Why Engineers and Marketing Don’t Mix

Marketing is critical to your company’s continuous growth. But those in the tech space, such as engineers, often struggle when it comes to creating and implementing a successful marketing strategy. They expect and want guarantees, structure and immediate payback, but that’s not how marketing works. Engineers need to push that expectation aside and get down to the nitty-gritty, day-to-day activities while keeping a long-term conversion goal in mind.

Overcoming the Urge to Be Logical

Engineers struggle to understand marketing because it goes against their core training. They are focused on logic and look for guaranteed results—if you do X and Y then you get Z.

For formula-driven engineers, marketing has simple equations they can relate to:

More contacts = More leads
More appointment setters = More leads
More marketing activities = More leads

But unlike X+Y=Z, there isn’t a one-to-one correlation between every action and a defined result. Instead, marketing is an investment. You must invest in branding, create awareness, build trust, establish credibility and, over-time transform conversations into leads and, ultimately sales.

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Sometimes you invest in marketing efforts that don’t deliver the first time around. According to Salesforce.com, it takes an average of six to eight touches to qualify a lead. In the early stages of the buyers’ journey, prospects are primarily gathering information. It takes time before they’re ready to ready out and connect with you directly. That means you may have to send an email or direct mail piece three for four times before you generate the number of leads you need. When it comes to marketing, intangibles come with the territory.

This is frustrating for everyone, but even more so for engineers. In its darkest hours, marketing feels like a waste of time—but the one sure way to make sure your marketing fails is to stop doing it. Every action you take increases the likelihood of success and moves you closer to a qualified prospect.

A Winning Formula: You + Marketopia = More Leads

It’s clear that marketing is a new mindset for engineers. That’s why outsourcing marketing to professionals is smart. Success doesn’t happen overnight and Marketopia educates companies to strategize and map out their success over the course of six to twelve months. The more you do—such as newsletters, email campaigns, blogs, direct mail and social media—the more touchpoints you create and the faster you’ll realize ROI. Marketing is a big job, but you don’t have to go it alone. Contact us today to learn how Marketopia can help you generate more leads and grow your business.