You know Pixar’s The Incredibles, but do you know “The Untrackables?”
Create stuff for them.
They are 90-95% of the people who see your content/stuff online and never write/tweet/text/email/call you. But they may become customers or your client’s customers. Like you and me, they visit a B2B company’s site several times, see their trade show booth, read op-eds written by executives, and still do not contact them. Nor do they ask for a demo after seeing dozens of Google Ads. But they will research your company before they contact a sales rep or fill out an on-site form. I’d bet most of them will skip the form and contact you when they learn enough about you from peers or coworkers, and have a very specific question.
These are the untrackable people that you won’t hear from them much, but they are the lurkers that keep the lights on.
Accepting Silence From Target Audiences
This newsletter — every single one — is for those of you who will contact me months or years from now, or never. I accept that I won’t talk to 99% of you, but in the future, you may forward a newsletter to your boss.
B2B companies should follow suit...but they suffer from "short-termism." Among other things, it prevents brand-building. B2B companies aren’t set up to put out content and not know who is seeing or sharing it, but they have to adjust. The world of B2B buying is full of invisible spectators.
Being comfortable with not hearing from people after publishing 11 polished YouTube videos with your subject matter expert should be normal for B2B companies. I am not saying to not measure as best you can, instead, I am saying to put out stuff for “invisible” people. The trick? Deeply, deeply know who you’re talking to. If you know your target personas inside and out, you will know if they move slowly or fast.
Create with invisible readers in mind. Since I started doing it years ago, I have found I feel less pressure, yet I can still tell peers what channels and tactics are working for me. You can too.