One way to stand out in a crowd of marketers and sales experts is to label your own approach and make it look unique. When I first read about the Megadeals discipline it seemed to be yet another sectarian buzzword bingo with some Swedish gurus on the stage. We all know the drill. Spreading free e-books and online workshops to bait followers and hook them with paid services.

But then I understood there is some method in this madness.

Megadeals is an approach for people that sell large projects with a long runway and high complexity. The value of these deals is usually in the tens of millions and sometimes even billions. To get involved in such large deals you need to orchestrate not only your marketing and sales activities, but probably also your financial services, your operations and your public affairs. When working on megadeals you are not interacting with individual decision makers or a simple decision making unit, but with whole ecosystems.

Many Stakeholders

An example is the hyperscale datacenter that Facebook wants to build near the town Zeewolde. There are so many stakeholders involved – builders, consultants, lawyers, regulators, politicians, journalists, activists and the general public – that Facebook tried to hide its involvement by using a firm named Polder Networks as its vehicle to get permission. Facebook knows these datacenters are received with mixed reactions, because Google has recently announced not to continue with three of four datacenters that it agreed to build in Middenmeer.

Hiding is not what the Megadeals advisors (here is the book) suggest. If you are aware that the stakes are high and your project involves many people, you are advised to create a cloud of content around yourself and your projects. Not only to make sure that your side of the story is being told. But also to pick-up early warning signs when there is opposition against your plans.

This content needs to be orchestrated too. For most sellers it is not difficult to aim information at the experts, the first line of buyers who speak the same language as you do. But it is harder to also involve the wider circles around these buyers, including the top decision makers and all the outsiders who might play a role in the final decision. That requires a kaleidoscope perspective, highlighting many different facets of your project.

Events in your Content Cloud

In these so-called orientational messages you should not focus primarily on yourself or your offerings. Instead you could address matters that interest and involve different audiences in the ecosystem. Try to be diverse.

We would suggest to think beyond the usual articles, blogs and whitepapers, but also include photography, art and a wide range of media and moments. We are convinced events should play an important role in your content cloud. Discuss matters in a conference, invite key players to a talkshow and organize an exhibition to show how artists view your plans. Ask kids to make drawings and sponsor a podcast about the different perspectives. Dare to be creative!

Events are not only a unique platform to share your vision, your experience and your case stories. They also offer opportunities to meet with influential’s in the ecosystem that you are dealing with. And another big plus: events are often a platform to share the content that you already published in articles, blogs and whitepapers. A great way to amplify your messaging.