Key learnings in marketing...

Next week, it will be the first anniversary of my appointment as VP of Marketing at Sangoma. This causes me to take a few moments to reflect on key learnings from these past few months. I had never done marketing full time before, so some hits and some misses were expected. So, what have I personally learned or experienced during the last 12 months? There is a short list below. A lot of the items below just fall under the 'common sense' category, but in the fast pace of our work life these days, it's always good to sit down and actually write them down...

- Marketing is much more than brochures! Some people out there think marketing is about glossies and press releases. Ouch! I think of marketing with a big 'M'. It's the art and science of attacking the market to achieve the best possible business results. As such, it encompasses product strategy, go-to-market model, partner programs, corporate marketing, and of course all the 'traditional' product marketing items...

- Marketing is all about telling stories. If some marketing item is just out there, not connected to your story...drop it! It will just confuse everyone. The stories need to be true of course, but told in a light that is meaningful to the particular audience you are targeting. Stories will be slightly different for customers, partners, media, analysts, investors, employees, etc. Know your audience...

- You can't do everything. No matter how large or small your team, you cannot do everything you can think of. It's much easier to think of programs and events, than to actually implement and maintain them. No, it's not absolutely critical to have engraved pens or new T-Shirts available for the upcoming event. Focus on the important stuff that will get you significant business results!

- To know how customers perceive you and how you can improve, call them up, hold live events and visit them often. To know how the market perceives you and how you can improve, get online now and often! Use analytics. Get on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Get web alerts. Information is key....And then actually write down the key trends (from customers and from the market) and make a plan to address them. Make it a regular habit. It's good to collect info, but if you never analyze it and make plans to address, it is worthless.

As I said, all of the above is common sense, but it's good to reflect once in a while and summarize our learnings. It allows us to internalize them, and then move on to the next steps...