Here’s my own provocative statement: this post is a long one, but if you truly want to help Waterloo Region tech companies become more effective at marketing, then you’ll read the whole thing.

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan Burgio over at Stryve Marketing shared the provocative Waterloo: We can be better at marketing. In that post, he presented and briefly discussed five reasons why Waterloo Region-based companies aren’t as effective at marketing as they could (and should) be.

I agree with Ryan’s sentiments—we’ve never worked together (we met for a coffee last year, and it’s clear we share a lot of the same philosophies), but we’ve both been involved in the local scene long enough to recognize some of the same issues.

So, in the same constructive spirit of self-improvement, I’m sharing some of my own thoughts, informed by experience, observations, and secondhand knowledge.

Here’s my own provocative statement: this post is a long one, but if you truly want to help Waterloo Region tech companies become more effective at marketing, then you’ll read the whole thing. If you don’t have or make the time to read it, then are you really willing to put in the work to become a better marketer? I don’t mean to sound cantankerous, but it’s the truth.

In my view, technology marketing in the Waterloo Region is operating below its potential due to a number of correctable mistakes. On the plus side, that gives us lots of ways to improve. The suggestions below are listed in quasi-priority order, but I’ve numbered them primarily for ease-of-reference.

1. Learn what marketing really is
2. Realize that tech marketing isn’t fundamentally special or different
3. Stop accepting predictable mediocrity
4. Look at marketing as a long-term investment, not a cost
5. Start your marketing before you start your development
6. Invest enough in marketing for it to make a difference
7. Accept that you can’t figure marketing out on your own…at least not fast enough
8. Hire experienced marketers, and let them do their jobs
9. Focus on doing the right things before you focus on doing things right
10. Break the silos between marketing and other teams
11. Talk to each other about marketing, and talk about the important things

Improvement #1: Learn what marketing really is

“The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” — the American Marketing Association’s definition of marketing

Let’s start with the fundamentals. When most people and organizations think about marketing, they forget about almost everything except advertising and campaigns.

You see that part about “creating offerings that have value”? Yeah, that’s pretty important to your business, and it means that marketing—done correctly—starts long before you sit down to build something (see #5). You need to begin by understanding your market. Ludicrous, I know!

Here’s how I usually describe what real marketers do: as experts in our target markets…

• We bring intelligence into the organization to inform requirements, competitive strategies, long-term growth initiatives, and other important decisions
• We apply that knowledge to take our solutions into the market effectively, to reach and create demand within prospects who are looking to solve problems In overly simple terms: we bring market information in, and we take solution information out.

I really could end this post here, because once an organization truly appreciates marketing, then they completely change how they approach it, and all the other improvements described below happen naturally.

Improvement #2: Realize that tech marketing isn’t fundamentally special or different

We go out and reinvent things that were discovered, refined, and maybe even perfected many years ago.

There’s a widespread assumption or belief that tech marketing is fundamentally different from, y’know, marketing that’s been done for decades.

We think because much of our technology is new, then only new rules must apply. So we go out and reinvent things that were discovered, refined, and maybe even perfected many years ago.

In doing so, we make the same mistakes, we waste time, and then—ultimately—invariably come to the same conclusions.

Digital tools and tactics might change how we do things, but they definitely shouldn’t change what we’re trying to do.

There’s an important implication here, too: don’t limit your hiring to people with experience ‘in tech’ (see #8).

Improvement #3: Stop accepting predictable mediocrity

“One of the most dangerous outcomes for a startup is to bumble along in the land of the living dead.” —Eric Ries, in The Lean Startup

As a region, we tolerate mediocrity and over-celebrate small achievements. I don’t take any pleasure in writing that, but we deny it at our own risk.

Here’s something I left out of the Waterloo Region Technology Marketing Spotlight: an alarming number of companies are stuck in Ries’ land of the living dead. Take a look at the chart, below, for figures from the Waterloo Region (and keep in mind that these stats will undercount companies, because my dataset for very small companies is likely less complete).

And let me be clear again: I don’t say any of this to disparage the hardworking and well-intentioned people and supporters of those companies; I’m just shining a light on a reality of our tech ecosystem. Yeah, we’ve got a lot of companies, a lot of people willing to start companies, a lot of support for those companies,  a lot of great things going for us—but a lot of our companies stay small seemingly in perpetuity. And I know a few of them are ‘big enough’ in the sense that they completely serve a niche market, and kudos to them—but they’re the outliers.

