Three Basic Questions of Your Marketing Strategy (2024)

Finding answers to the following three questions: "why, how and what?" is crucial for B2B marketers and sales representatives, especially when they want to meet the principles of the so-called account-based marketing.

The writer Simon Sinek introduced a model called The Golden Circle at the TED Talk conference held in 2009. His presentation entitled "Start With Why" was focused on the three following questions: why, how and what.

Why?

In his lecture, Sinek explains, "Very few organizations know why they do what they do. And by "why" I don't mean "to make a profit". That's a result. I ask them: "What's your purpose?" Very few B2B professionals can answer the question: "Why does your company exist?"

How?

Only some B2B companies understand how they managed to attract their customers, and even fewer managed to formulate their corporate values by developing several effective ways of selling their products to groups of selected customers based on sales data.

What?

Every B2B company knows what they do. They know their mission as well as the product or service they offer, the know the price charged to the customers and with whom they do business. The question "what" is, therefore, crucial as it is a matter of life and death.

Get eWay-CRMThe Best CRM for Outlook

B2B marketing based on three questions

The three fundamental questions mentioned above can be easily applied to the role of a B2B buyer and extended into the overall customer experience. The methods traditionally used by companies to interact with their potential customers follow the same path.

Therefore, every marketing team starts a presentation by explaining to their prospects what and how their company does. If they are lucky enough, potential clients listen to them and pay attention to the service or product the sales team is offering.

However, this model is not the best one, because the sales representatives should put their customer first and start the presentation with the question โ€œwhy?โ€. Potential clients need to know why the company exists and what is the product or service it offers.

Of course, you have to find the customers that care about your offer. Marketers must support salespeople and focus on specific needs and problems of potential customers. As a solution, they offer a companyโ€™s product or service. Therefore, in the interest of successful B2B marketing, business teams should primarily focus on finding answers to the question โ€œwhyโ€.

What it is not the most important question

If we follow Sinekโ€™s model, we can say that most companies know why they exist: to service the companies that are their best customers. If we add another layer, companies should also know who they want to target.

Although most B2B marketers are perfectly aware of these facts, most of them do very poor job and focus only on the most promising customers. Historically, marketers bombarded new clients with emails and repeated phone calls.

Unfortunately, B2B marketers used these methods to find out the answer to โ€œwhatโ€, instead of focusing on โ€œwhyโ€ and โ€œwhoโ€. Nowadays, executive managers expect high profits on a shoestring budget and, therefore, no one can throw money out of the window and be unsuccessful.

Marketers must begin to define the personality profile of their ideal customers clearly. And create offers that target specific companies and employees. They must address them, both online and offline, and use such a language and words they understand. Your customers want to be addressed in this way, and it is the best approach to achieve perfect results.

Letโ€™s give the word to ABM

Sinekโ€™s model of the The Golden Circle can be perfectly applied to the concept of account-based marketing. Start with selecting your best customers. It might seem like a tricky task, but it is not a brain teaser as you work with your own company data.

If you are not a brand-new company, which was launched last week from scratch, you have your CRM system loaded with data about your clients. Just have a look at the list of your customers and find your VIP customers and clients who bring you the most money. Then ask yourself three Golden Circle questions:

  • Why did they decide to do business with you?
  • Are they successful as customers?
  • What defines these companies in terms of their area of industry, market share, number of employees and sales achieved?
  • Who is the end user, what is his position and responsibilities?

Based on answers to these questions, you select the companies that meet the same criteria. These companies and their employees become the target of your successful B2B marketing efforts.

Why, how and what in everyday life

Once you learn to use Sinek's approach, you realize that you can apply it to your everyday entrepreneur life. In order to define new goals and overcome the existing ones, it is necessary to know the answer to "why".

Why do you do business in your field, why do you take specific business steps, and why do your customers trust you? Once you realize that you are not able to find answers to one of these questions, you are in a vicious circle.

At the same time, you have to know how your customers respond to this question: Why do they buy your products and use your services? Do you know it? (Btw. do you know what is a buyer persona?) And do you suppose that you know it or did you conduct really relevant research? Without a thorough understanding of your target audience, it will be very difficult for you to innovate and satisfy the needs of your customers. And as we know, who does not innovate is doomed to failure.

Three Basic Questions of Your Marketing Strategy (2024)

FAQs

Three Basic Questions of Your Marketing Strategy? โ€บ

Why do you do business in your field, why do you take specific business steps, and why do your customers trust you? Once you realize that you are not able to find answers to one of these questions, you are in a vicious circle.

What are the three basic elements of an effective marketing strategy? โ€บ

For any marketing activity to be successful, you need to think about these three elements before you start doing your marketing. If you don't, any time, money and effort you expend is likely to be wasted. What are these three vital elements? They are PLANNING, INTEGRATION and CONSISTENCY.

What are 3 keys points to an effective marketing plan? โ€บ

A 3 Point Marketing Strategy is a comprehensive approach that focuses on three key areas: identifying the target audience, setting clear marketing goals, and choosing the right marketing channels. By addressing these three pillars, businesses can create a holistic and effective marketing plan.

What are the 3 most important aspects of successful marketing? โ€บ

There are three main steps in the marketing and selling process. They include (1) Awareness, (2) Evaluation, and (3) Decision. How you approach these steps can have a big impact on your success.

What is the 3 3 3 rule in marketing? โ€บ

The 3-3-3 rule is a guideline that suggests breaking down your marketing message into three parts, each lasting ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŽ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ, respectively. This rule acknowledges the short attention spans of today's consumers and aims to deliver concise, impactful content across various timeframes.

What are three major strategies? โ€บ

Corporate strategy focuses on the organization as a whole, while business unit strategy focuses on an individual business unit or market. Finally, team strategy identifies how a team will help the organization to meet its overall goals and objectives.

What are the three 3 steps in the process of the strategy? โ€บ

Successful strategic management involves three steps: Planning, Execution and Monitoring Developments & Progress. With strategic management, actions speak louder than words. Even effective strategic planning that yields the appropriate decisions can come up short on delivering performance improvements.

What are the 3 P's of successful business? โ€บ

If you want your business to succeed, you absolutely must focus on three key variables: people, process, and product. The three Ps, as they're often called, provide the highest return for your efforts because they act as the cornerstone for everything your business does.

What are the 4 core marketing strategies? โ€บ

Many believe there are four core marketing strategies:
  • Market Penetration.
  • Market Development.
  • Product Development.
  • Diversification.

What are the five 5 common marketing strategies? โ€บ

Five of the most common marketing goals are:
  • Generating leads.
  • Building brand awareness.
  • Increasing website traffic.
  • Converting leads into customers.
  • Developing customer loyalty.

What are the 5 key marketing strategies? โ€บ

The 5 P's of marketing โ€“ Product, Price, Promotion, Place, and People โ€“ are a framework that helps guide marketing strategies and keep marketers focused on the right things.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Kareem Mueller DO

Last Updated:

Views: 5735

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (46 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Kareem Mueller DO

Birthday: 1997-01-04

Address: Apt. 156 12935 Runolfsdottir Mission, Greenfort, MN 74384-6749

Phone: +16704982844747

Job: Corporate Administration Planner

Hobby: Mountain biking, Jewelry making, Stone skipping, Lacemaking, Knife making, Scrapbooking, Letterboxing

Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.