Investment & Commitment

I started reading Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson last week. Now I’m only on chapter three but I feel like there are already some things worth discussing. What really grabbed my interest so far were two of the 16 guerrilla secrets; commitment and investment.

A reoccurring theme in my work experience and throughout my MBA program has caused me some concern. That reoccurring theme… shortsightedness. In my experience management looks for and expects instant results and if they don’t see those results they scrap the marketing initiative. I blame this on the overarching financial reporting requirements here in the United States where companies are required to file financials on a quarterly basis. A company’s stock price is affected by those financials which is ultimately what consumers and investors use to gauge that company’s performance. Of course it is top management’s concern to increase performance and value for shareholders which is why they constantly push for short-term results.

What people need to realize is that marketing is an investment and requires commitment in order to produce fantastic results that may show further down the road. Of course the timeline for seeing results varies on many factors including what brand equity the company already has established, marketing budget, etc…

Marketing efforts should not be confined to producing results within a financial timeline. You must focus on building customer confidence and trust, things that may take longer than one, two, three or even four reporting periods. Marketing is a long-term investment that requires commitment to a well conceived plan that is adaptable and manageable.

Marketing vs. Sales

I love how a lot of people confuse marketing with sales. I have my resume posted online (just as every professional should whether or not you are in the market for a new job) and I am tired of all the emails I receive from insurance and financial service companies stating that I should come work for them in marketing when in actuality they are all sales jobs. I also have to clarify with people that I speak with in casual social situations as to what I mean when I say that I am seeking employment in the marketing field. Almost everyone responds with the proverbial, oh, you want to do sales. No, I don’t want to be a salesperson and no, marketing is not sales… but… sales is marketing. I will explain.

Marketing Defined

Marketing is understanding your customers (internal & external) and ensuring that your organization adds value to those customers while generating revenue for the organization. Now the world of marketing is much more complex than this, however, this is the fundamental meaning behind marketing that all those other complexities stem from. Such things as market segmentation, branding, the 4 P’s (product, place, price and promotion), PR, advertising and product development all fit under the marketing umbrella, but their purpose boils down to understanding customers and adding value while generating revenue. My goal is to use my blog to clarify and discuss the complexities and intricacies of marketing.

Sales Defined

Sales is the delivery of value to customers in return for money or other compensation.

Marketing vs. Sales

One would argue that a salesperson’s job is to do precisely what I defined marketing to be. They get to know the customer and understand their needs, illustrate how their product or service meets those needs (ensure value added) and then deliver the product or service to the customer in exchange for payment (revenue). Exactly! This is why I stated that marketing is not sales, but sales is marketing.

However, sales is a marketing tool and one that cannot be used until the marketing department of an organization does some legwork first. They must create an image for the organization (branding). Research must be conducted to determine market segmentation and product attributes. A value proposition must be created. A strategy must be developed to distribute the product or service to the target markets. After all of this is said and done is when sales can step in and begin selling.

Communication must not flow one way from marketing to sales. In fact, communication between marketing and sales MUST be a two-way street. Salespeople are on the frontlines with the customer. They get to know them intimately and understand their needs and how they evolve. Therefore sales needs to communicate information back to marketing so that they can make the necessary changes to the overall marketing campaign as well as make appropriate product changes to maintain their competitiveness in the marketplace.

So when someone is talking about marketing, says that they are in marketing, or are looking for employment in marketing don’t assume that they are referring to sales. There is much more to marketing.

What do you think marketing is? How do you describe the relationship between marketing and sales? Please share your comments by posting a comment, linking back to this post or sending me an email.