Do you suck at marketing?

Ask for advice, get money twice

 I was having a casual AM scroll through a favorite product development newsletter when I got pulled in by this headline:

You suck at marketing.

I clicked, expecting a recap of the challenges of growth marketing, brand building, and lead generation.

But the gist of the article was, if you haven’t gotten your strategy right, you can’t possibly be successful at marketing. If you suck at strategy, you suck at marketing.

The author suggests there are two things you need before you can market successfully: product-market fit and a product that reflects your company’s values.

In a new or small business, strategy starts with finding one offer and one target customer, and getting that customer to take one repeatable action. This is product-market fit. You made a thing that a definable customer wants to buy, and you can sell something to that customer in a repeatable way. 

Many of us find product-market fit through trial-and-error. Lots of types of customers, lots of different offers or slightly varied product sets. We cast about to see what’s working now and call that the strategy.

Instead of spending a few years and a lot of time and money with the hope that you find your way, focused work on strategy can help you identify the one or two best paths.  

Here are some strategic questions that I ask:

• What do you want to do in the world? What impact do you want your work to have?

• What should your job be? What do you want from  this business?

• What products or services could you offer?

• Is there a market space that you could own or be known for?

• Who is your possible customer? Are they willing to pay your prices?

If you downloaded The Impactful Founder’s Toolkit, you’re well on your way to answering these questions. (If not, get yours here. It’s free.) 

Often, we start with the last question. Who will pay and how much? But if your plan for your business doesn’t reflect your values, you may wake up and find yourself with a job and a company that you just don’t like. Before you sign off on a strategy, ask yourself: 

Knowing all of this, is this a business I want to build and run? Does this feel right for me?

Once you have a values-aligned product and a set of customers  that’s willing to pay for it, you can begin to invest in effective marketing activities. You’ll have a compelling story to tell about who you are, what you do, and why you’re the right choice. 

If your marketing isn’t working, maybe it’s time to revisit your core business strategy. Grab 20 minutes to talk with me this week. 

PS - For the curious, here’s the original blog post. Lest the whole “values-driven” thing seem a little woo, this comes from a software company founder who bootstrapped for four years, found a few customers, identified a market that aligned to the company’s values and capabilities, and then made a major pivot. Ten years later, the company is worth over $3 billion. 

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