Shipup’s Post

Yesterday’s Lesson in Customer Service, PR & Marketing 🗒 It's all about a full-tank of gas. Or, rather, a lack thereof. After a 4-month vacation to the car lot next to my office, my beloved 2018 F-150 was finally returned to me. A delayed Christmas present if you will. 🚘 Part delays, Ford Motor Company union strikes, incorrect part deliveries, and a flurry of excuses meant I have had to lean on friends, family & company vehicles since mid-August. As we say at C&C: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To. So today…. I arrive at the dealership to pick up my truck, immediately feeling a sense of relief & gratitude. My repair guy has been a champ and provided updates no less than 30 times over the past 4 months. I thanked him, paid my bill & strutted out to the lot, truck keys in hand. Started it up, hearing my V-8 purr ( 😁 ), check my fuel tank…….and guess what? 1️⃣ 2️⃣ miles to empty  ☠ When I dropped it in August, it had a half a tank. Since then, I’m sure they did a series of test drives, moving it around on the lot, and who knows what else to get it back into operational order. But I’m sitting there ready to drive to work, a lunch meeting on the books....and I barely have enough fuel to make it down the street. Let’s re-imagine this: The marketing team at the dealership decides, instead of thousands in Autotrader US ads and monthly SEO-marketing expenses, they’re gonna allocate some dollars toward “Goodwill” marketing. Taking care of current customers to drive word-of-mouth, organic sales & referrals. They decide to send repair-jobs out with a full tank of gas knowing good & well that the long-term brand play here is well worth the minor investment per interaction. I'd be singing their praises, telling friends & family, and more than likely never shopping somewhere else when it comes to auto purchases or vehicle repair! My dental practice is just a couple doors down from this dealership. Dozens of employees, thousands of patients passing through annually, and hours upon hours of personal conversations taking place each and every day... If you owned this business, which route would you go? Save a few bucks and leave a sour taste in your customer's mouth, or do Whatever It Takes to make sure everyone says, "Man. They know how to run a business!" I called my dad at lunch to catch up and had a good laugh about this. Back in high school/college, he was a stickler about returning a truck or boat to anyone you borrowed one from with a full tank of gas. I often didn't oblige back then, but it set a standard and taught me a lesson I now live by. My dad's built his career in electrical sales not on his ability to out-smart his clients or make the most profitable decision, but instead on his ability to build trust with the people he serves. And when it comes to creating lasting + meaningful relationships with clients, it’s often the small things we do that show the true character of who we are and how we choose to do business.

Agree? As a product manager who doesn't get so many questions from CS, Sales, Marketing, it feels like having the freedom to focus on what's most important: building great products. Marketing is important, of course, but it's not my job. My job is to understand the needs of our users and customers, and to build products that meet those needs. Marketing can help to promote our products and reach new users, but it's up to me to make sure that our products are actually worth promoting. When I'm not disturbed by marketing, I can focus on the following: Understanding user needs: I spend time talking to users and customers to understand their pain points and what they need from our products. Defining product requirements: Once I understand user needs, I work with engineers to define the requirements for new products and features. Prioritizing features: I need to prioritize features based on their importance to users and their impact on the business. Tracking product metrics: I track product metrics to see how users are interacting with our products and to identify areas for improvement. Without marketing distractions, I can focus on these tasks and build products that users love. It also feels good to have a trusted relationship with my marketing team. I know that they are there to help me promote my products, but they also respect my vision for the product and my priorities. We work together to create a marketing strategy that is aligned with my product goals. Overall, being a product manager who doesn't get disturbed by marketing is a great feeling. It allows me to focus on what I do best: building great products. Happy Weekend My Leads 😁😁😁 Ensure you relax and recharge those batteries 🤗 #prodmgmt #marketing #sales #productexperience VC: collato

April Dunford has another great post this week on the differences between the ways Sales and Marketing tell and use stories. It explains the biggest gap I’ve seen, and it was a big one I tried to fill when I moved into product marketing from sales: Marketers have a tendency to write highly engaging customer proofpoint stories - even ones that show high ROI - but they often come in way too light on explaining a unique *how* that brings product differentiation to life. And this makes sense in the context April lays out - because Marketers’ goal is to convince the reader that their content is worth reading further and subscribing to - so the high ROI headline sugar rush works just fine. But in SALES we have to help the buyer buy, and that requires telling stories that only our product could enable - and bringing to life exactly why that is the case. The question I always encouraged my PMM and customer stories teams to ask: could any vendor in the space have theoretically written this story? If yes, we haven’t written something useful for sales yet and we need to go back and add more (differentiated) meat to the bones. The whole piece is worth a read! Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dPtSgcSX

