Fostering genuine connections and mastering effective communication are pivotal for success in business, generally, and in marketing, particularly. This episode features Jason Harris, a co-founder and the CEO of the creative agency Mechanism.
Effective Communication
Known for his work at Mekanism and for his thought leadership in advertising and marketing, Jason, delves into the art of effective communication in B2B marketing. His approach, dubbed "Soul plus science," combines creativity with performance to forge meaningful connections and drive results.
The War for Attention
In an era where attention spans are increasingly fleeting, Jason highlights the challenge of capturing and retaining attention in B2B marketing. The key, he suggests, is simplicity and clarity in communication. By distilling messages to their essence, marketers can cut through the noise and engage their audiences more effectively.
This approach requires patience and persistence: Building impactful connections doesn't happen overnight.
Conversation Intelligence
The episode also explores the role of conversation intelligence in enhancing B2B marketing. With AI-driven insights, marketers can better understand and respond to customer needs, tailoring their communication for maximum impact.
The technology offers a competitive edge, enabling marketers to harness data for more personalized and effective interactions.
* * *
Check out the video for more details, and the full podcast (link below the video) for the entire insightful conversation.
Don't miss future episodes: Subscribe to the Marketing Smarts Live Show on YouTube. And to catch up on all previous episodes, check out the full playlist on YouTube.
Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links
Episode No. 70
- Live date: February 23, 2024
- Episode link: youtube.com/watch?v=idBUxliCjwo
- Original podcast episode: Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection: Jason Harris on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]
Guest's social media profiles:
- Twitter/X: @jason_harris
- LinkedIn: Jason Harris
MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:
- Creating Deal-Closing Content: The Pivotal Role of Conversation Intelligence
- Beyond the Elevator Pitch: A High-Credibility Conversation
"In B2B News" article referenced in the show:
"From the #mpb2b Community" links referenced in the show:
Transcript: Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection, With Jason Harris
Hello to all my Marketing Smarts Live viewers today. I'm super excited to bring you yet another great episode of the Marketing Smarts Live show.
This week's topic is all about Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection.
So, if you're ready to get your learn on, buckle up and let's get ready to rock and roll.
Hey, I'm your boy George B. Thomas, speaker, trainer, catalyst, and host of this here show, the Marketing Smarts Live show, as well as the Marketing Smarts podcast found on your favorite podcast app.
Our guest clips today are brought to you by none other than Jason Harris.
Jason Harris is co-founder and CEO of award-winning creative advertising agency Mekanism, co-founder of the Creative Alliance, author of national bestseller The Soulful Art of Persuasion, and host of The Soul & Science Podcast.
Jason works closely with brands through a blend of creativity and performance, calling the approach Soul + Science.
Under his leadership, Mekanism was named Independent Agency of the Year by The Drumn and was ranked by the Effie Index as a top 10 Most Effective Independent Agency in the United States. Mekanism has also been named to Ad Age's Agency A-list and twice to their Best Places to Work. Jason's methods are studied in cases at Harvard Business School.
Now, remember the clips of Jason Harris today are pulled from the full Marketing Smarts podcast episode, and if you want to listen to the full interview with Jason Harris and myself, make sure to tune into the Marketing Smarts podcast, link to the full show will be in the description below after the live show ends.
Now, in this episode, again, I'm talking with Jason Harris about Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection.
In this clip, I asked Jason what tips, tricks, or techniques we could use or pay attention to when leveraging Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection ideas for a B2B business.
Jason: I have a specific technique that I do, I call it Connect Four. That came to mind because of your conversation idea. Yes, of course, a lot of the work happens online. You're sending a template from one computer to another. That's part of it, too. But there is the conversation and there is the relationship piece of it.
When I think of connect four, it's a bit broader than a template. I do this four days a week, Monday through Thursday. In my calendar, I schedule 25 minutes a day, 25-minute blocks, where I will reach out to a lapsed mentor, adviser, friend, or someone I did business with in the past, and I will reestablish that connection. I do four people a week. You have to schedule it, though. It's just like anything in your life, if it's not scheduled, you won't get to it. You have to block it out on your calendar. Make a list on Sunday night or Monday morning of who you're going to talk to and reconnect with that week, and you do four people a week during the work week. You don't do it on Friday because you're ready to call it by Friday.
