Changing the Marketing Narrative

Too many people think marketing means embarking on a land grab for leads – no matter the quality. The more the merrier doesn’t necessarily equate to customers with staying power.

Marketing must mean ‘market’. Translation: you know your ‘segments’ better than anyone in your organization.

Too many people think marketing means blogging, tweeting, Webinars and white papers. These are important ‘tactics’ if they can help you connect with your ideal customer.

Marketing must mean ‘customer’. Without customers, you are out of a job. And without customers, your organization will struggle to stay relevant.

Too many people think marketing is sending emails until an already weary and overburdened prospect universe clicks ‘unsubscribe’. Marketers need to eliminate the word ‘blast’ from their vernacular when describing sending out an email campaign.

Marketing must mean ‘segments’. Your market is probably made up of a few differentiated, nuanced groups of people. These segments need to know you understand them if you are to have any success in gaining their fragmented attention.

Too many people think marketing is standing at a trade show booth with collateral in one hand and a smartphone in the other. Tip: If trade shows are part of your marketing strategy, require your booth staff to only check their phones when they are on break. You aren’t paying people to browse their social media feeds. Trade shows are expensive, especially if the decision makers aren’t in attendance. And it’s even more expensive if you go crazy with booth giveaways, splashy, extravagant booth designs and egregiously overstaff for the size of the audience.

Marketing must mean ‘one’. Communicate with your target market as if you are talking to a friend across the table. The fluff and jargon (scalable, disruption, innovation, cross-platform, omni channel) that pollutes many B2B websites is criminal. Cut the nonsense and talk to your market in words they understand.

Until next time,

Dan Naden