Marketing – Doing More For Less

Six tips on maximizing your marketing efforts

by Kim Addington, Chief Marketing Officer, nuBridges Inc.

December 15, 2008

M y perspectives on marketing have been formed by 25 years in the business to business technology arena, working in organizations that rely on a direct sales channel. It’s the most expensive channel there is, and we darned sure wouldn’t go that route if we didn’t need direct sales reps – but we do.

Technology solutions are complex sales that  require evangelism, prospect education and the development of trusted adviser relationships with prospects. So, given that framework, how do you maximize the contribution of marketing when budgets are tight?

If you boil marketing down to its essence, it’s the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and articulate your story in a way that resonates for them and then put that story in the places they hang out. 

In order to capture that essence, you need to take a position on:
•    What do we have to offer? (Product)
•    Who cares? (Place)
•    Why? (Promotion)
•    How much value does this have to them? (Price)
•    How can I start a dialogue with the people who care? (Place)

Marketing comprises dozens and dozens of activities that you could be doing at any moment.
    
When you’re marketing on a small budget, I have six pieces of advice.

1. Pick only three to five things to do really well each quarter, then do everything as well as you can, given the remaining time, dollars and brainpower. If you don’t zero in on a few things, you spread your budget and your intellectual capital too thin, and the result is across-the-board mediocre marketing.

2. Try working backward. Start from the premise that as a marketing executive, my job is to help 100 percent of our sales reps meet 100 percent of their quota. At so many companies, marketing and sales are at odds — that’s wrong. If marketing folks walk in the door every day wearing a “ service” hat — “How can I help this crew of sales reps be successful?” — and measure themselves by the success of the sales organization, everything else falls into place.

3. Create a sales-centric culture in your marketing department. Teach respect for the sales function and encourage your marketing folks to seek the trust and reliance of every single sales person. Let them know you’re watching!

4. Reprioritize regularly. For your strategic plan, this is an annual exercise. For product management, it’s every six months. For marketing-communications, it’s quarterly (or monthly). And for you, it’s daily. As you prioritize, let revenue be your guide. The closer the item is to affecting the revenue line (in either the short term or the long term), the higher the priority should be.

5. Hire the smartest people you can afford. They need to be good listeners and fast learners. They need to have a positive attitude and enthusiasm for life. They have to be team players within marketing and with sales (park the ego at the door).

6. Measure trends. Points in time can make us feel good (or bad). But trends are what’s really important to measure. Web traffic. Pay per click performance. Plot the monthly results on a trend line for this year. Then compare this year’s trend line with last year’s. 

No matter what your budget, these guidelines can help you maximize the impact of your time, dollars and brainpower.