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Marketing to Other Marketers: Not for Wimps. What's Your Advice?

by The Niche Man
9 replies
One of the hardest things to do, but can also be the most lucrative, is marketing to marketers. It trumps marketing to businesses (B2B) and marketing to consumers (B2C).

I've even experienced many seasoned marketers who 'recoil in horror' at the thought of marketing to other marketers. Yikes!

The obvious reason? Marketers know marketers, right? They know each others techniques, methods and tricks, so to speak. Heck, we've all probably read the same books and marketing programs. That's why what works with a consumer or even another business doesn't always work with other marketers. Most marketers have ad, promotion, marketing blindness or worse skepticism.

Sure, selling is selling. Offer a product or service someone wants at a price their willing to pay. Simple. But a lot of variables and the way you execute can fit between those two end results if you're not careful.

Yes, the principles remain the same, but the methods are constantly changing as well as adapting and adjusting to current market demands.

Question?
"Marketing to Marketers is something we do here on the Warrior Forum probably more than any other place on the planet. What are your tips for marketing to marketers." Thanks for Sharing!

Here's a powerful article that covers the subject of Marketing to Marketers in 2015... Your thoughts on it.

Marketing to Marketers Some Important Things You Should Know

As always I welcome you comments, thoughts and even disagreements.
#advice #marketers #marketing #wimps
  • Profile picture of the author myob
    In my experience, perhaps the single best strategy is to get in front of your targeted audience through the publications they read. For example, the article cited is nothing new nor does it particularly have much insight, but the author has positioned himself for social business connections by making his contribution of well-recognized style and verbiage in a medium visited by his targeted business professionals.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by myob View Post

      In my experience, perhaps the single best strategy is to get in front of your targeted audience through the publications they read. For example, the article cited is nothing new nor does it particularly have much insight, but the author has positioned himself for social business connections by making his contribution of well-recognized style and verbiage in a medium visited by his targeted business professionals.
      You make an excellent point about positioning. I agree the strategies may not be new or even offer revolutionary insights to people like you or me whose been in the game for a decade or two. But it does to perhaps the majority of people in this forum whose new, almost new or just now learning the basics and are ready to execute. And even the experienced people who "know" them, I wonder how many actually "do" them ... or do them consistently.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

        You make an excellent point about positioning. I agree the strategies may not be new or even offer revolutionary insights to people like you or me whose been in the game for a decade or two. But it does to perhaps the majority of people in this forum whose new, almost new or just now learning the basics and are ready to execute. And even the experienced people who "know" them, I wonder how many actually "do" them ... or do them consistently.
        LOL! The marketing concepts as very slimly gestured in "Marketing to Marketers" for 2015 were used at least as early as 1729 in Benjamin Franklin's "Pennsylvania Gazette". Note that the article was not intended to educate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
    Banned
    Take the time to build a good "reputation" (as an ethical Marketer that offers more in value for money) in the "IM" circles. I suppose that's not marketing per se however it's definitely important (IMO).


    Interesting question. : )
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    It's not for wimps?

    Salespeople frequently make the easiest customers.

    Marketers are easy to market to.

    Sure, they understand the methodology you're using...but they're also conditioned to BUY.

    "I appreciated the method...and I happily bought." I've seen this sort of comment many times.

    Personally, I found the LI article hard to read...something was out of focus in the implementation of the top section...and not ground-breaking.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      It's not for wimps?

      Salespeople frequently make the easiest customers.

      Marketers are easy to market to.
      They're the easiest customers for who? Everyone? In every situation?

      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Sure, they understand the methodology you're using...but they're also conditioned to BUY.
      Hmm! Most successful marketers I know focus on selling ... not buying. And when they do buy they're extremely methodical, they investigate, research, examine and compare (like a business owner, because they are). They do very little (easy sale) impulse buying compared to average consumers. But maybe it depends who you rub shoulders with in business.

      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      Where do you come up with these ridiculous premises?

      Thank you, I haven’t had anyone call a premise of mine ridiculous in at least a month. I was beginning to think I was losing my touch and playing it too safe. But actually, this isn’t a premise “I” came up with. Marketers far brighter have been addressing this issue for decades.

      In fact, there’s a whole niche industry of books, consultants and even seminars that help marketers sell to other marketers, in almost every industry. Including Internet Marketing. So, the time it took you to type the words “ridiculous premise” a book was probably sold, an article read/written or a consultant hired regarding this topic.

      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      Marketing to marketers is no more or less difficult than marketing to anyone else.

      Not sure how much you've sold to other marketers but these marketing consultants and V.P's have sold or helped corporations sell millions of dollars in marketing services and they've published articles that disagree with you.

      Larry Chase
      Andrew Gothelf
      Amanda Farmer
      Rachel Meranus
      Shawn Herring
      Jon Schultz
      Lisa Joy Rosner

      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      You talk about tricks and techniques that won't work with marketers...Nonsense.You know what works with marketers? The same thing that works with every other type of consumer...
      I respectfully disagree. For example,
      • If I’m new, selling a car to an experienced car salesman is more challenging than selling a car to a teen driver.
      • If I’m a new, selling a home to a broker is more challenging than selling a home to a young couple. All things being equal.
      You can make mistakes or even miss certain details with the second group more than the first group without blowing the sale.

      Sure, you can toss in the usual cliche’s – like selling is selling or just provide honest value, etc. But what does that mean?

      Yes, those vague statements are basically true, but incomplete. Because if you put them “alone” on the marketing test track, it’d be like telling an Indy Car Driver "racing is racing", all you have to do to win a Nascar race is drive fast and don’t crash. You’d be right in a general, abstract way. But you’d be ignoring a lot of subtle differences between an Indy Car and a Nascar. Much like the subtle differences between marketing to professional marketers and marketing to new consumers.

      Those differences shouldn’t be discounted, ignored or poo-pood away in my opinion as well as many marketing experts.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan2929
    I think it's quite the opposite in a lot of cases. I think you'll find that quite often, marketers become so engrossed in the very rosy pictures they paint for others that they start believing the, well, bullshit, for lack of a better term, themselves. This makes them easier to sell to because when someone paints them one of these rosy pictures, rather than think critically about it, they eat it up as truth because it fits with exactly the kind of language and environment they spend every day with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

    One of the hardest things to do, but can also be the most lucrative, is marketing to marketers. It trumps marketing to businesses (B2B) and marketing to consumers (B2C).

    I've even experienced many seasoned marketers who 'recoil in horror' at the thought of marketing to other marketers. Yikes!

    The obvious reason? Marketers know marketers, right? They know each others techniques, methods and tricks, so to speak. Heck, we've all probably read the same books and marketing programs. That's why what works with a consumer or even another business doesn't always work with other marketers. Most marketers have ad, promotion, marketing blindness or worse skepticism.

    Where do you come up with these ridiculous premises?

    Marketing to marketers is no more or less difficult than
    marketing to anyone else. If you have a product or service
    that provides substantial benefit and you have the ability to
    articulate that benefit in a manner that inspires people to act
    marketers will pull out their credit cards just as quickly as anyone
    else.

    You talk about tricks and techniques that won't work with marketers...

    Nonsense.

    You know what works with marketers? The same thing that works
    with every other type of consumner...

    Honest value
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  • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
    Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post


    Sure, selling is selling. Offer a product or service someone wants at a price their willing to pay. Simple. But a lot of variables and the way you execute can fit between those two end results if you're not careful.
    No it's not that complicated.
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