Marketing is more than Advertising. It's In-Person Sales, it's Product Development, it's Systems & Processes. Sharing this mindset is🔥🔥🔥 

Marketing is more than Advertising. It's In-Person Sales, it's Product Development, it's Systems & Processes. Sharing this mindset is🔥🔥🔥

What is Product Marketing's Job? I've seen a lot of answers on this and some of them are quite in-depth. To me it's simple: Product Marketing's job is to find ways for the company to turn its offerings (products, services, even a PoV) into revenue. Of course, this involves customer research, representing the voice of the customer, collaboration with Product, collaboration with Sales and CS, positioning, packaging, and on and on. But at the end of the day, Product Marketers need to help define what their organization is uniquely positioned to deliver and work with all the other stakeholders to turn that into $$$$$$$.

Hey, Brilliant Marketing Mavens! 🚀 We all know that sales are important, right? But, let's not forget about the equally vital role of engagement! 💡 Especially when we are dealing with tech-savvy products. 🖥️🔬 The challenge? Make the complex seem simple and captivating - it's like finding a needle in a haystack! 🌾 But, keep this in mind - engagement isn't about selling!! It isn't about shoving your product in the customer's face. No, it's about sparking a conversation! 🗣️ We're not here to close a deal, but to open a relationship! Our goal? To build a platform for dialogue, to kindle curiosity, to answer their questions, and to earn their trust. When it comes to technical products, engagement isn't about bamboozling your audience with jargon or intricate details. 🤯  It's about simplifying the complex. It's about showing them how your product can solve their problems in a language they understand. 🧩 So, in your next campaign, why not shift the focus from selling your product to engaging your audience? 🎯 The sales will naturally follow. #EngageNotSell  #MarketingStrategy  #TechnicalProductMarketing 

Marketing is more than Advertising. It's In-Person Sales, it's Product Development, it's Systems & Processes. Sharing this mindset is🔥🔥🔥

I was traveling through a train, when two salesmen came to sell art books for kids but different time ;). The 1st salesman was very straightforward, asking, “Do you need an art book?” in a very casual manner. But the 2nd person came very aggressively, starting to give a presentation about the book, such as the name of the cartoon characters in the book, who can use this book, and started giving the sample product to give touch and feel of the book almost to every seat’s passengers. He also mentioned the benefits like getting 2 books, 1 sketch, and 1 crayon for just ₹50. At last, he got 5+ sales near my seat only!! I was just going thorugh the strategies he used while selling his products, here are some which I remember Product Promotion: Actively showcased the product’s features and benefits, engaging passengers with a presentation. Sampling Process: Allowed passengers to touch and feel the book, providing a tangible experience of the product. Psychological Engagement: Utilized psychological triggers such as social proof and reciprocity by demonstrating the book and its benefits. Pricing Clarity & Deal Value: Clearly communicated the price and what was included in the deal, making the offer appear more attractive. Storytelling: Potentially used storytelling by discussing the content of the book and its applications, creating a narrative. Demonstration of Use: Demonstrated the product in action, helping passengers visualize its use and benefits. Social Proof: Generated social proof through visible sales to nearby passengers, encouraging others to buy. Engagement and Interaction: Directly engaged with passengers, asking and answering questions and try to building rapport. Targeting and Personalization: May have tailored his approach based on quick assessments of the passengers’ interests or likelihood to purchase. Scarcity: If he implied a limited offer that is 50 Rs here, if you buy outside you will get the same thing for 100 Rs, he used scarcity to create urgency. Value Proposition: Emphasized the deal’s value, showcasing the product as a compelling buy for the price offered. Moral of the story is You can learn from anyone anywhere just need to keep your eyes open, you don't need an MBA to learn these marketing skills! Did I miss something, can you add on!

"Wait, shouldn't you tell me what marketing site pages convert best?" I vividly remember this conversation with a sales leader in the early Koala days. I was demoing how to set up intent signals, but the sales leader had no intuition about which pages they wanted to track (except the pricing page!). While it didn't feel good at the time not to be able to have a response to the question, I'm so happy it happened because it was the seed of Content Reports. Our Content Reports module has been getting better and better these past few months… check the image below for some recent 🐨❤️! Seeing these reports guiding strategy was my dream when I first wrote the product spec – so fun to see that dream become a reality! P.S. For anyone who wants to go deeper, we pulled together a guide with learnings from 100s of fast growing co’s on what drives high conversion rates (content, signals, events). Find it in the comments!