Everyone loves a comeback story, everyone wants to help write that comeback story or at least be a part of it—but that doesn’t mean hanging on forever. Unfortunately, through loyalty (both to people and to organizations), optimism, apathy, and a host of other motivations, many folks stay in places that just aren’t working.

And the growth problems aren’t limited to our small companies—as I suggested in Growing Pains, something’s stalling our scale-ups. In my subsequent interview with The Record, I stopped short of sharing my suspicions about the factors really holding our companies back, but I definitely think a lack of marketing maturity is one of them.

We need to demand and expect more out of ourselves and out of our companies.

We need to demand and expect more out of ourselves and out of our companies.

What’s the opposite approach look like?

A friend of mine works for a US-based company in a relatively new and growing (but already enormous) market. The company’s growing at 30% per year. Impressive! Nevertheless, the investors and leaders have made it clear to everyone that the company needs to grow at 40%, or it’s not worth being in the space. Why? Because the space already has early leaders, they’re not one of them, and the market is growing at 30-35%. That’s the level of pragmatic realism we need.

Why does mediocrity persist? Because we allow it. It’s become engrained, and that’s tremendously dangerous.

Why does mediocrity persist? Because we allow it. It’s become engrained, and that’s tremendously dangerous. How many operating plans for next year start with the current year’s plan, plus 2% across the board? That’ll lead to incremental results, even though we like to talk about disruption.

How many operating plans for next year start with the current year’s plan, plus 2% across the board? That’ll lead to incremental results, even though we like to talk about disruption. If we want different results, then we have to take some risks and really invest in things (see #6).

Or how many people talk the talk about investing in change, and trying new things, and taking intelligent risks, only to have their actions follow the “same old” approach. Don’t put your trust in people like that, especially not in leadership positions.

Again, we need to demand more—of ourselves, of our peers, and of our organizations.

And what did I mean about over-celebrating small achievements (or focusing on the wrong things, in general)? We fall over ourselves to tell stories about how company X’s founder is quirky, or that company Y secured another round of funding and is now valued at some amount, or that company Z is working on some zany product.

That’s all…interesting…I suppose. But we’re only telling those tales because we don’t have enough stories about companies who’ve reached sustained profitability, or who’ve reached the top of their market, or who’re doing important things in a relatively boring space.

We can tell those ‘filler’ stories, sure, but let’s not be satisfied when we do. Let’s not think our work is done.

Tech needs to grow up; only then we can tell the real success stories.

Improvement #4: Look at marketing as a long-term investment, not a cost

“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.” —Peter Drucker

If you’re not investing in marketing, then you might as well not invest in anything at all, because you’re going to build the wrong things (see #5), and even if you build the right thing, you won’t be able to sell it (see #10).

Also, be realistic. Marketing is not a short-term miracle worker!

Good marketing (intelligence in, communications out) is ‘only’ a necessary—but still insufficient, by itself—condition for an organization’s success.

Marketing is a long-term investment that informs practically all aspects of your business. If you’re not investing in marketing, then you might as well not invest in anything at all.

A lot of company leaders say, “We’re investing in marketing!” when they really mean they’re trying a few campaigns. Technically it’s true (I guess), but it’s not enough to make a difference (see #6) in the long term.

So they’ll go out and hire a marketer—maybe experienced (see #8), maybe not—and expect a bunch of leads to come in over the next month or two. And then the month-by-month pattern will continue, et voila, marketing!

Advertising is a short-term tactic. And repeating a bunch of short-term tactics is not a long-term strategy.

Marketing is a long-term investment that informs practically all aspects of your business; it often takes time to see the real results, but you experience the symptoms every day, and in many places, if you don’t make the commitment.

Improvement #5: Start your marketing before you start your development

“…see where the gaps are, and then build a company around those gaps.” —Jacqui Murphy

This region is bearing witness to what happens when marketing fails catastrophically (and I mean marketing as an organizational function, not the marketers): an impressive product and feat of engineering that not enough people want to buy. For those keeping score, Thalmic/North is now two-for-two on market misses, but they’ve been lauded over the years because they’ve received loads of headline-grabbing funding (see #3) and because their tech is cool (again, #3, and wow, check out the last line of the opening paragraph!).

