The Learning Lounge

• A customer journey map lays out every step a prospect takes, from first noticing a problem to buying and beyond. It shows where they go, what they search for and which content influences them, so you stop guessing where to spend marketing time and budget.
• At its simplest, a map captures three things. Stages are the phases a customer moves through, and they’re unique to your customer. Touchpoints are every interaction they have with your brand. Metrics tell you how each piece of content is performing.
• Most of the buying decision happens before a prospect ever speaks to you. Real journeys aren’t linear either: people bounce between Google, LinkedIn, colleagues, reviews and your website before getting in touch.
• Off-the-shelf templates tend to oversimplify, ignore your industry’s nuances and end up sitting in a drawer. A useful map has to be built on research into how your customers actually behave.
• The takeaway: start by auditing your existing touchpoints and checking your marketing alignment with LikeMind’s free scorecard, then build an evidence-led strategy such as JourneyWeb®. Treat mapping as an ongoing commitment, not a one-off exercise.

• The Finance Director rarely engages with your content or sales process, but holds real power at two moments: when budgets are set, and when spend gets final sign-off — miss either and a “certain” deal can quietly stall.
• FDs don’t care about features or creative quality — they think in financial outcomes, so every claim needs translating into cost, revenue, or ROI terms before it’s ready to go in front of them.
• You’ll almost never pitch the FD directly — your real job is arming the internal champion who will, with tools like a one-page financial summary covering the problem, investment, return, risk, and cost of inaction.
• Traditional case studies are too story-led for finance; rewrite them to lead with hard numbers (cost reductions, payback timelines) rather than the narrative of transformation.
• The takeaway: build a repeatable kit of finance-ready assets — briefing docs, ROI calculators, benchmark data, worst-case scenarios — and time it to land before annual budget planning, not after.

Contact us on 01509 323363 or [email protected]

• After 11 years running LikeMind, Paul’s biggest lesson for startups: don’t jump the gun. Launching before you can meet demand, or before the product actually works, does more damage than waiting.
• Founder-led content — documenting the journey on social, YouTube, or newsletters — takes the pressure off a fixed launch date and lets audiences buy into the person before the product even exists.
• Putting out content isn’t enough on its own. If it’s mismatched, poorly made, or too broad, it won’t convert — and using AI to shortcut the creative process will likely dilute exactly what makes a startup’s idea innovative.
• Outreach is a startup’s best friend: DMs, cold emails, and phone calls directly to the people who need what you’re building beat waiting for people to find you.
• The takeaway: build trust through authentic founder content first, then back it up with direct, personal outreach — that combination is what actually moves a startup forward.

Get in touch: [email protected] or 01509 323363

Discover how branded podcasts can take your marketing to the next level - building authentic connections, boosting brand awareness, and positioning your business as a trusted voice in your industry.

In this episode, we draw insights from our blog post, spotlighting why more brands are choosing podcasts and the advantages you shouldn’t miss.

Want help creating your own podcast or audio content for your brand? LikeMind Media are the experts! From strategy to production, their team can guide you every step of the way.

👉 Ready to get started or need advice? Contact LikeMind Media today:

Website: https://www.likemind.media

Call: +44 (0)1509 323363

▶️ Explore more about how branded podcasts help you:

Build deeper audience relationships

Become a thought leader in your field

Open new marketing channels

Increase accessibility and reach

Take the next step. Visit LikeMind Media’s website to learn more about their audio content services or book a chat with their experts!

Learn more about our JourneyWeb® content mapping service: https://www.likemind.media/journeyweb

Take our scorecard to understand how well you know your customer's journey to you:

https://www.likemind.media/scorecard

n this video, I'm tackling the outdated concept that's secretly killing your sales: the traditional marketing funnel.

After 25 years working with these models, I can confidently tell you—they're fundamentally broken.

Your customers don't behave like water flowing neatly through a pipe. They zigzag, backtrack, research independently, and completely ignore your carefully crafted sales sequence. In 2025, buyers demand autonomy and will abandon you the moment you try to force them down your predetermined path.

Our B2B Buying Decisions Report shows modern customers prioritise product fit and budget over your awards and values. Shocking, I know!

I explain why these linear models benefit sellers, not buyers, and introduce our JourneyWeb® methodology—designed to map the actual messy, complex routes your customers take when making decisions.

It's time to ditch the funnel and embrace something that reflects how people actually buy.

Check out our JourneyWeb methodology at https://www.likemind.media/journeyweb

Want to know how well you understand your customer's journey? Take our free scorecard at https://www.likemind.media/scorecard and see where you stand.

#SalesFunnelAlternatives #ModernCustomerJourney #B2BMarketing #ContentMarketing #SalesStrategy

From our blog: https://www.likemind.media/top-tips-for-social-media-in-2023/

Taken from our blog: https://www.likemind.media/what-does-content-marketing-look-like-in-2023/

For years, the concept of a sales and marketing ‘funnel’ has been prevalent in many marketing consultant’s (‘gurus’) arsenal of weaponry to get businesses to move prospects to the point or purchase. It’s an outdated practice. In this article, I’ll discuss why you should ditch the concept of a funnel and create content for each part of your customer’s journey – however they travel.

