The Plight of Brand Marketing
1-minute 30-second read
Brand Marketer: We need to start building trust and awareness in [X] market with [Y] type of person. We’re starting at zero—no awareness and no trust.
Let’s start experimenting with [insert trust-building strategy]. We can test quickly with a minimal budget of [$$], get feedback from the market which will inform go-to-market and product, and if we see signals that there’s something there, we will continue refining our strategy over time. And if not, we can pivot to another experimental strategy on our list.
(AKA: minimum risk, low to no cost, lots of upside, fast.)
Everyone: This sounds great! Yay!!! We want strangers who've never heard of us to know, like, and trust us. Go team!
Brand Marketer: Cool. I’ll put together a plan so we’re all on the same page. We can get started on this right away. (Feeling excited!)
[Plan delivered to the powers that be. The plan includes the intention of the experiment, budget, resources needed, detailed step-by-step execution, tools required, and a clear timeline for the experiment. You’re set to execute the experiment quickly with minimal budget and resources.]
Powers that be: This looks awesome! Our only question is what results will we get from this?
Brand Marketer: Remember, we’re starting at zero. This market and these people don’t know who we are or what we do. We’re starting the trust-building process with them and that takes time. Don’t expect a huge uptick in meetings booked. It’s not about that. It’s about becoming the recognized and trusted source when they have [problem]. We need to manage our expectations. There's a ton we don't know.
Powers that be: We need to tie this to something measurable. (That's codeword for money). We think we should run a bunch of email sequences to these people instead. That way we can focus on booking sales calls for our reps that will turn into deals.
Brand Marketer: I hear you. Money is the ultimate outcome. But people don’t like to get random emails from companies they don’t know. They’ll just get deleted. What we need to do is enable our outbound efforts in this new market by first building brand awareness in that market. Outbound should be Phase 2.
Powers that be: We don’t like getting random emails from people we don’t know. But other people do. Because what we offer is so good that everyone would want to buy it if they knew about it.
Brand Marketer: FML!
FTR, I’m a reformed brand evangelist. I’m also a seller. I’ve become a realist when it comes to this stuff. This does not mean don’t sell or wait to sell.
I don’t see sales, brand, and marketing as either/or’s. They are both/and’s that strategically fit together. That said, it’s really hard to sell into an environment where nobody knows who you are.
Cramming cold messages down strangers' inboxes simply because it’s easier and cheaper feels intentionally naive to the way we want to find and buy a new thing ourselves.
— Nate