What Do You Want Marketing to Do?
The first of three marketing arguments your company must have
Did you ever wonder why Wall Street bankers celebrate big deals at Peter Luger’s instead of the Cheesecake Factory?
(OK, you’ve probably never, ever wondered that. Work with me here — this blogging thing is harder than it looks.)
According to their website, the Factory’s menu includes more than 250 items “made from scratch.” Peter Luger’s has 31 including desserts and appetizers…and five of those items are “steak”. Yet I feel confident saying that a Goldman Sachs expense report has never included a Cheesecake Factory receipt. Why?
Mediocrity doesn’t make an impact.
Ask people in your organization what marketing does and the answers will probably feel a lot like a night at the Cheesecake Factory.
- Sales Exec: “They helped with that PowerPoint for that new business pitch.” (Or, “I had the shrimp and chicken gumbo.”)
- Product Exec: “They make sure the direct mail campaign goes out on time each year.” (“Me? I had the Thai coconut lime chicken.”)
- HR Exec: “I asked them for help with a recruiting ad and wordsmithing the mission statement.” (“I wanted the huevos rancheros but they said it was only available on Sundays.”)
Everyone kind of got what they wanted, but it was pretty forgettable and really not worth what they paid. And did anyone actually order the cheesecake?
For marketing to have the impact you expect, you have to choose what you want it to be great at and then focus. A few thought starters to help you decide:
- Do we depend on marketing primarily for lead generation, sales support, cross-selling or retention? (You can pick something else if you like… the operative word here is or. No ands allowed.)
- Is it more important for us to have a broad marketplace presence, or deep relationships in a specific niche?
- What does our sales cycle look like? Who’s accountable for what customer actions?
- How much are we willing to spend on marketing?
An important point here, especially for a smaller organization, is you’re not trying to build a marketing function that’s only capable of doing one thing. I mean, what’s a good steak without a chopped salad beforehand and creamed spinach on the side? You’re deciding on what you want marketing to be great at, and where you want them to spend most of their time and resources.
You’re not trying to build a marketing function that’s only capable of doing one thing.
You’ll know you’ve done this process right if someone goes away mad. Not “Do we need to call security?” mad — mad like there’s not a vegan option at the steakhouse they didn’t want to go to in the first place. Because that means you’ve created enough focus for your marketers to do Peter Luger work.