Read the article here

The news seems unavoidable and, when you see it, there’s a temptation to feel an impending sense of doom about inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and the general impact on the economy. To a certain extent, it’s easy to talk ourselves into a catastrophe that isn’t there but, equally, burying your head in the sand isn’t going to help your business push through any downturn, if there is one. Marketing seems to be one of the first ‘costs’ that gets reviewed and dumped. That’s an extremely negative action and one that does nothing to help. This article will show you ways in which you can market positively for the benefit of your organisation while being mindful of budget limitations. 

If your senior leadership is pushing for a cut to your marketing budget, you’ll need to counter the argument with activities that deliver better outcomes and value for money. Having that plan in place now will help keep your marketing on the front foot. Cutting marketing is usually not the answer to a company’s financial problems. Of course, I would say that, wouldn’t I? In my experience, though, reducing activity that promotes a business isn’t going to help you sell more of the things you need to sell. 

First things first: it’s time to review the current marketing plan. What are you already committed to? What contractual spend do you have? Understanding when funds are less tied up can help you navigate tumultuous times. I’m not advocating dropping contracts like a stone. More that some will generate better value than others. Think about software subscriptions that perhaps you aren’t utilising fully or events you have planned that are not as relevant as they were. Personally, I’d avoid cutting spend on education or personal development for you and your team (a false economy), but perhaps there are virtual events you can attend, reducing travel and accommodation costs while still gaining from the knowledge. 

Once you know what you are still committed to and what you have available, check the existing plan for the products and services you are planning to promote. Are the campaigns still the right ones or are some products and services likely to be more popular because of the times we’re in? For example, the high-ticket offering may be less appealing to your market when other people and businesses are evaluating spend just as you are. Maybe your mid-tier service will appeal more right now. Or even your entry level set is the one to place the focus on. Just consider how some of the supermarkets are currently emphasising ‘price locks’ or ‘price match’ – they know their customers are primarily concerned with price and, in the case of the larger supermarkets, want to stop people moving away from them towards the budget stores. 

Review the products and services that you offer. If you sell physical products, you may well have commitments to stock levels. Can you renegotiate this? What are you likely to sell less or more of going forward? Do your services fully meet the needs of your target customer still or do they need a review in themselves? If your customer needs more value, what value can you add to the service? You’ll need to articulate this. 

While we’re mentioning them, let’s review that target audience. What’s happening with them? What are their concerns in the current climate? Are they cutting spending or are they not really affected by the economy? It’s certainly not the case that changes in the economic environment affect everyone the same. Indeed, if you are selling luxury items to people with high wealth who are not exposed to fluctuations in costs, it could well be that your business can continue as usual and your plan can remain as it is. If your audience is affected, how are they likely to adapt to the situation? What do they need help with? What are they thinking about? How can you address this in your product/service offering, messaging or both? 

Another thing to review is your current tone of voice. At the start of the pandemic, there was a huge shift towards human-centred language: care, sympathy, camaraderie, community. I think it’s unlikely we’ll see that again here. Take what you learned from the last few years and apply it once again. Acknowledging the situation and being mindful of people’s and businesses’ struggles is more likely to open a door to a conversation than brashly ignoring how they are doing or how they may be feeling. This doesn’t mean leading every social media post or email with a gloom-laden missive, it simply means reviewing what’s being said to ensure it’s not completely tone deaf. 

If you’re freeing up budget and being more mindful of where spend is going, consider which channels can deliver a more agile marketing message. Email is a fantastic tool to communicate directly with an individual, allowing you to offer that appropriate, personable tone and have a one-to-one conversation. Social media allows your organisation to adapt to changes quickly without lots of planning, in ways that a contracted billboard campaign or print advertisement does not. Utilising these tools is a smart use of resources. Again, we saw in the spring of 2020 many companies drop costly ad campaigns and replace them with ads filmed by their team at home. Use your experience of these tools to create better content that speaks to how your target market is operating. 

Of course, just as a downturn doesn’t affect everyone, there is opportunity here for you potentially. Is there a way that you can start to offer new products and services to a new market or switch your focus to that group of people and businesses that still maintain good spending power. A friend of mine recently reminded me that there’s always money somewhere, you just have to find it. 

Regardless of how you adapt to a change in circumstances, you’re still going to need to demonstrate how your actions are delivering results. It’s a good opportunity to review which KPIs show your marketing is working. Sales is still the number one metric for most companies. It may be that a reduction in sales is expected, so other statistics may be helpful to include: audience growth, impressions/reach, engagement levels, customer retention. It’s easy for those working in marketing to hide within metrics that sound impressive but don’t deliver value for the business. As challenging as it may be, remember to still focus on the objectives that your organisation has and show how your revised strategies are continuing to contribute to its success. 

A reminder of the key elements of adapting to this time: 

• Become more agile in your strategic approach and be flexible to meet the needs of your target market 
• That may mean changing your messaging and/or your products and services 
• Choose channels that allow you to adapt over time and create content for these that is appropriate for your audiences 
• Continue to focus on contributing positively to the overall organisation objectives 
• Never stop marketing 

As written in our blog: https://www.likemind.media/audio-content-marketing-strategy-why/