This came to me in a hallway conversation with David Cutler, who starts his first day on the pirate ship today.
I asked him why we weren’t a sales marketing organization.
Not social media. Not marketing. Not even PR. I wanted to start from the mindset of this: “what if every aspect of our efforts was dedicated to helping people sell?” On the other angle, “what if every aspect of our efforts was dedicated to helping customers buy?”
There are two storytelling teams (whether or not they’re broken out that way) within most organizations: there are those who tell stories about products and services, and there are those who tell the story of the company. Yes, this is “duh”-level conversation, but yet, it’s kind of profound. I think PR tells the story of the company (and by that, I mean the people). What about sales marketing?
Companies like Hubspot are pushing in this direction. They help companies build findable sites, with lead generation mechanisms, and with highly measurable conversion metrics. THIS is what a sales marketing team might consider as a tool. (Disclosure: I’m on the advisory board for Hubspot, but what I just wrote is the reason why I’m on the board.)
I think content marketing and the like are lead generation-focused. I feel that conversions-to-sales is the coin of the realm these days. It’s not enough to brand. It’s not exactly enough to have a wide-area sales funnel (like content). We want to see every effort’s paths back to sales.
Is this the trend? Are companies asking for more sales out of their online marketing efforts? It feels like yes, but I need you to answer that.
Just thoughts on my mind in need of your further germination.
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