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?
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 :(
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.
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.
They definitely don't ask retarded questions like these.
I think good marketing departments do exist. These examples come to mind:
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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.
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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.
What's your profession?
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.
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
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.
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..
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.