Field Notes
On the Frontier
This is a living laboratory. It features experiments in human-AI collaboration, creativity, and business management.
MBA Boot Camp: What Marketing Actually Is (4.1)
Legendary management consultant Peter Drucker famously said: "The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself."
Marketing is not sales. Sales is trying to get rid of what you have. Marketing is figuring out what to create in the first place.
Real marketing happens long before an advertisement is created. It starts with market research (identifying a gap or a need in the market). Then, marketing works with Operations to design the product, with Finance to price it, and finally creates the promotional campaign to tell the world about it. If the marketing strategy is perfect, the sales team barely has to work.
Provoking Action: What StoryBrand 2.0 Taught Me About Bold, Clear CTAs
Donald Miller challenges readers to be bolder and clearer with their calls to action. In a way, he is enacting his advice, because passive statements don’t challenge customers to actually buy anything:
[M]ake your call to action clear by asking customers a yes/no question. Statements like ‘If you’re interested, let me know’ do not prompt our customers to accept or reject our offer and instead send them off into a whirlwind of confusion. The chances of our customers going home, pouring a drink, and meditating on our vague offer are next to zero, so don’t expect to close many sales if you’re passive and confusing.