This article is about strategy. Success is achieved by creating lightning strike and rolling thunder moments — moments that get noticed.
To win in today’s market requires B2B companies to move away from spreading limited budget and resources on too many random acts of reactive marketing (i.e., “marketing popcorn”). Instead, turn your marketing engine into a forward-focused credibility-building machine.
Lightning strike and rolling thunder moments bring prospects to you. These moments get noticed because they are relevant to your customers, prospects, and influencers. In each of these moments, you provide proof of the value you bring. And, proof earns you a seat at the customer’s table.
I discovered the Lightning Strike & Rolling Thunder method when I was a marketing strategist at Sun. I’ve spent the last 30 years refining this lesson. (I share this story in my book, Marketing Campaign Development.)
Why “Lightning Strike & Rolling Thunder” works
The single, basic truth of “good marketing” is that these words are easy to say, but hard to do. “Marketing popcorn” is a death knell. Wasted budget. Friction between sales and marketing. It’s the fast track to replacing the CMO.
And yet the answer to achieving sustainable business growth (driven by lead gen success) is within anyone’s grasp. But it requires discipline and patience. Why? Because your success in driving pipeline growth comes down to your company’s credibility in the marketplace. Credibility is the key because it is the currency of your reputation. Without credibility, your target audience won’t know you or care. They won’t pay attention. And marketing is all about grabbing attention, then establishing preference.
There is a 3-phased approach to building lasting credibility in the market. This is not a quick fix. It will take you a year to get into the groove. Success is cumulative and will grow each year you stick with this strategy.
- Lightning Strike: “Tell them what you are going to tell them”
- Rolling Thunder: “Tell them”
- Crescendo: “Tell them what you told them”
Let’s break it down.
Phase 1: Lightning Strike: “Tell them what you are going to tell them”
Whether you are a new start up, or an established company, your marketing efforts will benefit by your CEO sharing a crisp, clear vision at the beginning of each year. This is your first announcement of the year. As an example, you might frame this Lightning Strike moment like this:
- Companies are struggling with (pain point).
- Solutions available today are no longer sufficient to ensure companies can achieve their goals. What’s needed is a solution that delivers X (explain the criteria for success without naming your product).
- Share your vision: What do you believe? What does the future look like – one where the customer problem goes away? (Hint: your vision is centered on the customer, not you.)
- Foreshadow what you will do. To make this vision real, share your top 3 priorities. What investments will you be making this year?
- With this as a backdrop, now announce your first proof point: perhaps it’s a new product or new partnership.
- Close by sharing why this vision is relevant and unique. Your message is clear: exciting things are coming, so pay attention!
How to structure your Lightning Strike Moment
This announcement is much more than a press release. If that is all you do, I would give you a D grade! This is a strategic moment for your business. It must be meaningful to analysts and newsworthy for the press. The unveiling of this announcement will unfold in three stages:
- Stage 1: What you do prior to Lightning Strike Day
- Stage 2: What you do on Lightning Strike Day
- Stage 3: What you do in the month after Lightning Strike Day
Stage 1: Prior to Lightning Strike Day
You need a launch boss. There are so many variables that go wrong on Lightning Strike day, and you cannot afford a misfire. Prepping for this moment can easily be a three-month assignment for your marketing team.
I used to facilitate launch/announcement planning by collecting department updates: PR, advertising, social media, etc. All this did was bore my team. It was not working. So, I changed. I started running my team meetings by discussing “points of potential failure” instead of by department updates. This article shares how I do this. This invigorated the team because it highlighted the connectedness across all elements in the marketing mix. It sparked a level of interactive creativity that had not existed before.
Giving your key analysts and press a head-up is a must-have. In fact, you may need to have multiple meetings with your analysts to ensure they understand your vision. And you’ll want to help them understand where you fit in the evolving industry. (Diplomacy and humility are required, of course.)
You will also want to give your most important customers a heads-up – I recommend the morning of the Announcement. Use this moment to fortify the importance of your relationship with them. Inviting them into your inner circle will grease the skids for your customer reference program!
Tactically, you will need the usual marketing mechanics: press release, website splash page, etc. But, do not forget the opportunity to syndicate your announcement with influencers, including your partners.
All this prep work takes time and careful coordination. It is the foundation for further announcements that will unfold in the coming year.
One last tip: it is worth your while to dry run your Lightning Strike Day. Dropping a press release is usually the first item. But you have lots of opportunities with customers, prospects, and influencers on this Day! When we ran the dry run we discovered a few missed opportunities. The good news is that we caught them in time.
Stage 2: On Lightning Strike Day
Because your prepared for this day, it should unfold smoothly. Your team has worked hard and will be exhausted. However, I promise you this will be one of those days they remember for their rest of their careers!
Execute with confidence.
Watch for reactions and results – tangible and intangible.
Take pictures. Capture quotes. Document the Day.
Then celebrate by recognizing the team and their accomplishment. This is a big deal. Remind them that today they built the backdrop for all future demand gen activities (i.e., what comes in Phases 2 and 3).
Stage 3: After Lightning Strike Day
Your lead gen activities surrounding this Lightning Strike moment will echo for at least 30 days. Your advertising, content creation, speaking opportunities, events — anything and every marketing project that unfolds — must map back to the Lightning Strike Day and your key messaging. However, don’t be in sell-mode! You are sharing, inviting, and inviting them into the conversation. Make the moment last through your marketing projects.
