capture our vision and mission, define a cohesive brand strategy, establish solid messaging and positioning, and help boost our sales team’s effectiveness—just like an experienced fractional chief marketing officer! SUPERMAN: I sure hope we find someone “cap-able.”  BATMAN: Hey, leave the jokes to me! SUPERMAN: Up, up and away! #disruption #startup #playbook #fractional #marketing

People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it, right? Well, not quite. People don’t buy why YOU do it. They buy, or buy into, what matters to them or their world. Focusing on why you do or sell something could encourage narcissism where actually, customer relevance is critical. Your Why needs to answer the “why should I care?”, or “what’s in it for me?” questions shaping every audience interaction in order to drive deep, value based engagement. It's a fine line, the veil between what and why, but getting the focus right makes such a difference to how your marketing and communications resonate. If you not quite sure, think of it in terms of a BECAUSE when in search of a Why. This ensures that a clear use case underpins your purpose and anchors your brand communications and storytelling in truth, not a mass of fluff and buzzwords Your Why might even be more usefully expressed as a Why not? If disruption or restless curiosity is at the heart of your brand 🤔 🏂 🙃 And if you’ve got something really bold and distinctive, why not reach for a WOW! To really ensure the world sits up and takes notice? In reality, each element plays its part if your story is to stand up as well as stand out. The differentiating factor is when to emphasize what and how these elements line up. Most B2B brands tell their stories the wrong way round, leading with all the details and features that are dear to them (what vs why), but which leave audiences uninspired and unconvinced. For more musings on the art and science to both impactful and sustainable brand marketing, check out our latest blog on The Articulate Collective. Link below 👇 #startwithwhy #storytelling #brandmarketing #contentmarketing Image credit: Robert Mighall, PhD.

I was recently asked what, from a marketing/sales perspective, the ideal tech/tool mix might look like for a high-growth B2B/C startup or SME, and although I was a little put on the spot with the question (because the use-cases are diverse and the list long), after taking a moment to capture my thoughts, below is what my mostly comprehensive answer would be. What am I missing? Haven't used but should be looking at? Gong or Avoma: for sales meetings Fathom: for any other meetings - external/internal monday.com: project management GSuite: everything ;)) HubSpot: email marketing & CRM WordPress: web hosting - although some swear by Webflow Slack: internal and external team communications Sprinklr: social media / CX management Seismic: good for SMEs and LEs alike. Focused on improving alignment between marketing and sales (YES, there's a tool for this!!!) by helping sales teams create, manage, and distribute content (i.e. right message + right time = more closed deals) Riverside.fm: podcasting PicMonkey: easy to use design software - didn't make me want to pull my hair out like Canva did. Sorry, not sorry Canva. DeepL: best translation site Claude.ai by Anthropic: does a better job IMO at producing natural, genuine, language content. Also great for Unsplash: amazing selection of royalty free images (bought several years ago by iStock) LinkedIn: marketing YouTube: Video repository Uberall: local SEO - great for driving foot traffic into physical stores BrightEdge or Semrush or Conductor or Screaming Frog: technical SEO tools for improving website health, SEO performance, and search engine visibility - good for SMEs and LEs alike. Zendesk: customer service software and suite of tools known for its help desk and ticketing system, which allows businesses to manage customer inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and track support requests through mail, live chat, social media, and phone. Choice of CRM: really depends on the size of the company, but for startups and SMEs, I would consider the following: Copper: strong integration with GSuite Riva International, Inc.: focused on syncing data between different CRMs and email platforms like Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace. Data consistency is the name of their game :) Salesloft: very user-friendly and customizable - good for small teams, offers integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot. Zoho: affordable, scalable, and with a ton of possible integrations. They have a pretty significant ecosystem of other apps for accounting, HR, project management, and marketing, which lends itself nicely toward centralized operations, but I'm not familiar with those tools. Yes, that's me (having not properly showered in three days) putting some ideas down on a camping trip. Nothing like the trees for some inspiration!! 🌲 🌲 🌲 🤣

So, you've launched a startup with funding that's tighter than your favourite pair of jeans? Welcome to the race against time. When every choice matters, every deal and discussion is paramount, you need to make all resources stretch - financial and human. I get it. Back to the chicken or the egg analogy (sorry, but it works) 🐔 So you understand that marketing leadership and know-how are essentials for solidifying your go-to-market strategy, growing your business and becoming a standout brand. But it's tough to justify investing in a full-time CMO or marketing team when immediate results from product development or sales seem more pressing. I get it, quick wins matter, but what if there was a way to score quick wins while simultaneously laying the groundwork for sustainable success? This is where fractional marketing leaders come in. These flexible friends offer the best of both worlds - top-notch strategy and execution without the full-time price tag or commitment. No, it's not too good to be true. This is the new reality of breaking free from a traditional, locked-in resource model. Freedom to leverage expertise as needed. Period. No bells and whistles, no fluff. Just focus and results. If you're curious how part-time pros could give your startup a full-time boost, I'm always happy to chat, bounce around some ideas and explore how this model could be a good fit. No pressure, just straight talk about smart ways to strengthen your brand and accelerate your growth without breaking the bank or excessively tapping an already lean resource team. Don't be shy, reach out. I might bark but I promise not to bite 🐩 https://lnkd.in/eNyetyHN

Insights from the Fractional Vault: Volume 1, Issue 1 The chicken or the egg? 🐔 🥚 Product-market fit or message-market fit? What about both? Typically early-stage companies focus the former, which makes sense if you had to choose. But what if we didn't have to choose? Why do we choose? 🤔 It seems there's a common belief that marketing doesn't play an important role in the early days of product alignment, that it's a job for later, once the product fit and value has been established. I get it. It's linear. We like phased approaches. However, businesses that take the time to define message-market fit alongside product-market fit gain valuable insights that can significantly impact their go-to-market strategy. Establishing an informed and considered message has the power to profoundly influence strategic direction while serving as a reliable guide for refining product features and market positioning. Takeaway? You don't have to determine product-market fit in the dark. Early messaging-market alignment validates that your product’s features and benefits are perceived as valuable, helps inform market strategy, and deepens your understanding of customer segments, all of which are essential for achieving product-market fit. Cherry on the cake? 🍒 🎂 When early alignment between marketing and product is established, businesses benefit from an important bidirectional relationship that keeps on giving and growing, setting you up for earlier, more sustainable success from the very beginning.