If you don’t know who’s going to buy your solution, then don’t start building it.

I refuse to believe that no one at Thalmic/North raised serious, well-founded concerns about who was actually going to buy their glasses. And hey, I’d love to see things turn around for them—I love this region and want to see it succeed, which is why I’m writing this post.

I recall Jacqui Murphy’s words, from our recent podcast: “We always said to entrepreneurs: build a company based on what you know. So if you’re just graduating from university, maybe don’t build a company then. Maybe go work for another company in an industry that you’re interested in, see where the gaps are, and then build a company around those gaps.”

Build a company around gaps that you know and understand—that’s sort’ve the same thing as advising that you understand the market before you really get going, and it’s great advice.

Improvement #6: Invest enough in marketing for it to make a difference

Marketers make up 4.2% of the workforce of Waterloo Region-based tech companies. My marketing friends in Toronto, the Bay Area, Seattle, etc. laugh at that—they honestly can’t believe it. Like, what’s the point? Come heavy or don’t come at all, right?

Because they don’t know what marketing is (see #1), and underestimate the long-term importance (see #4), many organizations don’t invest enough in marketing for it to make a difference.

Recall that marketers make up 4.2% of the workforce of Waterloo Region-based tech companies. My marketing friends in Toronto, the Bay Area, Seattle, etc. laugh at that—they honestly can’t believe it. Like, what’s the point? Come heavy or don’t come at all, right?

I’ll concede that headcount isn’t the best metric here, but you’ll have to present me with some compelling data to convince me that headcount isn’t a reliable proxy on this subject.

If you only do something half-assed, and you fail, then you can’t reasonably conclude that the failure was due to the strategy you pursued, or due to your half-assed execution. You wasted time and resources and learned nothing.

And on that note, because it takes investment and time for you to come to reasonable, informed conclusions, you can’t look to marketing to be a white knight that rides in to save you, post-development, in the short term.

Don’t just try new stuff every day or every week under the guise of ‘lean’ or ‘experimentation’. That’s just a lame cop-out. And it guarantees only mediocrity. Genuine experiments, run correctly, offer real insights; ignorant experiments, run haphazardly, make you feel busy but accomplish nothing.

Similarly, don’t just try new stuff every day or every week under the guise of ‘lean’ or ‘experimentation’. That’s just a lame cop-out. And it guarantees only mediocrity.

Genuine experiments, run correctly, offer real insights; ignorant experiments, run haphazardly, make you feel busy but accomplish nothing.

Improvement #7: Accept that you can’t figure marketing out on your own…at least not fast enough

Your business has a very short runway—time, money, whatever your limiting resource is—and it needs to reach a growth trajectory before that runway ends. There just isn’t enough time for you to become a competent, let alone difference-making, marketer.

This one’s tough, because it goes against many things that we hold dear: that we can figure things out, and that it’s honourable to do so.

Partly out of a plucky, entrepreneurial, can-do spirit, and partly out of a misunderstanding of what marketing really is (again, see #1), too many leaders think they can just figure out marketing on the fly.

Look, it’s not an intelligence thing. You’re smart, I get it. But marketing is much more than you think (#1).

Plus, you just don’t have the time.

Your business has a very short runway and it needs to reach a growth trajectory before that runway ends. There just isn’t enough time for you to become a competent, let alone difference-making, marketer.

I’ve worked in technology marketing since 2005, and in that time I’ve learned an awful lot about marketing, and about broader business in general.

But it’s taken me a very long time, and I’m always trying to learn more!

Plus, I spent countless hours outside work, just researching, talking to people (see #11), and doing other things to accelerate my own learning and skills development. I knew and accepted that I didn’t know things, and I’m still amazed how little I knew then; and that knowledge keeps me acutely aware of just how much more there is to learn.

Your business has a very short runway—time, money, pivots, whatever your limiting resource is—and it needs to reach a growth trajectory before that runway ends. There just isn’t enough time for you to become a competent, let alone difference-making, marketer.

