Do Marketing Teams Actually Do Anything ?
I’m really curious to know what exactly the Marketing Team does cause in the previous two organisations that I worked at , The Marketing Dept was kinda meh. So I wanted to know if it’s the case everywhere or does an actual good Marketing Team exist as the ones I’ve interacted with their lead generation and marketing was trash.
They definitely do
It’s usually a more ambiguous function vs. technical, and hence understanding when it’s going really well vs not is difficult
But in cases where I’ve seen a startup/brand do really well, it is somebody who really cracks both the brand language and performance marketing.
Did your previous two orgs exist in a consumer space? Did they do well despite having a poor marketing team?
RichDadsPoorSon
Stealth
a year ago
My last two organisations were in EdTech.
I just felt the leads that they churned out were of really poor quality and completely not our TG.
Plus sometimes I looked at the campaigns they ran and they seem like they’re not really bothered to fix anything based on the input of the sales team.
Hmmm that’s sad
With EdTech I’ve definitely seen that
Ideally you should be really trying to ensure you get only people that are likely to do well in the course and get a good outcome. But all Edtechs have given up on this - as soon as they focus on growth, they start taking in leads left right and centre
On the face of it, these leads would have a lower cost per lead (because they might be people who are not as well off, or not as attractive for other brands/advertisers), but it will 100% lead to poorer lower runnel :(
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BaggyBed18
Stealth
a year ago
Marketing person here with a SaaS company.
We work on lead generation via paid and organic channels.
Through paid, we work on ad copies and creatives + translation for different geo locations. Then there’s keyword research and so on. The paid ads.
Then there’s email nurturing campaigns. Nurturing trials sign ups, post demos and new customers.
We write blogs, e-books and create videos for YouTube channels which are educational content about our product.
We also work with other teams.
Promote the CSM teams’ webinars. Help in creating their PPT decks for demo calls.
We work on emails to convey major product updates,
Work closely with the partnership team. Help in creating whatever is needed when they go to events and exhibitions.
Basically whatever communication that goes out from the company goes through us and we maintain the website.
The list is sort of endless.
findicav27
Student
a year ago
Nah dude, only enginnering department works in a company.
Having worked at multiple startup’s - it feels as if every team thinks that only their team works in the company; while all other teams do timepass
I sincerely hope this question isn't coming from a techie. If It's coming from one then there's only one answer to it.
All your cute codes will be sitting on the production server with nobody to use the product.
Sales and Marketing literally pay your salary.
corporateslayer666
Stealth
a year ago
They definitely don't ask retarded questions like these.
I think good marketing departments do exist. These examples come to mind:
- Cocacola: Though, it's nothing essential, almost everyone loves coke. If you see their advertisements and slogans, they are often marketing a cool lifestyle rather than just a beverage. They sell the idea of drinking coke to be cool.
- Amul: It's quite popular now and may not even need active marketing however, since long, they have been creating excellent advertisements based on current affairs. They do it in online and offline format. Definitely, takes a good marketing team to pick and adapt the current events to Amul's branding at short intervals regularly.
I worked mostly in R&D of pharma. Bro I hate the marketing team, but can't deny that they do work. They take craps and make them look good. They know where to focus. We give them all the numbers, we see every number equally, that's what any researcher may want to do. But they pick the right number and build story around it to convince doctors to buy our products. I find them unethical - but I need my salary too! A hike too! It is not like they are lying, but they are highlighting some information more than the rest. Identifying what is most critical for a doctor needs tremendous understanding of domain. They have sharp ears to listen to messaging from regulators, doctors, lobbyist and insurance people etc. They are critical elements behind whether a drug markets for 5 billion or 100 million..
Barbaadeshwar
Stealth
a year ago
You worked for EdTech bro. People will buy an instagramers feces but won't touch this crap with a bargepole. Simply speaking nobody wants to buy it. Check out marketing teams in profitable companies where they let them do their work. Have time, budgets and do things the right way.
PlushHearth2
Student
a year ago
Former product marketer here - honestly depends on the organization. But the last couple of organizations, I've been at, in their prime, we really pulled off some big wins.
In addition to everything that @BaggyBed18 mentioned, as a product marketer, I'd work very closely with Product Managers to ensure that there was strong user awareness, adoption, utilisation of every feature that we put out, along with opportunities for product-led upsells and feedback collection at the right points.
