Written by: Vickie Sullivan | June 23, 2015
What Your Marketing Team Can’t Do
Many executives in mid-size firms don’t like marketing. They want to get the deals and move on to deliver the best product or service. They want to grow the business and ward off competitors. So they do the smart thing: hire a marketing person or outside firm.
Being the practical people they are, these executives look at activities — they focus on what will the staff/outside firm do to help drive growth. They hire great tacticians.
The problem: these teams are expected to do the strategic heavy lifting that they have very little expertise in. Staff can’t decide how to best approach the customer, how to differentiate away your competitors, or how to find your best competitive advantage. In the spirit of service (and keeping the client/boss happy), staff and agencies will do what they know — throw more tactics at the problem. This is why popular activities, such as “asking your customers”, sound great but are ineffective.
Positioning, differentiating in crowded markets — those are strategic issues. Only the executive team is responsible for these areas. Figure that out first, then bring in the experts in implementations. Remember, tactics are only as good as the strategy they implement. Garbage in, garbage out.
Other Resources You Might Like:
- Your Position of Power
- Two Things To Do Different For 2015 B2B Marketing
- Buyer Mentality And The B2B Market