Re-establishing those connections and those conversations is really important. One way to do that is to think about something you learned about that person, they love Marvel, or they love Disney, or they love cooking. You can connect with them without trying to close a sale, you're connecting with them on a human relationship level. You would be blown away when you start doing this how many people you have in your network that you have let that relationship drop to zero. When you let a relationship drop to zero, over time it's just dust. You have to keep a thriving network, which will lead to prosperous growth. Scheduling it and doing it in these blocks really helps, it makes you concentrate and focus on it.
Do you have a plan?
Do you have things scheduled in your calendar?
Are you keeping connections alive and reestablishing the conversations that happen because of it?
More importantly, are you connecting on a human, relationship-based, connection vs. trying to sell them?
Put the answer to that in the chat pane or let me know on X using the hashtag #mpb2b and, of course, tag me using @georgebthomas.
We'll get back to Jason Harris and his thoughts on Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection, But first, I have to ask...
Are you part of the MarketingProfs community? If not, become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading to mprofs.com/mptoday - That's mprofs.com/mptoday.
Now, it's time for one of my favorite sections...
In the B2B News, we talk about breaking B2B news or essential tips we find on the Google news tab related to you and your B2B business. This week, the title is...
Conversation Intelligence For B2B Revenue Drives AI-Generated B2B Insights by Seth Marrs
There is a frenzy of interest and activity right now around generative AI and foundational large language models.
According to Forrester's new forecast, generative AI will have an average annual growth rate of 36% to 2030, capturing 55% of the AI software market. Conversation intelligence is a critical sales tool for capturing the interaction data needed to power this AI boom.
Sales technology vendors are building or acquiring Conversation intelligence platforms to better enable AI generated insights within their solutions.
While the race to acquire Conversation intelligence capabilities is all but over, the competition to fully leverage the power of Conversation intelligence is just beginning.
"Me, too" products abound, but few vendors have delivered innovative use cases and even fewer have capabilities that span across multiple use cases, such as sales readiness and deal insights.
Want to keep reading this article? Check out the link below when the live show is over.
So, let's get back to Jason Harris and his Marketing Smarts podcast episode.
In this clip, I wanted to ask Jason Harris, what hurdles should B2B marketers or business owners think about pertaining to the conversation around Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection.
Jason: I love this question. There's no easy answer. You can't count how many hurdles there are. The main overarching hurdle when you're thinking about it as B2B marketers is we are in an attention war. Most of the population didn't have ADHD before. We are now in a technologically forward and social-first life that it's impossible not to have it in some form. I think we are in an attention war.
When you're thinking about your communications, always think that you're trying to be an attention thief in your job to get people to pay attention to whatever you're trying to communicate. When you have that in mind, and attentions are getting shorter, and you're trying to get that attention, you have to think about how to communicate in the most impactful, streamlined, clear way to get some interaction or outcome that you want.
I think too often we see in B2B marketing whatever your product, service, or offering is, you want to list out a checklist of bullets and how great this thing is. It's great for you, but someone you're trying to talk to doesn't give a shit about all of those details.
That's why I was talking about that higher order idea. Always try to break things down to the most clever, simplest way you can say something, because the attention spans are not what they used to be, and they're getting shorter and shorter. So, your communication has to get simpler and simpler, clearer and clearer. It's kind of obvious, but I think we overlook it often. That's the biggest hurdle is attention.
Are you trying to be an attention thief?
Did you realize you are in an attention war?
Does that thinking make you stop and think about how you are trying to put your message Product, or services, you are trying to put in the world?
Do you face the attention hurdle in your organization?
We will get back to Jason Harris in a few minutes, but first it's time for some...
Dope B2B Learnings From The Vault of MarketingProfs Articles
That's right, It's time to dig into the treasure trove of valuable information and pull out two pieces of gold to help you be a better B2B marketer.
Article one this week is: Creating Deal-Closing Content: The Pivotal Role of Conversation Intelligence by Kevin Beales
Winning a sale is a team effort. It doesn't come only from sellers and sales managers but also from the sales organization as a whole.
Sales Operations, Customer Success, and Product Marketing are all instrumental in getting prospects to the finish line.
Product Marketing in particular plays a key role in converting prospects to customers.
As sellers prepare to move prospects through each stage, they require resources to connect their solutions with buyer needs.
Marketers create the content—such as solution briefs, product guides, and sales playbooks—that sales reps need to successfully maneuver buyer interactions.
