Marketing Primer for CEOs

For a CEO who comes from a background in sales or engineering, marketing can seem like a deep, dark hole where one throws money and never sees it returned. And there are so many different types of marketers. How can a non-marketer distinguish between them all?

Today's post begins a series introducing CEOs and other executive team members to marketing. We'll define what marketing is, what value marketing delivers to an organization, when to bring in marketing for maximum effect, and the best ways to measure marketing.

Philip Kotler, one of the leading authorities on marketing, in his classic text Marketing Management defines marketing management as:

the process of planning and executing

the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution

of ideas, goods, and services

to create exchanges

that satisfy individual and organizational objectives

Because the job of marketing is so comprehensive, marketing orients itself around two specializations.

1. Product marketing

Focuses on product, pricing, placement and promotion for an offering (product or service). Product marketing usually owns the strategy for the product including feature prioritization and packaging selections (bundling).

2. Marketing communications

Focuses on the communication of the offering (product or service) to the set of target audiences that make up the market. Marcom is involved in all of the activities that drive awareness and promotion of the product - advertising, branding, direct marketing, and public relations.

If an organization is large enough and the product portfolio extensive enough, these two categories further specialize. For instance, you might have an outbound product marketing person who focuses on the target audience relationship and messaging. Or you might have a brand manager who focuses on developing awareness and recognition for an image or brand.

Smaller businesses often group both marketing positions together. Larger businesses often organize product marketing with the product engineering teams and marketing communications with a corporate team.

The Value of Marketing

So, why do I need marketing anyways? We have engineers that know all about the product. We have sales guys who educate and sell the prospect on the product. We've even hired a web guy to create a presence for our company and product on the Internet.

There is one big reason why you need marketing.

Effectiveness

Without marketing ...

• Your engineering team can create a product. But how do you know there are prospects who will buy it? Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come.
• You can set a price you think is fair for your product. But how do you know whether there are prospects willing to pay that price for it? Price must relate to value.
• You can search for prospects who are interested in your product. But the time and cost of finding those prospects using a hunt and peck method could bankrupt your business.
• You are having great conversations with prospects. But it takes them forever to make a purchase decision. They aren't compelled to buy and you don't how to change that.

Yes, your engineers can write data sheets and web content. Of course, you can ask your sales team to do their own lead generation.

But would you have a plumber do your electrical work? Probably not.

For the most critical activities, you want an expert -- someone who specializes in just that type of work. Just because marketing may seem like common sense, doesn't mean that it is.

Good marketers are a combination of scientist, artist, universal translator, and psychologist. Good marketers are experts just like engineers and sales and finance and human resources. You can go-to-market without a marketer. But you aren't going to get very far.