The most influential management guru of all time, Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005) said “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”
As a successful company you probably have the innovation function covered, but you also need good marketing. It is a must… and it is changing quicker than ever.
This could be good news for you. Everyone is trying to understand how marketing strategy and advertising is changing in this new environment of the web, social media and the decline of traditional media outlets.
Or, it could be really bad. If your competitors understand this area before you do it could vault them ahead and keep them ahead.
You are probably barely able to keep up with tech news as it is, fortunately there are a few great blogs you can read to begin shoring up your marketing side.
I’ve listed them below, each one for a specific reason… I have these in my feedreader and I’ve read nearly every previous post on each one.
Those blogs will do the following for you:
- Give you a sound understanding of branding and marketing strategies using real world examples (Ries),
- educate you on real world use of Social Media in today’s environment, (Chris Brogan)
- show you how a CEO uses Social Media and Web2.0 to sell more of his companies’ software (Tim Berry), and
- show you tactical and optimization (where the rubber meets the road) (Grokdotcom)
1. Ries’ Pieces. This is Laura Ries’ blog. Her and her Dad, Al Ries, have published the best marketing strategy books bar none. The only book that comes close to any of their books is “Blue Ocean Strategy” which provides a step-by-step guide to DOING what Ries’ recommends.
2. Chris Brogan. From his website: Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations, and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value. His recent post on “Social Media Starter Moves for Tourism” can easily be applied to selling more using Social Media.
3. Tim Berry. You probably don’t need his business plan software since you already have a functioning business. But, I think you should read his blog because he is one of the few Software company CEOs who “gets” how to use Social Media and Web2.0 to actually sell more of his company’s software. He doesn’t do it in a pushy way. He uses the “Strategy of Preeminence” to serve his target prospects.
4. Grokdotcom. They are experts at website optimization. Read it not so much for the technical skill of optimization but with an eye towards HOW they structure the experiments and the underlying strategies and principles.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Jason Bedunah