Marketing is no longer a position that you fill at a company. Marketing is not a television commercial or a radio advertisement. Marketing is not a piece of collateral you send off to reporters, bloggers, or journalists. Marketing is everything you do and every interaction you are involved in.
Every time you have a business meeting with employees, investors, etc. that is marketing. Every time you talk to someone at a bar about your company or service, that is marketing. Every presentation you give and every online and offline conversation you participate in is marketing. I used to work at a marketing agency a while ago that presented monthly reports to clients. At the end of the report the last page would say “thank you.” What kind of marketing is that? Why not let the company know about any news, announcements, updates, or new products/service that you have?
This is crucial to remember, especially for a startup. Everyone at a startup company is marketing, everyone! Startups build their brand and their image based upon the initial interactions that take place between users (press, etc.) and the employees (although they are usually the founders). Most people identify with a company because of the founders/creators. You are the marketing and PR department!
Thanks for reading
…At the end of the report the last page would say “thank you.”…
I guess this is standard practice, seen it in most companies I’ve worked with and our partners/vendors
…Why not let the company know about any news, announcements, updates, or new products/service that you have?…
I’m all for extending reach with new ideas, bit isn’t this a bit of a stretch, wouldn’t we come across as needy/desperate/grappling-for-whatever-attention-we-can-get even-at-inappropriate-places etc;
Although we would all LOVE marketing to be a simple A+B=C… marketing is never like that. I totally agree in everything you do, market yourself as much as possible. For me – I always make sure I have a stack of business cards in my wallet and a brochure or two in my car. You never know when you might meet a contact…. your waiting in line at the post office or at your children’s soccer game. It’s always good to be prepared.
Thanks for sharing!
Hear, hear! Concur with your thoughts. The boundaries are coming down and you have to be nimble to keep up with what’s going on. We’ve commented in similar vein on e-clipsblog if you’d like to check us out.
http://www.e-clipsblog.co.uk/2008/01/08/don%e2%80%99t-be-a-dinosaur/
@Sachendra
There is a difference between beginning for business/being desperate and announcing news and related services to clients. If a client already has a relationship with you they are invested in you, it is in their best interest to know what you are doing. That being said if you are an SEO agency that recently added PPC capabilities, your client on the SEO side would most certainly benefit from that information.
You don’t need to beg, you need to converse. Think of it as though you are speaking with your client in a bar setting and you are just casually explaining your capabilities.
Here is a post I wrote a few months ago re: this issue
https://thefutureorganization.com/dont-just-say-thank-you/
@gophergirl
thanks for the comment. I think its also important to not get a reputation as “that person” that fires off business cards from a holster. Most people think marketing is a 9-5 job, it’s a 24/7 job
@ sue
thank you for the kind words!
thanks for reading all of you!