Author: MattSheehan

I’ve spent much of my career working between product, sales and marketing teams. I’ve witnessed both good and bad practices. But my underlying reflections revolve around strategy. Sure, it is a massively overused word. But the most successful organizations I have worked with and for have been guided by a well thought through, dynamic strategy.

There is .much written about strategy, at Spatial Advisers we have long been fans of Roger Martin; the highly successful past dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto..

In this article I wanted to summarize Martin’s strategy cascade: a strategy framework I have successfully applied throughout my career.

Strategy Cascade

Roger Martin’s strategy cascade refers to a framework for developing and implementing strategy, particularly outlined in his book “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works,” co-authored with A.G. Lafley.

The strategy cascade involves a series of interconnected steps to guide organizations in developing a clear and effective strategy. The key components of the strategy cascade are:

1. Define Winning: This is about clearly understanding what it means to win in your particular industry or market. It involves defining the specific objectives and goals that will signify success for your organization.
2. Choose Where to Play: Organizations need to make strategic choices about the markets, customer segments, and geographic areas in which they will compete. This involves understanding the competitive landscape and selecting the most advantageous areas for the business to operate.
3. Decide How to Win: Once you’ve chosen where to play, you need to decide how you will differentiate yourself and achieve success in those chosen areas. This step involves making choices about how to position the organization relative to competitors and what capabilities will be critical for success.
4. Capabilities and Systems: After deciding how to win, the organization must build the necessary capabilities and support systems to execute the strategy effectively. This involves aligning the organization’s structure, processes, and people with the strategic choices made.
5. Management Systems: Implementing strategy requires effective management systems to monitor performance, adjust tactics, and ensure that the organization stays on track toward its strategic objectives.

At Spatial Advisers we have adapted the strategy cascade of Roger Martin, and combined that with the work of another business growth thought leader: Simon Sinek. A link to the free eBook we have written can be found below.

To close out this article. The strategy cascade is a dynamic process, and organizations may need to revisit and adjust their strategy in response to changes in the external environment or internal capabilities. The goal is to create a coherent and integrated strategy that aligns the organization’s activities with its overall objectives.

If you have questions feel free to contact me at matt@spatialadvisers.com

During a recent client engagement our initial conversation centred around a question/statement from the CEO:

“We have never known if we should hire sales & marketing folks who know nothing about spatial (and hope they learn quickly) or folks who know spatial but like to talk data, technology and capabilities?”

It reminded me why we set up Spatial Advisers in the first place: to help solve this problem for small and medium sized spatial companies.

To grow any business is difficult. And sales and marketing are the engine room of growth. Who you talk to and what you talk about is the key to success. This is the art of communication. Marketing should be focused on attention, curiosity and interest. While sales connects, builds relationships and ultimately solves problems.

But our industry has a challenge.

We have a plethora of technical folks, but a lack of commercial experts. That is those who understand spatial data and technology and can translate that into business value.

We felt there was a gap in the market for this type of expertise. And that is the gap we fill at Spatial Advisers. We are a team of spatial commercial experts. We provide sales, marketing and communication advice and implementation services.

Contact us at 801.733.0723.

Social media remains a massive missed opportunity for most B2B businesses. That is a punchy first sentence … but alas oh so true. Most businesses still see social media as ‘something for the young’, the land of influencers and for B2C only.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Social media, for many organizations, is either unused or misused. Too often it is seen as another traditional sales and marketing channel. In LinkedIn, for example, how often do you see somebody touting their products ‘amazing’ features, sharing ‘cool’ demo’s, maybe pictures of their booth at shows. On and on. And always there is that “contact us for more information’ line.

And guess how most of us react. By quickly moving on!

But there is a better way.

B2B Social Media Secrets

Secrets adds a sense of mystery to this next section. But nothing here is rocket science. This is all somewhat obvious. But let me share with you things we have learned by experimenting with social media led sales and marketing over many years.

Given the B2B nature of LinkedIn, for this post we will focus here. In future articles we will broaden this discussion to other social media channels.

LinkedIn begins with people. That is, you start by creating your LinkedIn page. From here you can (if you so choose) create a company page. This is an important distinction. It means that LinkedIn is centred on individuals. Too many people forget this crucially important fact.

Personal brand is critical to LinkedIn . Personal brand means you. It does not mean your company brand, product or solution. It means you.

