Why Vendors Need To Hire Marketing Leaders From Outside Their Industry
With the growth we have seen in the streaming media market, most vendors have a long list of open reqs, all desperately trying to hire the same people. And while it makes sense to hire sales and product folks from within the industry, I’m a firm believer that when it comes to marketing positions, vendors need to start hiring from outside our industry – immediately.
At first many might think that’s an odd statement for me to make, but marketing is a skill set. Either you understand how to market a product or you don’t. Understanding the technology helps to a degree, but companies aren’t selling technology, they are selling a service. No offense to the marketers in our industry, but we need some fresh blood, with those who know how to market a service/produce, and bring a different perspective to the industry. Even for myself, I recently hired a marketing specialist to help me re-think and re-imagine my brand in the market. A good marketing person knows how to tell a story and transform a product and service into something compelling, even if they don’t know how to encode a piece of video.
As an industry, we are all using far too many high-level and generic words like speed, quality, performance, scale etc. with no real meaning behind them. Good marketing and branding is an art. It involves knowing how to price, package and productize a product/service and do it in a way that resonates with the customer, be it b2b or b2c. Those with good marketing skills know how to transcend verticals and markets, while delivering a clear message. And the really good marketers can meld companies, industries and make brands more valuable and relevant.
As I have seen first hand from the marketing person I am working with, great marketers are remarkable observers. They love to observe people’s behaviors and can quickly tell what a person likes, what resonates with them, and what creates the experience the client is looking for. A good marketing person is also extremely curious, they constantly ask questions, and want to know what businesses and people think of things. Skillful marketers always have questions to ask and never run out of ways to think about how a person or business reacts to a name, a brand, a service or a feeling. In short, really good marketing folks are geniuses because they aren’t afraid to try something new, to disrupt the market, to change how people think.
A good marketing person doesn’t work 9 to 5. They spend a lot of personal hours watching people, questioning the norm, researching, looking at data and advancing their skills. They tend to read everything they can and absorb information like a sponge, constantly retaining it for later. They are great planners, but even better doers. Marketing professionals live in the trenches, because it’s where they get their energy from and they don’t use buzz words or quotes from books, because they have been there and done it. They have the hands-on experience, are always thinking, coming up with ideas, and trying something new. They also love their community, are aware of their surroundings, love challenges, and I’ve found, they never start a conversation with a list of their achievements. They are most interested in their client’s challenges and how they can solve them.
I also have found that really good marketers are quite humble, don’t come with an ego and are not seeking glory. They take great pride in their work and they love to see a campaign and branding exercise be successful. Great marketers believe in accountability, and are not afraid of data, reporting and have a tangible methodology to determine the clients ROI.
When it comes to marketing products and services in the online video industry, it’s time for our market to be disrupted. We need change. We need to evolve. We all need a fresh perspective. Even me. It does not matter how long you have been in the space, in fact, I think the longer you have been in the industry, is actually a dis-service when it comes to having a fresh marketing approach to the market. Right now I am having someone look at what I do, critic it, change it, and find ways to make it even more relevant, make it transcend verticals – which is the only way for any business and brand to grow. And that is the true value of a marketing genius, growing a company. If you are interested in branding, marketing, and packaging help, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll put you in contact with the marketing genius I am using.