Duct Tape Marketing

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a CEO say, “we want to get as much marketing as possible for the least amount of money,” I would be a rich man.  Believe me.  I have measured it.   Why is it that so many CEOs and their management teams are still approaching marketing from the position that it is a cost?  Because they have absolutely no metrics to justify how they are spending their marketing dollars. 

Most CEOs of privately held Business-To-Business organizations have not taken the time to measure what their customers are worth to them over their lifetime, and so they have no way to build a rationale for what they are willing to spend to win more customers.

When it comes to marketing, most CEOs at B2B companies make lousy catchers, and even worse pitchers.

It's tough to find a CEO that really loves to talk about marketing. Business owners, presidents, and CEOs pack into sales seminars, but similar marketing events are filled only with marketing directors and marketing VPs, with few CEOs in sight. And yet, in which area of the business do you think the CEOs are dumping more money without a measurable return, marketing or sales?

“Except marketing.”

Marketing has evolved. But most corporate marketing approaches have not. And in a tough economy, those who have not are feeling the pressure – but who’s taking the heat? Why, the CEO, of course.

If you have been to a marketing seminar you have almost definitely seen a PowerPoint slide titled, “The 4 P’s of Marketing.”  The problem only arises if the marketing seminar was directed at helping you market your B2B company. The traditional 4 P’s of marketing support B2C marketing and are all but irrelevant when managing the marketing and selling of complex B2B products and service-based solutions.