Insight- Product vs. Mission Marketing and Your Website - Growth Spark
- Written by LenStein
USA 6 August 2014. By Ross Beyeler
Growth Spark
We believe that people buy stories, not features. For this reason, we like to think of the marketing strategies led by our customers in two categories: Product Marketing and Mission Marketing.
Product Marketing is the 'traditional' marketing one expects to see associated with any consumer package goods company. Strategies might include: paid customer acquisition, in-store product demos, product placement, etc. This sort of marketing focuses on highlighting the features and benefits of your product, pushing the product first.
Mission Marketing focuses on promoting the 'mission' behind the product, often tackling the problem the product is meant to solve. Mission Marketing strategies are driven largely by education and content.
Both marketing strategies are necessary but have slightly different supporting structures.
Product Marketing
The most effective online channel is paid customer acquisition (i.e. Facebook, Google AdWords, etc.) and offline channel is in-store product demos. Product Marketing tends to be far more measurable and easier to improve performance of over time.
Mission Marketing
The most effective online channel is content creation (i.e. published content, blogging, videos, courses, etc.) and offline channel to be content creation (i.e. events, classes, books, etc.).
Mission Marketing tends to be less measurable but provides potential customers a less-threatening way to begin interacting with your brand, which might later result in higher conversion.
Driven largely by content creation, Mission Marketing is best managed by focusing on several 'Content Themes' where you create 'Content Assets' (i.e. videos, articles, etc.) that can be re-cycled and re-packaged for online and offline channels.
With either channel, it's important to distinguish between Creation Activities and Distribution Activities. Creation Activities result in a standalone thing (i.e. event, article, video, etc.) that a potential customer might find useful. Distribution Activities focus on promoting the 'things' created in your Creation Activities through your established brand channels such as social media, PR and email.
Ross Beyeler
Ross manages Growth Spark, a Cambridge, MA, based agency that helps E-Commerce companies design interfaces that convert visitors into customers, implement technology to streamline operations and use analytics to guide marketing decisions. Since it's founding, Growth Spark has completed over 250 projects that led Ross to a nomination as one of BusinessWeek's Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25 in 2010. A graduate of Babson College, Beyeler has been a serial entrepreneur in the technology space with experience ranging from digital marketing, business development and strategic management. In 2007, he co-founded For Art's Sake Media, Inc., a technology company serving the art industry, and led it through seed funding, team building and product launch.
Contact: VISIBILITY
Len Stein: lens@visibilitypr.com
914.527.3708
Growth Spark
We believe that people buy stories, not features. For this reason, we like to think of the marketing strategies led by our customers in two categories: Product Marketing and Mission Marketing.
Product Marketing is the 'traditional' marketing one expects to see associated with any consumer package goods company. Strategies might include: paid customer acquisition, in-store product demos, product placement, etc. This sort of marketing focuses on highlighting the features and benefits of your product, pushing the product first.
Mission Marketing focuses on promoting the 'mission' behind the product, often tackling the problem the product is meant to solve. Mission Marketing strategies are driven largely by education and content.
Both marketing strategies are necessary but have slightly different supporting structures.
Product Marketing
The most effective online channel is paid customer acquisition (i.e. Facebook, Google AdWords, etc.) and offline channel is in-store product demos. Product Marketing tends to be far more measurable and easier to improve performance of over time.
Mission Marketing
The most effective online channel is content creation (i.e. published content, blogging, videos, courses, etc.) and offline channel to be content creation (i.e. events, classes, books, etc.).
Mission Marketing tends to be less measurable but provides potential customers a less-threatening way to begin interacting with your brand, which might later result in higher conversion.
Driven largely by content creation, Mission Marketing is best managed by focusing on several 'Content Themes' where you create 'Content Assets' (i.e. videos, articles, etc.) that can be re-cycled and re-packaged for online and offline channels.
With either channel, it's important to distinguish between Creation Activities and Distribution Activities. Creation Activities result in a standalone thing (i.e. event, article, video, etc.) that a potential customer might find useful. Distribution Activities focus on promoting the 'things' created in your Creation Activities through your established brand channels such as social media, PR and email.
Ross Beyeler
Ross manages Growth Spark, a Cambridge, MA, based agency that helps E-Commerce companies design interfaces that convert visitors into customers, implement technology to streamline operations and use analytics to guide marketing decisions. Since it's founding, Growth Spark has completed over 250 projects that led Ross to a nomination as one of BusinessWeek's Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25 in 2010. A graduate of Babson College, Beyeler has been a serial entrepreneur in the technology space with experience ranging from digital marketing, business development and strategic management. In 2007, he co-founded For Art's Sake Media, Inc., a technology company serving the art industry, and led it through seed funding, team building and product launch.
Contact: VISIBILITY
Len Stein: lens@visibilitypr.com
914.527.3708