Jeff Cassman

Soundscapes and music can trigger an emotional response, so a well thought out music plan to support your brand identity can help create stronger emotional connections to your brand. Stronger emotional connections stay top of mind and you want your customers and community to keep you top of mind! When that happens, the value you offer is easily accessible when the need for your solution arises. 

In this article, you’ll work through how to decide on the soundscapes of your brand.

3 Tips to Using Music for Your Branding and Marketing Strategy 

These three tips dive into client point of view and holistic brand alignment. You’ll  explore how those factors apply to creating and choosing unique music for your brand. By going through this process you’ll have a sound music planning strategy so that customers can’t get you out of their heads. 

Tip 1: Put Yourself In The Clients’ Shoes

Sebastian, the singing crab from the movie The Little Mermaid, was on to something. Remember the scene where Ariel and the prince were floating on a boat in a lagoon? Ariel needed a kiss from her one true love to become human again. So Sebastian set the mood with—music of course! 

To get your customers to buy, you’ve got to set the mood. 

Music influences our mood for better or worse. You can support your target audience, influence their behaviors, and their perception of you with music. That is why it’s vital to get this part of your branding and marketing strategy tuned in. (See what we did there?) 

Scientific studies have shown the validity and importance of choosing appropriate music for branding to influence the behavior of your target audience. It’s no secret that background music influences how long patrons linger in your brick-and-mortar store. 

And if you’ve ever watched a webinar, you know that music changes how you feel about the presentation. If the music was upbeat and lively, you would probably give positive feedback. If the music was more like house-meets-hold music, you probably wouldn’t give more than a 3-star rating.

Tempo Shifts Shopper’s Energy

One study, from the University of Phoenix, explored music tempo and its effects on shopper responses. The researchers focused on high density retail shopping areas. What did the savvy researchers find? Contrast music to the general “vibe” of the place to keep customers happy.

For example, in a very crowded shopping mall people may become uncomfortable or stressed out. Calming music can balance that energy and keep them shopping longer.

The musical genres most aligned here would be classical, soft pop, smooth jazz, certain types of world music or folk music. The general idea can work the other way around, too. In a less crowded space you may want to keep the energy high to promote excitement, good feelings, and impulse buys versus creating a calming atmosphere which may put your guest in a sleepy or tired mood. A tired…

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Account-based marketing (ABM) accounted for 79% of all sales opportunities in 2020. And yet, no one can agree on what account-based marketing is.

Fullfunnel co-founder Andrei Zinkevich says, “ABM is not that complicated, and it’s also oversimplified.”

If leads-based B2B marketing is fishing with a net, ABM is using a harpoon.

In this article, we’ll break down nine account-based marketing case studies from brands that hit and exceeded their business goals with ABM strategies and tactics. Learn why they worked and how to apply them to your business.

1. How iRidium used audience targeting, networking, and activation to land 34 new sales opportunities

You’d be surprised what you can do with a $3,000 ABM budget.

In 2020, smart home and building automation platform iRidium mobile wanted to land bigger clients and announce new products. To do this, they worked with Fullfunnel.io, to host a virtual summit.

The cash-strapped platform had limited budget and no brand awareness outside their local market. But by targeting their ideal customer profile (ICP), delivering on their needs, and following up, they still exceeded their goals. 

Results of iRidium’s ABM efforts

• 2,320 sign-ups;
• 39% of attendees were net new accounts;
• 34 sales-qualified opportunities;
• 5 new customers immediately converted with LTV of over $100k each (normally a 9 to 12 month sales cycle).

Serving the customer’s customer as a tactical ABM move

iRidium pulled off a successful five-day virtual marketing summit as an unknown platform by narrowing down their target customer.

iRidium shaped the ICP for their virtual summit around system integrators, excluding another customer segment: end-users. 

Why?

Integrators were interested in quality and margins, a more lucrative problem than end-users searching for a solution with the lowest price. This allowed them to focus on one audience’s specific needs. 

iRidium narrowed their audience into five segments:

1. Best customers;
2. Members of the target account buying community; 
3. Thought leaders;
4. Partners; 
5. Media and industry publications.

To attract speakers from companies like Microsoft and MTS Intercom, iRidium was generous in their approach. Speakers could choose to speak on any subject, as long as it served that day’s topic. 

iRidium had a well-defined promotion process for their own product, but it took a back seat to sharing expertise. This was a more attractive model for speakers, and encouraged them to invite their customers. 

Warming up prospects is critical for ABM success, even for virtual events. iRidium interviewed speakers on their podcast before the summit, spreading the word and increasing signups.

Post-summit, iRidium kept in touch with their top prospects and scheduled webinars. Fullfunnel’s Andrei Zinkevich says on follow-ups:

“Running an ABM campaign without an activation play is like folding on a royal flush: You’re leaving a lot of money on the table.”

iRidium invited top tier accounts to product demos. 

To avoid pipeline burnout,…

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