There has been lots of good commentary to Fred Wilson’s post/diatribe about marketing, and most of the fun responses has come from marketers. Here’s a good one which I’ll respond to – and yes, this is a very ‘tech’, start-up, small culture, innovation and product based response – in Ayn Randian terms, call it the creators’ view versus the second-handers’ take.
Researching and understanding the needs of your customers: that’s marketing.
It’s actually product design. This is the basis of building products - engineers and designers thinking about how people’s activities can improve with err… the product.
Designing a product to meet the needs of customers (the first “P” of marketing): that’s marketing.
First word: design. That’s design. Design is an intimate part of the product building adventure.
Formulating an effective go-to-market plan: that’s marketing.
Ah, go-to-market, the favorite word in every marketing meeting I’ve been in.Quick launches are so much easier to accomplish vs interminable delays to appropriate gauge 'the market’, especially with the lowered costs of Internet services. The usual go-to-market plan consists of powerpoints and docs that details user segments, ROI, brand awareness, and so on. The product should already appeal to user segments if it’s designed well, and all the other stuff is conjecture. Launch, see how users use the product, iterate, fix and launch again. By the time the marketing study is done, your competitors will have taken the space.
Creating the company’s identity and brand: that’s marketing.
What is a person’s identity if not their concrete actions? I can say that I love to travel, but if all that I do is talk about it and my take on travel comes from TV and books, well, that’s me marketing what I haven’t done. What is a company’s identity if not their products? The brand’s DNA is the interaction between product and users.
Crafting messaging that concisely describes your product: that’s marketing.
Yes. Totally agree on this one. Good marketing describes the product in a way that’s not only compelling to users but also describes the object’s true essence (and doesn’t obfuscates what isn’t there).
Creating compelling collateral & materials to help customers understand the features and benefits of your product: that’s marketing.
Well designed products have very little collateral & materials. When I read “collateral materials”, I always think of those big manuals that describe how to put together furniture or how to set up Windows or a Linksys router. The best products you can just turn on and it starts working.
Spreading the word about the company and product through a variety of venues, both digital and real-world: that’s marketing.
Yes again. No product, nothing to sell.
Supporting and advising the sales team to maximize their effectiveness: that’s marketing. And yes, ADVERTISING in cost-effective ways to drive further customer acquisition after the initial buzz-building phase: that’s marketing.
Perhaps in a large org. But awesome sales people don’t really need the advice. Wouldn’t it be better for them to use the product or at least talk to the people who build products to 'maximize their effectiveness’?
Look, I’m not saying marketing is evil or useless. It’s like any other organizational tool. The thing is, you can recognize great marketers right away. The bad ones? Those are harder to sort through.
The product comes first. I think that’s what Fred was talking about. Focus on building a great product that people will use. Focus on building a great experience that people don’t even know they need. Focus on users using vs users understanding, then you have a story, a compelling one, to share. Many industries that become overly large and commoditized (movies, finance, food) rely more on marketing because there’s little differentiation/innovation between their products. There’s a lot of innovation that goes on in marketing within these companies. For start-ups and fast organizations, marketing can augment great products, but it’s so easy to get in the way. I’ve seen way too many ideas that start with the question “How will users get this?” instead of “How will users use this?”.
When all else fails, my advice to small companies in need of a marketing strategy is: use the cloud! Next up, a post on product management, the best second-handers of all.