As I often say to my C-suite clients: become the advisor before you become the vendor. This is where true Account Based Marketing (ABM) can really shine. This moment is the perfect excuse to form a relationship with a C-suite leader you do not yet know! Work with sales to identify your top 25 must-win accounts. In the days, weeks, and months after Lightning Strike, surround yourself with other C-suite leaders who are also interested in discussing the future and embracing this shared vision.
Summary of Lightning Strike Day
You have told the market why you are relevant, and you have hinted “pay attention”. You are sharing that the industry requires an innovation. So, stay tuned! They will come to recognize your leadership in this space even though you never use the word, “leader”. (In fact, it is always more powerful when they refer to you as a “leader” rather than you claiming you are one. It’s an important nuance in your messaging.)
As we exit Lightning Strike Day, you will get some press, but don’t expect a lot. This is a long-term strategy, not a short-term play. Don’t use press mentions as your central metric for success of the Day. Your credibility bank account is still quite low. Building credibility upon your Lightning Strike moment takes time. Enter phase 2.
Phase 2: Rolling Thunder: “Tell them”
Your Lightning Strike moment is a crucial start to establishing credibility. But without proof points, it’s just hyperbole. And analysts and customers are tired about companies sharing a shiny story and failing to deliver. This is why you need proof points. Proof points can be revealed in any of three announcement wrappers:
- New product or service announcement (e.g., enhanced value for customers)
- Customer-momentum announcement (e.g., claim victory when you achieve three wins in a market niche)
- Expanded ecosystem (e.g., acquisition or new partnership)
Each announcement is a thread in the tapestry of your company vision and mission that you shared in your Lightning Strike moment. Your customers (and future customers) don’t like uncertainty. They want to know your plan for helping them achieve their goals. Like chapters in a book, you tell your story through each announcement. And your lead gen activities and offers give your prospects an opportunity to invite you into their world.
“But Mike, I don’t know when our next announcement will be ready?” Good point. This is why you, as the marketing strategist, need to change the game.
As a strategic marketer, your job is to establish a timeline. Put a stake in the ground and guide your leadership team (market, product, sales) to plan ahead. Give them a target and a deadline. Rally them.
You don’t wait for your leadership moments. You make them!
When I facilitate annual planning exercises, I rally the team around quarterly announcements. Brainstorm: what can we announce in Q2? What can we announce in Q3? Get creative. If you can envision it, you can make it happen. If you wait for something to happen, you will miss opportunities. Of course, plans can change. But establish a cadence. It may be hard at first, but it gets easier. I promise!
Always ask: “What can we announce?” And, “Why will it matter to the market?”
When it comes time to make your Rolling Thunder announcements, you must echo your vision shared in the Lightning Strike moment. Nothing is random. You have a plan. The market will, in time, reward you for it.
“Remember the vision we shared with you earlier (Lightning Strike)? Well, here’s the next proof point . . .”
It is only when you SHOW that you are delivering on your vision that you earn points in your credibility bank account!
Every lead gen activity should have the energy and excitement of your company’s vision and mission. Your story continues. This is when your target prospects will start to take notice.
You can have as many Rolling Thunder moments as you want. But I recommend a less-is-more approach. Two Rolling Thunder moments (each announcing several related things) in the year may be more effective than having a dozen mix-and-match elements that overwhelm your audience and your messaging. Stay focused on a thematic message with each Rolling Thunder announcement. Credibility is not built in a single announcement. Keep your audience in mind and pace yourself.
Phase 3: Crescendo: Tell them what you told them
You’ve done a great job so far, but you need a way to tie all the pieces together at the end of the year. Your Crescendo moment is the capstone to a year of announcements.
Your Crescendo Announcement must do three things:
- Repeat your vision and priorities shared in the Lightning Strike;
- Highlight each of the “Rolling Thunder” announcements as proof points; and
- Tell why it matters and where you go next. Preview your vision for next year.
In effect, your Crescendo Announcement is the reciprocal of the Lightning Strike announcement. By following this method, your audiences will now recognize you because of the series of strategic growth announcements you made throughout the year. But they may not recognize the full relevance to them until to lay the Crescendo in front of them. It’s like a trail of breadcrumbs. With heightened awareness, your pipeline will come to you.
Here’s your end goal: to have your analysts and customers telling you, “Wow! You delivered what you said you were going to do!” I’ve had analysts tell me this approach is “refreshing”. No joke! This is how trust is built. And, trust and faith in you is your only constant differentiator. Now your credibility bank account is full! The market is yours to take.
Taking the next step
The Lightning Strike & Rolling Thunder model is complex. There is a lot to unpack. It takes time. You must give yourself a year to understand how it works. If you do, I guarantee your team morale will greatly improve as will the relationship between marketing and sales. Contact me if you’d like a no-cost 30-min consultation.
Here are some articles to help you on your journey.
- The Magic of the Marketing Offsite
- Countdown to Launch” How to be an effective “Launch Boss”
- Integrated Marketing vs. “marketing popcorn”
About the Author
Mike Gospe is a business strategist & go-to-market coach. For the past 30 years he has worked alongside marketing teams at companies at all stages to improve their marketing. He is the co-founder of KickStart Alliance, a marketing leadership consulting team. And he leads KickStart’s Customer & Partner Advisory Board practice where he has designed and facilitated more than 250 CAB and focus group meetings for innovative companies around the world.