Good Marketing Manager’s (MM’s) know they can influence results and they measure the impact. They measure everything, followers, traffic, social mentions, inbound leads and other metrics, but they know the only one that matters has a $. They are disciplined with their time and use data to help make decisions. Bad MM’s have no time or data.
Good MM’s influence the product, they get involved. They work with producers to influence the agenda, topics, speakers, workshops and even the social events. They take the time to learn about the customer and the industry and use that knowledge to build powerful marketing strategies and deep buyer persona’s. Bad MM’s blame the product.
Good MM’s know the products benefits, but they craft a story. They create content that adds value to the community even if they don’t attend. They take the initiative to create communication pieces and work with producers to refine it. Good MM’s understand the nuances of all communication channels and tailor the message accordingly. Bad MM’s focus on the speakers, the topics and a discount, then repeat again and again in a different order.
Good MM’s seek out win-win partnerships with difficult to get organizations. They pick up the phone and speak to the partners, if possible they go and shake their hand. They use empathy and industry understanding to create strategic alliances with associations, sponsors, speakers and the media. Good MM’s find the influencers and engage them. Bad MM’s send two emails and wait for a response.
Good MM’s work with sales to create powerful sales funnels that generate quality leads. Good MM’s understand the sales pipeline, they partner with the sales exec’s to understand the objections and then create highly relevant engaging content that can help convert prospects. Bad MM’s don’t know their sales exec’s name.
Good MM’s are passionate marketers, oracles of information and sage advice, colleagues from inside and outside marketing seek them out. People want them on their teams, they do more than marketing, they take ownership and pride.
Good MM’s are ideas people, but they also know how to execute. Good MM’s seek out inspiration from all forms of marketing, art, science and life. They are generous with their ideas and apply their inspiration to the communication strategy, constantly innovating and testing. Good MM’s understand process and how it helps execution, but they also know when to follow it and when to adapt it. Bad MM’s hide behind templates and processes.
Good MM’s are valuable members of any team and colleagues for life.
* This post was inspired by The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. One of the best business books I have ever read and recommended for any Marketing Director, General Manager, Managing Director or CEO. You can also read more about that inspiration here at Ben’s blog.
Nomad Marketer @ IQPC 