Improvement #8: Hire experienced marketers, and let them do their jobs

“In building out the marketing team here at Auvik, I aimed high in terms of seniority. So I brought people in at the manager and director level from the get-go. And I did that knowing that we’d be building this company, and we would have limited resources to start, so I really needed people who knew what they were doing…especially in areas where I didn’t necessarily have the expertise.” —Jacqui Murphy

There are two huge sub-improvements here:

1. Hire marketers to run marketing
2. Hire experienced people first, then build the team out with intermediate and junior people

We often put non-marketers in charge of marketing—engineers, salespeople, accountants, and many more—which shows our tremendous ignorance of what marketing is (yet again, #1) and how long it takes to develop expertise.

Sometimes, it’s even a conscious decision to ‘mix things up!’

But here’s what happens:

• Salespeople: focus on this month, this quarter, at the expense of longer-term objectives…best case is the company grows at a middling rate, because it never makes the investments that would drive acceleration and scale.
• Engineers: take inside-out to a whole new level by talking about technology, technology, technology; “We don’t need marketing, we’ve got…technology!” Then no one learns about the fabulous technology, and the company dies.
• Accountants: focus almost exclusively on what can be measured; death by a thousand seemingly high-performing tactics

(please don’t come at me with singular exceptions—worshipping exceptions is what causes loads of problems in this world)

And if you do hire experienced marketers, anywhere on your team, let them do their job.

I’ve heard far too many stories of talented, experienced local marketers who accepted job offers under the promise that they’d have autonomy, that they could build a long-term program—and so on—only to find a very different reality: a micromanaged, chaotic organization that changed priorities daily in a desperate pursuit for results this month.

“But I can’t find experienced marketers…”

Are you telling me that someone who’s run marketing for hotels, CPGs, universities, etc. can’t apply their skills to your market just because your product has a computer in it?

Are you ignoring people with experience outside of tech? Marketing is marketing (see #2)! The objectives and strategies are the same, only the tools might differ. But even then, not by much. Are you telling me that someone who’s run marketing for hotels, CPGs, universities, etc. can’t apply their skills to your market just because your product has a computer in it? One of my best hires came from a local non-profit, which is about the farthest thing away from tech.

Next, when you’re building the team, start with experienced people first. Yes, yes, I know, experienced people cost more. But think about value, not cost: one experienced person is worth two, three, four—maybe even more—inexperienced people, mainly because experienced people know what’s important (see #9) and how to do things effectively.

I love this quote from Jacqui, again from our podcast: “In building out the marketing team here at Auvik, I aimed high in terms of seniority. So I brought people in at the manager and director level from the get-go. And I did that knowing that we’d be building this company, and we would have limited resources to start, so I really needed people who knew what they were doing…especially in areas where I didn’t necessarily have the expertise.”

Since then, Jacqui’s team has grown substantially, and is now a great place for junior and intermediate people to go and learn.

If I had a coffee for every time I’ve heard someone go, “I want to get someone amazing, who knows what they’re doing, right out of school”, then I’d be extremely jittery. Yeah, um, that person doesn’t exist. Here are your choices:

• Hire an amazing new grad for $50k and then in a few years you’ll have paid about $156k in salary in return for someone who’s grown to be a pretty effective marketer…if your company’s still around
• Hire an experienced person for, I dunno, $80+k and know that you’re truly investing in a brighter future (and a more effective short-term, too)
• Bring in a consultant—you get experience in bite-sized pieces that you can afford

To all the young marketers out there, please don’t chase titles. I know it looks cool to be a Director, VP, or CMO when you’re 25, but being a Director or VP right out of the gate can be a career-limiting move.

And while I’m here yelling at a cloud… To all the young marketers out there, please don’t chase titles. I know it looks cool to be a Director, VP, or CMO when you’re 25, but I can’t tell you the number of applications I received over the years from former marketing ‘executives’. Those folks didn’t get past the first scan, because they hadn’t developed any practical experience that could be applied on my team. Ironically enough, being a Director or VP right out of the gate can be a career-limiting move.

Improvement #9: Focus on doing the right things before you focus on doing things right

The obsession over ‘operationalizing’ everything tricks us into doing the wrong things, so lots of organizations have become very good at things that don’t matter.

