When it comes to marketing for technology companies, there are a few challenges these businesses face that deserve some attention.
Resources
If you asked anyone in tech what their top challenge is right now, it would be resources. Finding people to do the work is a common challenge across all industries. Every industry, from construction, manufacturing, retail, and hospitality, to technology, is faced with finding and retaining qualified talent.
Focusing on technology, finding the right engineers with the specialized skills to contribute to your company’s solution is difficult. And once you find someone, the onboarding process to bring the candidate up to speed on the specifics of your solution can be time-consuming. Something most tech companies don’t have a lot of – time.
Not to mention the competition for talent compounds the problem. The recent pandemic forced the world to work remotely. This phenomenon opened doors for the workforce to rethink what they want to get out of their jobs. And technology companies are trying to determine the right compensation balance to keep and attract talent. People don’t stay at companies for the free snacks and stand-up desks, and providing salary increases is only a bandaid fix.
People are looking for purpose and want stability so they can work to live. More and more people are recognizing they do not have to live to work. This is “the great renegotiation!”
What are you doing to attract and keep the talent you have?
Sales & Marketing Alignment
Many technology companies will hire a sales team well before they hire a marketing team. There is a common misconception that sales and marketing are like oil and vinegar. In the 23 years of marketing, our CEO has only experienced this once in her career.
When sales and marketing are aligned, messages are on point and driving results. One of our CEO’s mentors once said, “marketing is the engineering behind sales.”
En·gi·neer·ing /ˌenjəˈniriNG/ noun
The branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures.
Google Definition
It makes sense, engineering is simply the branch of science concerned with the design, building, and use of tools to solve a problem. In a sense, marketing is concerned with the science behind why a prospect would want to use your solution and designs the infrastructure for messaging and reaching target audiences.
This doesn’t make one inferior to the other. The relationship between sales and marketing is a symbiotic one. Both need each other to be successful.
What are you doing to foster a symbiotic relationship between sales and marketing teams?
Why marketing?
Tech companies often know they need marketing, but perceive marketing as something different. The top misconceptions about marketing are:
- Marketing and sales are the same things.
- Marketing will provide fast results.
- Marketing only makes things sparkly.
Marketing and sales are not the same. Marketing is not something just anyone can do effectively. Just because you have a marketing team doesn’t mean you will get fast results or results in the area you hoped. Lastly, marketing is not about adding glitter, rainbows, and sharing lollipops with everyone.
We believe these misconceptions come from marketing being perceived as a point solution instead of a comprehensive strategy. These point solutions are often a knee-jerk reaction from sales or executives. This results in marketing teams focusing on individual tactics to accomplish single tasks instead of thinking through how all these tactics could work together in a cohesive marketing plan and achieve a greater ROI.
Marketing is a far more strategic role for any company. Marketing is responsible for reaching prospects at different points throughout the buying process. It is important that marketing teams work with product, sales, and client satisfaction teams to grow and scale your business effectively. It is key to understand the ideal client profiles (ICP) and how they travel through the buyer’s journey. Knowing how and where the ICP gets their content gives marketing teams insights into what they need to create. When marketed correctly, these inbound leads should convert at a faster rate.
If you aren’t ready for a full-time marketing executive, consider speaking with a fractional CMO. If this is something you are interested in learning more about, shoot us a message.