Smarketing is when sales and marketing departments work together harmoniously. Companies that implement a smarketing approach achieve 400% higher revenue growth than companies that do not. Critical for B2B, the Smarketing concept was popularized by Hubspot. This presentation was created by Jay Baer and originally delivered for the Cisco 2016 Partner Summit. B2B marketers and B2B sales people should find this information of interest.

1. CAN YOU SAY
“SMARKETING”?
SALES AND MARKETING COOPERATION
IS POWERFUL AND DOABLE

3. CAN YOU SAY “SMARKETING”?
If you were an alien and observed how sales and marketing teams are structured today, you’d say:

4. CAN YOU SAY “SMARKETING”?
WTF?

5. SALES AND MARKETING SING THE SAME SONG, DIFFERENT WAYS
➤They aren’t so different, but they are different enough
that a lot gets lots in translation
➤They don’t really understand each other but they are
forced to work together day-to-day like an arrange
marriage, with expense reports
➤They sing the same song in different ways
➤Here’s how sales sings the song: straightforward, linear,
classic:

6. SALES AND MARKETING SING THE SAME SONG, DIFFERENT WAYS
➤And here’s how marketing sings the same
song: experimental, buzz-worthy, and by
wasting money on costumes:

7. A LACK OF
SHARED UNDERSTANDING
BREEDS CONTEMPT

8. “87% of the terms sales and
marketing use to describe each
other are negative.
-Corporate Executive Board

9. WHAT IF SALES AND MARKETING WERE ON THE SAME PAGE?

10. THIS IS “SMARKETING”

11. AND SMARKETING PAYS…

12. “Aligned sales and marketing
teams show 400% higher annual
revenue growth compared to
teams that are not aligned
(20% vs. 4%).
-Aberdeen Group

13. THE 5 CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF
SUCCESSFUL SMARKETING

14. DEVELOP MUTUAL
UNDERSTANDING
1

15. DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 1:1
➤Lunch Buddies (pair up sales and marketing for
monthly 1:1 lunches)
➤Marketing Shadow Day (sales people sit with
marketers for a day, at their desks)
➤Sales Ride Alongs (marketers go to sales
appointments or listen in on sales calls)

16. DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
➤Cross-functional experience is key. The best
marketers have also been in sales.

17. DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

18. DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN GROUPS
➤Weekly Smarketing meetings to check progress
and find problems
➤Monthly executive sessions with sales and
marketing leadership

19. CAN YOU DO THIS?

20. OF COURSE YOU CAN

21. SHARE STRATEGY,
METRICS
AND REPORTING
2

22. SHARED STRATEGY
➤Agree on target audiences and personas
➤Agree on funnel steps
and stages
➤Agree on handoff processes

23. SHARED DEFINITIONS
➤What is a “lead”
➤What is a “good” lead?
➤What is a “qualified” lead?
➤If there is a zebra in your office but one team
insists on calling it a “striped horse” you’re
eventually going to have issues

24. “45% of businesses have a
company-wide definition of a
sales-ready lead.
-MarketingSherpa

25. SHARED REPORTING
➤Use the same system
➤Does marketing know what happens to leads?
➤Are duplicate leads flagged and discussed?
➤Can marketing determine revenue at the specific
program level? If you can’t the “I know 50% of my
marketing is wasted, but I don’t know which half”
will come true

26. COMMIT TO
MUTUAL
ACCOUNTABILITY
3

27. MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY
➤Sales has to stop blaming marketing for
lead quality
➤Marketing has to stop blaming sales for
inability to close leads

28. MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: HOW TO
➤First, determine the activities and ratios
necessary to hit company-wide objectives:
➤Leads > Qualified Leads > Lead Conversion
Rate > Average Revenue Per New Customer
+ Contingency = Total Leads Necessary to
Hit Objectives

29. MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY HOW TO:
➤Next, commit in writing to how your team will
contribute to this formula:
➤“Marketing will deliver 75 qualified leads per month,
per sales person”
➤“Sales will follow up with ALL new leads within 4
hours, and will make 5 closing attempts within 21
days of lead receipt”

30. EMBRACE
NEW ROLES
4

31. SELF-SERVE INFORMATION
➤Customers are always online, and have more
information than ever at their fingertips
➤Zero Moment of Truth means customers need
more information pre-purchase
➤Help your leads find you, instead of you finding
the leads

