Dan Wellers
Marketing and Strategy Advisor

Over the holidays I was cleaning out my paper files and came across Regis McKenna’s seminal article, “Marketing Is Everything,” published in the Jan-Feb 1991 Harvard Business Review. That’s a pretty long time ago, but during the early to mid-1990s the paper was a touchstone for marketing leaders and transformed how many organizations thought about marketing. Its main message – that marketing’s role is to “create, sustain and interpret the relationship between the company, its suppliers and its customers” – was controversial at the time because it challenged the prevailing attitudes that marketing was distinct and subordinate to the core functions of the organization. McKenna, in contrast, believed that marketing must become a way of doing business, all-pervasive and part of everyone’s job description.

The imperative that marketing must be a way of doing business is especially true in emerging companies because resources are scarce and their employees wear multiple hats. I agree with McKenna’s message and would add that marketing, and business, is primarily about building relationships. What’s exciting is that today there are more tools and techniques than ever to help. Here are three great examples that build on each other in important ways:

1. Buyer Personas. Noted marketing strategist, author and speaker David Meerman Scott defines a buyer persona as “a type of buyer that you have identified as having a specific interest in your organization or product, or having a market problem that that your product or service solves.” In his 2009 book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Scott makes the case that buyer personas are the single most important thing you must build before creating your marketing or PR plan. I’ll be bolder and suggest that doing so will also significantly improve your odds for a successful business. Without buyer personas you will struggle to achieve market focus. With them, you’ll have a clear picture of who to target, what they want, and what solutions or content they need to solve their problems.
2. Social Media. The core of social media is building relationships. Blogs, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, e-books and e-zines, tools that are often free (except for your time), can help you create awareness, boost PR, enhance customer service and have online conversations about your company. Creating a social media strategy that targets your buyer personas is a terrific way to strengthen relationships with the people most important to the success of your business.
3. Thought Leadership. A company that is identified with innovative insights into a specific set of business problems or industry issues inspires trust and confidence, differentiates it from its competitors and helps build a strong brand name, all of which contribute to increased sales and margins. Imagine delivering your unique vision through whitepapers, webinars, podcasts, videos etc. via social media accurately targeted to your key buyer personas. This is very powerful indeed.

The prescient McKenna predicted that new technology would allow companies to build strong relationships with their customers, effectively integrating them into their operations and therefore allowing the company to own its market. With a thoughtful approach, today this is more possible than ever.

Dan Wellers has an office at CTech in New Haven and may be contacted at wellers@snet.net  or 203-438-7504.

View comments / leave a comment

Posted under Tech Community / VC World