Like the web there has been a constant migration in terms of best practice and even the tools for companies marketing departments to buy and use to get out the message and track success. But UNLIKE the web application space — I’m not convinced that most marketing groups have really spent the research time to uncover how to really USE these new tools. I think the majority of the teams just kind of muddle along and try bits and pieces of the new ideas but never master it. It kind of reminds me of people with TiVo that never figure out how to use the “Season Pass” feature and record their favorite shows weekly …MANUALLY (if you can imagine that :) )
Or for a more realistic example — spend tons of time putting in SalesForce.com — but never use the campaign features or report writers to really SEE the customer pipeline. They simply use it as an expensive contact management and to-do list tool!
For example — to show the evolution of marketing teams using the web in a very basic fashion — In 1995 it was simply cool to create a web page. In 2000 it was all about driving traffic to your site and getting a mention here and there in a few of the top print publications and then linking to those articles as a virtual on-line library. Hey it was pretty cool back then that you didn’t care when the story ran (it could even show up in the 4th of July edition … ) because it was now searchable by that new fangeled search engine “Google” and you could prominently display the story on your website forever!
Well a lot has obviously changed in the last few years. In fact I think more in the last two years (2005 & 2006) than in the previous three as it relates to new marketing tools and best practices for getting the PROPER message out to your TARGET customers. It is no longer acceptable to post a few pages on the web, do a press tour, create an advisory board, do some trade show events, and call your company “Successfully Launched”. Same with products. Same with success stories.
The game has changed with Startup Marketing 2.0. Now the question is where to start and how to use the new fancy car you’ve just been given so that nobody gets hurt!
SO WHERE DO WE START?
Sure there are tons of ideas floating with concepts surrounding blogs, Podcasts, YouTube product demo’s, Webinar’s, event wiki’s, and my new personal favorite the “un-conference” where event participants decide on the format for the event as evidenced by the BarCamp event and even one sponsored by Sun recently called Startup Camp.
But the real question is how do startup teams take advantage of these new tools ??
What are the right ones FOR THEIR MARKETS ??
How do you control the message if everyone is blogging/podcasting/unconferencing ?? Do you need to ?? (… I think to some degree the answer is yes)
How to you DIRECT your sales force and target your best customers/prospects and avoid the ones with no money?? (… but who read blogs, listen to podcasts, and attend unconferences)
On top of the strategic questions there are practical and tactical questions such as:
Can I do this in-house or do I have to get my PR agency or web developer team to run these programs?
What do these programs cost?
And back to the age old problem — how to I measure results and ensure my target audience is listening?
Well I’ve been thinking a lot recently about these “Marketing 2.0” challenges (specifically as it relates to venture backed startups in more traditional markets such as networking hardware, enterprise software, and semiconductors) as these markets are still inundated with many “Old School” marketing approaches and I’m pretty sure we have a LOOOOONG way to go here before the next wave of “best practice” is fairly well chronicled.
OK … before you beat me up — I know there a ton of good things happening with companies marketing teams in these spaces — but are they REALLY taking a focused and strategic look at how to use these tools or just throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks? I think it is more the latter.
SO WHO ARE YOU AND WHY SHOULD I READ THIS #$@!
The Runawit Group is focused on providing start-ups with real life marketing services. We are not a PR agency, we are not consultants, we are not head hunters. We are, however, real life, in the trenches, start-up marketing guys. We have raised money, sold companies, launched products, fired people, hired people, shutdown companies, had failures, but most importantly when measured against most metrics have been very successful in generating what matters most … revenue, share holder value, and employee satisfaction.
Today we often act as a member of a new startups management team … in a virtual exec role. We don’t always come in knowing the answers … but will find them. We don’t really expect specific job specs … but we will write them. We don’t even know the best marketing 2.0 approaches for all businesses … but we certainly won’t just throw ideas against the wall to see what sticks … that’s for sure!
I’ll continue to post my best examples of GREAT Marketing 2.0 strategies and examples while exploring some of the mundane trials and tribulations of the various tools as I continue to Wade deeper (pun intended) into these new concepts and emerging “best practices”.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