Mehanti
Stealth
a year ago
What's your profession?
RichDadsPoorSon
Stealth
a year ago
I’m the Asst Mgr at one of the leading EdTech platforms. Been into sales for 5+ years.
Apart from that have family business in energy / textile and real estate.
Mehanti
Stealth
a year ago
I am Near to AVP level and I worked with startsups and Mnc as well, So answer your question marketing is a very crucial department in every company and there are too many touch points where team involves like
Micro ads interaction- Sms, Ads in app and website based on cookies
Major campaigns- Run in Facebook
Events- Local and international events
B2B & B2C Strategies - Product offering and paid and complementary plans
Packaging
So straightforward to pointing any department is not a good practice and if they will not justify their salaries so obviously management will fire or put entire operations outsourced.
My Advice- If you find any lag you can approach to Senior or lead level member and discuss your idea and suggestions.
One more thing if you are working remotely so it's hard to collaborate but if you are WFO so sit in their department and Learn.
#Thank you and Be Positive and Helping nature Kind
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Marketing is so much more than lead gen or dogital. Unfortunately its one of the functions that constantly fights for budgets. On top of that, every leader in an org thinks of themselves as a marketing whiz and marketing gets constant 'tips' from leaders. Just becomes a beauraucratic nightmare.
But whenever you doubt marketing, think about the iconic fevicol ads or how maggi got back from the PR crisis.
OilyShawl86
Student
a year ago
Some marketing people give the sales teams bad leads just to meet quotas. Many marketing people work under toxic management. However after having worked in both product and marketing side i can safely say good marketing teams can make a lot of difference
Whenever you techies boast about your concurrencies, think where and how those users came from
BrokenHike45
Stealth
a year ago
They use clevertap broooo 🚀
RichDadsPoorSon
Stealth
a year ago
Okay I think I need to clarify this post before people start attacking each other or me ☠️😂
In hindsight I realised the way I articulated this sentence was not in line with what I actually wanted to say.
So the backstory for this post comes after working a 12 Hour shift in the sales department of a major EdTech company. Been doing this for the past 2 years and from what I’ve seen is that the marketing teams in these companies take things too chill or are not really trying to do much to improve the marketing. Due to that we have to call people from Tier 3 cities or lower and despite that 80% of them have not even enquired for the product despite the marketing teams claim that they have. Getting abused in a language you don’t understand cause you randomly call them and them thinking you’re a scam is no fun 🤡
I love marketing and it’s one of the fields I’ve worked in during the early stages of my career and even now I would love working for a marketing agency or somewhere creative. However I believe the in house marketing departments of these EdTech companies and B2B companies are below par to what we all expect.
And no I’m not a techie , let’s not hate them for this post too 😂
Vagabond
Stealth
a year ago
So is marketing getting the axe next after PM on grapevine ? Can’t believe there are such dummies here.
LooseGoose
Stealth
a year ago
Most marketing in India is trash, startup or not. But even trash marketing can help pay bills and bring in revenue. Product/service without any marketing is a dead company.
RichDadsPoorSon
Stealth
a year ago
I think there are good marketing firms / agencies in India too. Might be a few but they are there.
I believe in India since creativity isn’t really something management promotes and it’s kinda hard for younger people to be heard by the ones on top it kinda makes our marketing looks outdated or trash compared to the ones outside.
Plus we have a conservative society so we can’t really do a lot of marketing which is out of the ordinary I guess.
LooseGoose
Stealth
a year ago
There's very few good ones with very high attrition rates. All the seniors from mudra and dentsu and the like went and started their own firms, churn keeps happening every few years.
Small boutique firms and specialised martech firms are now all the rage.
But the best marketing can mostly only happen in-house. Those who don't know the company or the culture can't communicate its values.
bahiwbstyavw
Stealth
a year ago
we own targets unlike most teams that don’t take accountability
Blackmamba99
Stealth
a year ago
In India marketing has been more or less reduced to chipkaoing and miss selling more and more to gullible buyers be it bank selling insurance, Mutual fund SIPs, Ads with unreasonable expectations in FMCG is so obvious still nobody does anything.
Hey for any business, the two critical pieces of the equation are at what cost you get your customer and what revenue you earn from them. The first metric is completely owned by marketing team. They work across online and offline channels to reduce CAC. High quality and low quality leads is all part of the game.
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