Traditional marketing is impersonal. Traditional marketing remains the mainstay of large (company) brands and products. The logic is as follows: “If we knock on enough doors, we hope to connect with the ‘right person’ to whom we can sell”. But guess what, the stats show that this is a less and less effective approach. Cold outreach is a dying approach to selling. Sellers embracing mass outreach tactics with spammy emails, for example, see an abysmal 1% response rate, and it erodes brand equity.

Social derives from the Latin word socii or “allies”. Social can be expressed in many ways: interaction, community, shared values. A loud megaphone (too often a traditional sales and marketing tactic) used to shout a message to a group hoping somebody pricks up their ears is not social, nor is it very effective.

We buy from people we know and trust. And that is at the core of social media. Those we identify with and follow are those we are most likely buy from. And that is why your personal brand is such a core part of social media marketing and sales. More to come on personal brand in future posts. Let’s get to that list of social media secrets. There are 4:

1. Social – Build your community and network through your personal brand and engagement
2. Social media led marketing – Through original content which educates and informs; tell your story. In our case at Spatial Advisers our why is – “In everything we do, we believe in challenging existing thinking, perspectives and approaches. We believe in challenging the status quo”. My own personal brand is centered on this same why and I share content which has this at its heart.
3. Social media led sales – Building relationships and trust leading to action. Remember in LinkedIn you are able to see anybody who interacts with you and your content (shares, profile views, likes, comments). You know who they are, their job title and background. This is the nirvana of traditional sales and marketing … and exactly why traditional sales and marketing can be so expensive.
4. Cadence – Staying connected and relevant is critical. Buyers are not always in the market. But staying connected and ready for when they are in the market is crucial. Social media in combination with traditional marketing methods keeps you ‘front of mind’.

I’ll expand on these topics in coming weeks. But I hope this is a good starter to get you thinking about building a B2B social media sales and marketing engine.

Spatial Advisers are a social media led B2B sales and marketing company.

Our world is filled with terminology. The world our team inhabits has long struggled with this challenge: GIS, geospatial, location intelligence, the power of where.

At Spatial Advisers, we wanted to be capture the essence of location data and technology. And spatial was the term we have chosen to use. More to come in the future on the why’s of this choice. But for now, we asked ChatGPT for some definitions:

Spatial

“Spatial” refers to anything related to space, area, or the arrangement of objects in a physical environment. It pertains to the relationships, positions, and dimensions of objects or elements within a given space. Spatial characteristics can include measurements such as distance, size, shape, orientation, and relative position. This term is commonly used in various fields, such as geography, architecture, design, mathematics, and computer science, to describe the organization and layout of objects or features within a specific context.

Spatial Computing

Spatial computing refers to a type of technology that blends the physical and digital worlds together by allowing users to interact with digital information and virtual objects in a spatial context that closely mimics the way we interact with physical objects in the real world. It involves the use of various technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and 3D computing, to create immersive and interactive experiences.

Key aspects of spatial computing include:

1. Spatial Interaction: Spatial computing aims to create a seamless interaction between users and digital content within a physical space. This can involve gestures, voice commands, touch interactions, and even physical movements.
2. Virtual Objects in the Real World: With technologies like augmented reality, spatial computing overlays digital objects, information, or imagery onto the real world. This can be used for applications like navigation, training, visualization, and entertainment.
3. Immersive Experiences: Virtual reality and mixed reality technologies offer immersive experiences where users feel as though they are fully present in a digitally created environment. This is achieved through the use of headsets or other devices that track the user’s movements and adjust the digital content accordingly.
4. Spatial Mapping: Spatial computing often involves creating digital representations of physical spaces, known as spatial maps, which enable devices to understand the physical environment and place virtual objects within it realistically.
5. Collaboration and Interaction: Spatial computing can enable multiple users to interact with the same digital content simultaneously, allowing for collaborative experiences even if users are in different physical locations.
6. Applications: Spatial computing has a wide range of applications across industries. For example, it can be used in gaming and entertainment, architecture and design, education and training, healthcare, manufacturing, and more.
7. Future Potential: As spatial computing technologies continue to develop, they have the potential to transform how we interact with information, devices, and each other. It could redefine how we work, communicate, learn, and entertain ourselves.

Overall, spatial computing aims to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds, providing new ways for humans to interact with digital content and enabling more intuitive and immersive experiences.