The Strategic Marketing Framework (For Complex and High Value Sales Pipelines)

Often, consumers make impulsive purchases based on one-time campaigns or trends. A clever tagline or promotional deal can sway a short-cycle sale; however, high-value buyers don’t act like consumers. They have long cycles decided over time, shaped over time by trust, perceived lasting value and consensus.

If a consumer gets it wrong, they can return or make another low-risk decision next week. With high-value buyers, buying is less an action than a process that involves multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and a high cost of getting it wrong.

So how, in a saturated environment, can you convert high-value sales and long cycles?

The Solution isn’t More Content or More Leads. It’s Alignment.

The problem arises when marketing isn’t aligned. Brand is treated as awareness, demand is regarded as lead volume, and sales enablement is left as an afterthought. While each step may be optimised separately, it creates a fragmented consumer journey, where each touchpoint leads the buyer down a different path.

As a buyer, you’re confused.

As a brand, your long cycle has slipped through.

Brand, demand and sales enablement need to align from the beginning, especially in high-consideration purchases, where marketing’s job is orchestration. By aligning each discipline, your marketing can be used as a force enabling trust, clarity and decision-making.

Introducing Our 6-step Framework, Your New Marketing Bestie

This proven strategic framework helps shorten sales cycles and increase pipeline value. The goal is to increase the quality of valuable, long-cycle opportunities, not just the quantity of leads.

1.      Diagnosis. The Baseline

To clear the fog, analysing the market, competitor landscape, and consumer behaviour will allow you to draw a clear picture. Honesty is important. By understanding your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks, you can put your best foot forward, rather than stepping into the unknown.

2.      Objectives. Measurable Outcomes

By setting clear and trackable KPIs with timelines and data points, you can align sales with marketing. Without clear goals, you have no clear direction, which is where you can easily get lost. Setting goals early is setting yourself up for success.

3.      Strategy. Route to Market

A well-thought-out business strategy is direction. Identify high-value segments, ensure your value proposition is distinctive and prioritise channels. Setting a clear strategy for yourself will make it clear for customers as well. There is nothing worse than a brand that doesn’t know its place, who they are or why they’re there.

4.      Objectives. Stakeholders and Touchpoints

Every channel must work as a coordinated system, rather than singular posts or side-tracked campaigns. Paid, owned, earned, sales outreach, and events – everything must align and tell the same narrative, or you’re essentially telling 5 separate stories that will only confuse the buyer’s journey.

Building integrated channel plans and content calendars will make sure each channel is building on the other, not repeating or contradicting. It doesn’t stop there; content must be tailored to multiple decision makers and the complex nurture journeys, not generic ‘one-size-fits-all’, or there will be no consensus.

5.      Action. Consistent Implementation

The alignment between sales and marketing doesn’t happen through strategy alone. It requires disciplined execution over time. Clarify roles and responsibilities, budget management and monitor timelines to achieve consistency, which is where the magic will happen.

Sales and marketing will stop reacting to each other and start operating as one system.

6.      Optimise. Prove and Improve

Performance dashboards, reports, and insights allow you to continually test and learn.

Are you meeting your objectives and KPIs? If not, adapt and grow from what you’ve learnt. That’s the beauty of long-cycle sales, there is the time to readjust, unlike in short cycles, where you either grab them or you don’t.

Marketing Performance + Creative = Results

Aligned marketing and creative is the only way to achieve sustainable results. Strategy, objectives, measurement and optimisation are all about discipline. Creative storytelling, visibility, perception and trust are about connecting brands with leads.

Performance without creativity is effective, but invisible. Creative without performance is memorable but unscalable. When aligned, there is accountability and direction.

Want to optimise your long-cycles and add value to sales pipelines? Get in touch, and pop in for a cuppa.

You can download our Strategic Marketing Framework PDF to learn how to shorten sales cycles.