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Along with hundreds of other tech geeks…i mean bloggers…I was lucky enough to attend Blog World Expo 09 in Las Vegas this past weekend. Unfortunately, while in Vegas, my allergies were causing me to almost hack up a lung (doctor did confirm it was allergies, not H1N1, so don’t worry), but the way I see it is if that’s the closest thing to a disease you get while in Vegas you’re doing pretty good.
One of the panels I attended was Jeremiah Owyang’s on the “Future” of Social Media. The panel itself was very interesting, but someone raised a question that I found particularly intriguing that didn’t get discussed as much as I had hoped.
The question was “Why not slash 90% of your marketing budget and plug that money into product development and customer service?” I don’t know the name of the man who asked this (if you do, let me know so I can include it), but his point was why not just build a killer product, treat your customers like they’re each your #1 priority, and let them market your product for you?
Personally, I think that the theory behind this idea is a good one for your company to operate under, but in practice it’s not going to work (usually).
The main glaring problem I see here is about perception. Let’s pretend you do this and create an “A+” product, where your closest competitor creates a solid “B” product that’s good, just not AS good as yours. The thing is they have a $200 million advertising budget that tells everyone their product can lay the smack down on yours, whereas you’re letting your product speak for itself. Once their product starts picking up steam, it’s going to have to really disappoint their customers in order for them to want to switch to your product.
Basically, your product is still only as good as your marketing leads people to believe.
Having said that, focusing on making a kick-ass product and treating your customers like royalty is still a tremendous way to do business. This will definitely help generate buzz, but you’re going to still have to put in some work to perpetuate and build on that buzz. Just look at Apple. They focus on building killer products and have a pretty good customer service record, but they’re still spending millions upon millions in advertising all over the place to make sure you know how awesome they are.
What do you think? Would you be ready to slash your marketing/advertising budget by 90% to focus on product development and customer service?
Product development and customer service are important aspects of the organization, but marketing is what makes them accessible to the public. To me, anytime I hear about drastic marketing cuts, I think that the individual or organization is operating under a lack of foresight. I can make the best product in the world, but if no one knows about it, then no one is going to buy it.
You don't have to spend tons of money on marketing. You just need to have a correct market focus on the individuals who are upset with things that you and your competitors do. Make a product or service designed to them and market to them. Let them champion your amazing product. When you're looking at limited resources, it's easy to say slash marketing. But marketing is what provides the future growth you need to survive as an organization. The success of an organization isn't measured by saving money - it's by making it. It's about growing. Slashing your budget, rather than improving your focus or your process, is the wrong answer.
Don’t judge based on popularity or blind reciprocity, instead make sure they “get it” and just as importantly, that their followers “get it”. More...
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