Marketing is Not a Dirty Word

It worries me when I hear well meaning folks in our industry knock marketing as being somehow “dirty”, as in “a dirty trick”.  True, ours is a technical business, and most of us are justifiably proud that our focus is on the technology more than the business.  We want to sell products because they work, not because we have a promotion running, or because we have some clever Marketing spin.  Bravo!  But wait!  Just because some folks misuse marketing in that way doesn’t mean that Marketing is a Dirty Word.

Used well, Marketing is a tool to inform our customers so that they can choose solutions that they need, products that will save them time and money, enhance productivity or increase safety.  We may have the world’s best technical solution, but if we don’t market it well, how will our customers even know that it exists?

A good marketing plan obligates us to work with our customers.  To build a trusting relationship, and to understand their needs.  Without a two way dialogue between customer and supplier, we can’t bring good products to market.

So the next time you hear one of our colleagues tell us, “We are a technology based firm, not a marketing based firm”, sit them down and explain to them why “Marketing is Not a Dirty Word”.