Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

In her post, 2008 Resolution for Small B2B Technology Firms, Maureen of Opinionated Marketers writes about all the things such firms typically want from “we want to keep our web site fresh” all the way down to “we want tschotkes.” Unfortunately, often in the real world (in any type of industry), the whole list devolves to a few ads done on the fly and those tschotkes. All because the companies focus more on what they want to do (seeing their name in lights, so to speak) versus what they need to do, which is get and keep profitable customers.

As Maureen notes, if you do just one thing it shouldn’t be the tschotkes. The world can live without any more coffee cups or t-shirts. (I actually had a techie entrepreneur once tell me, “We’re branded! We’ve got a coffee cup!” Aaargggh.)

Here’s what Maureen recommends (and I concur):

First things first
I always start with the most fundamental fundamental of all: get your story straight. The medium is not the message; the message is the message, and yours had better reflect:

* What your product is and does
* What your customers do with it
* What it does for them
* Just who these customers are
* Just why they should want to buy products from you

Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned girl, but to me, if you can’t express the above in clear English, you really have no business trying to market anything.

After all, did anybody ever call you panting to buy because they saw your cool coffee cup? Hmmmm….

Oh - and that “just one thing?” There is no one right answer. But, I’d recommend you consider spending your time and energy on the customers (or warm prospects) you already have.

P.S. In start-up mode, it’s better to have one spiffy web page that addresses the five items Maureen lists, with contact info (phone, email, real people names) than a slapped together amateurish site with lots of empty pages and “coming soon!” signs. Also, DO NOT have site visitor counters (I still see those) or Google ads. Google ads can send a visitor right to one of your competitors. If you do decide to go the Google route, consult a web pro, and have a plan.