Seeking the Overlap - For Marketers
Last week on the Crazy, STUPID Marketing show, panelist Baily Hancock introduced the concept of Seeking the Overlap; the idea of which is to:
BE Yourself, and
find what you have in common with other people.
What you have in common, is the overlap.
And it made me think about how we could use that strategy in Marketing; and honestly, I don't think enough Marketing Programs - especially B2B ones - are seeking it.
Otherwise, we'd have a heck of a lot more businesses generating revenue from Marketing.
So, let's go on an adventure, shall we? And let's let the 5 W's guide our way 😉
WHO are we seeking to overlap with?
Well, the simple answer to that is, "our ideal customers". But a challenge that often comes up in that arena is that you've chosen your ICP NOT based on potential overlap, but on some other criteria; ie. who has budget for that, an age demographic, a geographical location.
So, what if we rewind a bit, and FIRST look at ourselves.
Why did we start this business?
What makes us unique?
How do we solve the problem differently than our competitors?
Are we doing what only WE can do because of our values, goals and interests?
Once we have a good idea of who WE are, then we can go our and find OTHER Who's.
It's not about finding something in common with ALL the Who's (down in Whoville).
It's about seeking the overlap with YOUR Who's.
WHAT can we overlap on?
I mean, the simple answer to this is...ANYTHING. I've done business with people because we have one single contact in common. I've built relationships with people on JUST the books we read. I once had a client who I'm pretty sure chose me because we both love Lego.
And while I encourage Marketers to share as much as they're comfortable from a personal perspective while building relationships with customers, there really should be SOMETHING that you can align on that is business related.
After all, if someone doesn't have a need for new shoes, I probably won't be able to sell them any shoes.
But at the end of the day, this isn't about YOUR product. It's about a customer NEED.
And it could be as simple as being the FIRST provider who actually asked me WHY my current CRM isn't working for me. If I value SUPPORT, and you demonstrate it to me, then we've found some overlap.
Again, in the above example, this isn't about the client needing a CRM. Or you convincing them that they do. Or educating them on WHY they need one. It's a DEMONSTRATION of a value that you have. One you share with someone else.
And I'll tell you, even if THAT person doesn't buy from you, you've created a positive brand experience in the market that they aren't going to forget. And you've just created a potential Brand Advocate 💖
WHEN in the funnel should I focus on overlap?
Oh, Marketer LOVE their funnel imagery, as well as sticking specific activities into a specific area of the funnel. But when it comes to "seeking the overlap" there's opportunity to do that THROUGHOUT the funnel.
When we're talking about Brand Awareness, the EASIEST way to create a memorable brand experience for someone is within the overlap. After all, we have no idea if that person has any need at all for our product yet.
And how about in consideration? We all know people are assessing different options right? Who are you more likely to choose? Someone you have something in common with who knows how to fix your problem? Or someone you DON'T have any thing in common with you can fix the same problem?
From a client decision-making point of view, if you don't have anything in common with any of the vendors, likely your decision is going to come down to price.
But if one vendor demonstrates aligned values through the "sales" process, how much more likely are YOU to choose them?
Your clients are making decisions the SAME way.
And if you don't believe that's true, please go back to the WHY section 😉
WHERE can I create overlap?
Anywhere. And everywhere. If the intention is there.
Again, since the opportunity exists to create overlap on pretty much ANY of your values, anywhere you BRING those values is a place where overlap can exist.
This includes in both digital AND in-person interactions.
Now, as Marketers, I feel like we are living more and more in the digital arena; unless your business continues to be Tradeshow heavy. But even then, how are invites going out? Social media? Email? Digital channels are just part of the deal now.
But SO many B2B companies are using their digital efforts like billboards; which is why people scroll right by.
So, let's take the amount of time your Marketing Coordinator spends creating digital ads, monitoring and tracking those ads, posting on social media, writing blog posts, engaging on other people's content and re-assign all THAT time into "seeking the overlap"?
How might that make your social media efforts look (and FEEL) different?
How might your digital ads stand out more?
How much time could be SAVED when efforts that DON'T deliver on that are removed?
All interesting questions to ponder 😉
WHY bother seeking the overlap?
And so we come to it...the all important WHY.
And this one can only be answered by you.
Why do YOU feel like it makes sense to seek the overlap?
I mean, after all, nothing you read on the internet is telling you that you HAVE to do something.
It's creating an opportunity.
A new option.
Which either feels RIGHT or WRONG to you.
There isn't one right way to do ANYTHING in this world.
And when you pay attention to what FEELS right to you, THOSE are the directions in which you'll find YOUR answers.
I believe it makes sense to seek the overlap.
I do it on the daily. And it creates nothing but opportunity for me.
But that might not be true for you.
But if it DOES feel true to you, and you HAVEN'T explored it yet, keep reading 🎉
Bonus: HOW we can effectively (and efficiently) seek the overlap
You know I can't do the 5 W's without adding in the How, so here we go!
We don't want to be blindly digging for gold here, people.
There are three very important mindsets that make seeking the overlap possible:
Curiosity - what percentage of their day are your marketers showing up in Curiosity mode? According to ChatGPT, on average, an internal marketer will spend 10-30% in a curious mindset. But in what ACTIVITIES is that mindset coming through? While it might be common in data analysis, for example, how common is it in content creation?
Collaboration - what percentage of their day are your marketers showing up in Collaborative efforts? Again, according to ChatGPT, this is more common than Curiosity, due to the cross-functional nature of Marketing; perhaps 30-50% of their day. But REAL Collaboration is about MORE than taking orders from a Marketing Leader or a Salesperson. It's about being collaborative with the people in which you're seeking the overlap, AKA, your potential customers.
Authenticity - what percentage of their day are your marketers being their Authentic selves? Authenticity plays a pivotal role in enabling both collaboration and curiosity in your team. By creating an environment where individuals feel empowered to contribute genuinely, go deep easily and explore openly, their ability to create trust increases. Which we all know is critical to earning a stand-out brand reputation.
But there is one tricky bit to enabling curiosity, collaboration and authenticity within YOUR Marketing Team...
Your team is DIFFERENT than any other team.
Which means, the next layer of HOW is about how you enable these things in YOUR team.
After all, there's not ONE way to do that.
There's YOUR way to do that.
And if you're interested in exploring THAT...
Then we should probably have a conversation 😊
It's as easy as booking a Discovery Call today.