32. WHEN THEY’RE READY, THEY’RE READY
Average customer reads
105 pages before contacting
the company

33. SELF-SERVE INFORMATION (WILL INCREASE OVER TIME)
➤Old marketing works less
➤Content marketing works more
➤Marketing is educating early-funnel customers
in a way that used to be sales’ responsibility

34. “I started my career as a sales guy in the
nineties, when the funnel was controlled by
the sales rep, who had all the information
the prospect wanted, including pricing and
discount options. Now 90 percent of it has
swung to marketing. The game has changed
a lot.
-Brian Halligan, Hubspot

35. CUSTOMERS KNOW THE BASICS (AND THEN SOME)
➤There are countless sources of information
prospects can use to research purchases:
➤Company-created content
➤Third-party content
➤Ratings and reviews
➤Even customer service and support content on
forums and beyond

36. WITH THIS MUCH FREE INFO
AVAILABLE, WHY FILL OUT A
LEAD FORM?

37. YOU DON’T FILL OUT A LEAD FORM UNTIL
YOU ARE GOOD AND READY, RIGHT?

38. SO WHY DO WE TRY TO CONVINCE
OUR PROSPECTS TO BECOME A
LEAD AT THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL?

39. RELATIONSHIPS ARE CREATED
WITH INFORMATION FIRST AND
PEOPLE SECOND

40. STOP GATING CONTENT AT THE FRONT,
AND INSTEAD ASK FOR PROSPECT
INFORMATION AFTERWARDS, IN
EXCHANGE FOR RECOMMENDED
NEXT-BEST CONTENT

41. Don’t gate content here
Gate content here

42. GATING AT THE END, NOT THE
BEGINNING, REDUCES TOTAL
LEADS WHILE INCREASING
AVERAGE LEAD QUALITY

43. SALES HAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT
PROSPECTS ARE MORE EDUCATED, SO
WHEN SOMEONE IS READY TO BECOME
A LEAD,
SALES MUST FOLLOW UP FASTER

44. SALES’ JOB SHOULD BE EASIER WITH MORE EDUCATED PROSPECTS
Sales’ role now
Sales’ role before

45. BUT SALES ALSO HAS TO
HELP MOVE PROSPECTS
THROUGH THE FUNNEL IN NEW WAYS

46. SOCIAL INTERACTIONS FROM
SALES CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE
THAN CAMPAIGN NURTURING
FROM MARKETING

47. “When a lead is developed as a
trusted relationship of a
salesperson in social media, that
lead is 7 times more likely
to close.
-IBM

48. MARKETING MUST
EMPOWER AND ENABLE
SOCIAL SELLING

49. MARKETING MUST POWER AND ENABLE SOCIAL SELLING
➤Training and ongoing training
➤Software ID and rollout
➤Ad hoc counsel and support = a marketing-led
“social media help desk”

50. RELY ON DATA
NOT ANECDOTES
5

51. ANECDOTES DESCRIBE ONE
EXPERIENCE, NOT NECESSARILY A
PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR

52. WHEN SOMEONE USES AN
ANECDOTE TO TRY TO ARGUE FOR
AN ACTION OR INACTION, SAY THIS:

53. “That’s an interesting story. How
often does it occur?

54. SMARKETING IS WORTH IT,
BUT IT AIN’T EASY

55. YOU HAVE TO WEAR THE “GET
ALONG SHIRT” TO MAKE
SMARKETING WORK

56. HAPPY

57. CURIOUS

58. CATATONIC

59. PSYCHOTIC

60. CHOKED

62. IF YOU LEAD THE SMARKETING
INITIATIVE AT YOUR COMPANY YOU’LL
FIND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE: HAPPY,
CURIOUS, CATATONIC, PSYCHOTIC,
AND THOSE THAT WANT TO CHOKE YOU

63. BUT NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO
MAKE SMARKETING WORK:

64. 1.DEVELOP MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
2.SHARE STRATEGY, METRICS, AND
REPORTING
3.COMMIT TO MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY
4.EMBRACE NEW ROLES
5.RELY ON DATA, NOT ANECDOTES

65. MARKETING HAS TO ACT
MORE LIKE SALES

66. SALES HAS TO ACT
MORE LIKE MARKETING

67. TOGETHER,
EVERYONE WINS

68. THAT’S THE POWER OF SMARKETING

69. BIG THANKS TO MY FRIENDS AT HUBSPOT FOR POPULARIZING THE SMARKETING CONCEPT, AND CREATING A LOT OF
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP THAT INFORMED THIS PRESENTATION