Marketing leadership, like all leadership, has three parts:

1. Clearly define the objective or objectives, so the team has a common, guiding purpose
2. Determine the strategies by which we’ll achieve our objective(s)—it’s critically important that every part of every strategy is dedicated towards achieving the objective(s), as each and every distraction lessens your chance of success
3. Select and employ tactics that enhance and implement the strategy

Following this ‘order of operations’ determines whether we’re being productive, or just busy. It’s like another famous Drucker quote: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

The obsession over ‘operationalizing’ everything tricks us into doing the wrong things, so lots of organizations have become very good at things that don’t matter.

This tactical focus is both a cause and an effect, in a vicious cycle of waste.

Tactics are easy to measure and understand, so we start with them, and they consume our attention. We get numbers that tell us how to improve, so we tweak. And so on.

Strategies, on the other hand, often require subjective judgment and are frequently reliant upon qualitative data and insights…so they’re much tougher, and they require domain expertise and experience. As a result, they often get skipped or ‘reverse-engineered’ from the tactics, which is disastrous.

Strategies often require subjective judgment and are frequently reliant upon qualitative data and insights…so they’re much tougher. They often get skipped or ‘reverse-engineered’ from the tactics, which is disastrous.

I had a manager one time who obsessed over tactics, because they were easy to measure and understand. We wasted countless hours preparing and delivering presentations showing our arrows going up, or colours changing, or whatever, all for stuff that didn’t matter in the slightest to our organization’s long-term objectives. Everything our team achieved was in spite of that ‘leadership’, not because of it.

When we start with tactics, we operationalize at the expense of real effectiveness. But hey, we get numbers and vanity metrics to show the board!

Improvement #10: Break the silos between marketing and other teams

Break the silos, or you’ll end up with an organization that’s thriving based upon individual department metrics, but is spiralling towards disaster.

Here are two major reasons why marketing should regularly interact with all manner of internal teams (e.g., sales, support, professional services, engineering, finance, etc.)

1. Talking to those teams helps marketing do our jobs better: some of them serve as valuable proxies for the market, which helps us develop and synthesize information; others help us better understand our own solutions, which improves our go-to-market activities
2. Marketing can help many of those teams to be more effective

For instance, some organizations operate marketing as a disconnected, lead-generation silo. You know, classic top-of-funnel stuff. In the best case scenario, the company gets really good at bringing in leads, and the product/solution/service is simple enough that sales quickly follow.

In most cases, though—especially in B2B—that’s not how things play out.

Usually, the sales team is hugely reliant upon marketing to provide sales enablement content—the middle- and bottom-of-funnel content needed to move prospects through the buying process.

Break the silos, or you’ll end up with an organization that’s thriving based upon individual department metrics, but is spiralling towards disaster.

Improvement #11: Talk to each other about marketing, and talk about the important things

Make sure you’re talking about the right things. Talk about objectives and strategies for at least a few times longer than you devote to tactics.

In the survey portion of the Waterloo Region Technology Marketing Spotlight, 87% of respondents indicated that they stay up-to-date with marketing skills and knowledge through conversations with friends and colleagues.

That’s great! (But…what about the other 13%? Y’all know everything already?)

And, please, make sure you’re talking about the right things. Talk about objectives and strategies for at least a few times longer than you devote to tactics (I know, I know, tactics are soooo tempting!).

Talk about tough lessons you’ve learned.

Talk about failures, and about successes. Importantly, talk about the causal factors behind both.

Talk about great resources.

Talk about salaries and compensation—companies rely on ignorance and professional taboos.

Talk about what marketing really is (#1), and whether or not your companies understand it.

Talk about whether or not your company is any good, and, if it’s not, then stop tolerating mediocrity—lots of companies are reporting that they can’t find enough marketers.

Knowledge sharing is good for the region. Movement is good for the region. High standards are good for the region.

And, finally, talk to people outside your usual circle! Come to the various meet-ups and other groups.

Or hey, contact me, I’m always game for a coffee.

Let’s all talk about how we’re going to improve marketing in the Waterloo Region, because the region’s companies are depending on us (even if they don’t yet know it).

Let’s all talk about how we’re going to improve marketing in the Waterloo Region, because the region’s companies are depending on us (even if they don’t yet know it).

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Header/Featured photo credit: Kyle Glenn on Unsplash