But despite content's importance in engaging, informing, and nurturing prospects, continued misalignment between sales and marketing teams threatens its impact.
Article two this week is: Beyond the Elevator Pitch: A High-Credibility Conversation by Jeff Thull
It's not easy being a "prospective customer" in today's highly diluted and complex market.
If you're the targeted prospect, you are constantly barraged with marketing messages and annoying sales pitches.
Whether the pitch is presented on the radio during a morning commute, in a postal mailbox, by email, over the phone, or face to face, you may be overwhelmed by the number of companies and messages seeking your limited time and attention.
If you are a business professional trying to get your prospect's attention, then you may be experiencing how difficult it has become to cut through all the noise and have a respectful, insightful, and mutually valued conversation with that person.
Want to keep learning more? If so, check the links in the description below after the live show to get access to both fantastic MarketingProfs articles.
OK, back to Jason Harris... Let's dive back into this conversation of Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection
In this clip, I wanted to ask Jason what does Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection success look like? How do B2B marketers know they've reached the point of Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection nirvana?
Jason: That question is how long is a piece of string, because it really depends what business it is, what the goal is, what you're trying to achieve. I think you'll know it when you're getting the results that you're looking for. You have to keep trying different ways and different techniques until something lands.
I'm not really answering your question that well. When they put, "I don't know what pornography is, but I'll know it when I see it." I forget what that was from, it was some Senate hearing a long time ago in the '80s, I think. You'll be onto something when you know in your gut it's starting to get traction. But that's not the best answer you want.
Do you know wha your bullseye is?
Do you have a way to see and measure your success?
If not, spend time getting that in place!
We're going to get some words of wisdom from Jason Harris here in a few minutes but right now, it's time to turn the spotlight on you, the MarketingProfs community. Yep, time for...
From The #MPB2B Community
We searched far and wide in the #MPB2B universe to find amazing information and conversation to bring to the masses.
So, first, make sure you are using the hashtag, and second, make sure you have fun and add value to the community.
Then, we'll spotlight you or your crew on the show. This week, it's...
Steven Coufal on LinkedIn
Steven is the VP of SEO & Content @ Gartner Digital Markets
His post goes a little something like this...
Capterra senior analyst Meghan Bazaman discusses the latest AI brand monitoring trends in Marketing Smarts Live Show:
?? AI's integration into brand monitoring tools promises deeper insights in understanding public sentiment across channels.
?? 88% of companies with social media monitoring resources say they are of high value to their business.
?? AI tools can handle large volumes of information, condense it, and provide actionable insights instantly.
To learn more, check out the full episode ??
https://bit.ly/3SShIHf
#MPB2B #AI #MarketingTrends
But you need to check out the description and click that link to check out the post and read or learn more!
Marketing Smarts viewer, I have to ask... are you going to be next to get the spotlight?
Remember, community, use the hashtag #mpb2b on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter and get the light shined on your awesomeness in the next episode or a future episode of the Marketing Smarts Live show!
Pro-tip, it won't hurt if you tag me in your post as well I'm @georgebthomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.
OK, let's kick it back to Jason Harris and some words of wisdom around this topic of Decoding Effective Communication and Understanding Impactful Connection.
Here is what Jason Harris wanted to leave us with...
Jason: I would sum up maybe words of wisdom with one word, which is kind of a theme in our conversation. Patience. That's my one word that we haven't hit on. When I say patience, I mean in getting effective communication and connection, you have to go through trial and error, you have to go through if you're hitting on something, sticking with it, being consistent with it, and seeing it through.
I think too often in marketing we lack patience. If a new person comes into a role, we see it all the time with our clients, if someone new comes into a role, they immediately want to scrap everything and start over. I think that kills effective communication very quickly. Patience in I'm trying five things and one of them worked, now I'm going to try that one thing plus four others.
I think it takes longer than we think to be successful in whatever endeavor we're doing, and the wherewithal and the patience will get you there over time. Back to our attention span is very short. I think we need to give ourselves a little more grace and a little more patience, because over time it will work.
One word - Patience!!
Yes, I love this so much.
We've all heard it… Patience is a virtue!
Making connections that are relationship-based and meaningful takes time!
Taking your time to reach success cements it into your organization's foundational elements.
Have you enjoyed today's journey? Let us know, use that hashtag #mpb2b on whatever platform you are joining us on.
