Comments on: Can Software Build Your Marketing Plan?

By: Joe Zuccaro

Joe Zuccaro — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:09:32 +0000

Hi Mike, you’re right. Software cannot replace gray matter, especially when it comes to strategic planning. Software apps are tactical tools that can achieve a strategic goal – that of obtaining information superiority over your competitors than can ultimate help sales bring in more deals.

These tools can automate mundane processes, simplify complex ones, and handle volumes of data in speeds that we as carbon based organisms just cannot.

Capabilities are increasing and price points are coming down. The planning and deployment of solutions platforms, whether it’s marketing, accounting or manufacturing, etc. requires *discipline* to project manage.

But we are at the threshold of what I call the “golden age of online marketing” – many things are converging that is making this happen.

There will be missteps by organizations along the way, but everything I hear from marketers that seem to be “doing it right” is that they’re not going to give up these tools.

But yes, don’t the software is not a plan. It’s a means to an end. The plan needs to include well thought out processes some of which software still can’t fulfill.

By: Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:05:15 +0000

Appreciate the response Mike. It certainly seems like HubSpot embraces the need for marketing strategy and understands that software is merely a tool that supports that strategy. I remain concerned that the average small business may interpret some pieces of messaging as “this solution will tackle all my marketing needs/wants”, but the responsibility for that interpretation lies on the small business decision maker. The marketing commmunity – the good guys/gals – needs to continue to beat the strategy before tactics drum.

By: Mike Volpe - HubSpot

Mike Volpe - HubSpot — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:32:25 +0000

I agree completely! Software can make things easier, automate things, and provide data to influence and inform your strategy. But strategy is required for success.

At HubSpot, we don’t just sell software, we want our customers to be successful. And we know that success requires strategy, not just tools. To help our customers be successful, we do lots of things:

1) All of our customers get matched with an Inbound Marketing Consultant, and have a series of 8 conference calls with them. This is not a salesperson, their goals are based on customer success/results. This is someone with years of marketing experience who has also been through HubSpot training and certification. We also offer a product that includes weekly calls with a consultant to discuss your strategy.

2) We wrote a book “Inbound Marketing” that is one of the top 10 marketing books on Amazon. It does not talk about our software. It talks about marketing, how marketing is changing, and how to build an overall inbound marketing strategy.

3) We do dozens of educational webinars. Again, they don’t talk about our software (we have other webinars that do that) but they are higer level, like “How to use Twitter for Marketing and PR” or “Money, Management and Marketing” or topics like that. because they are purely education, our webinars have grown to over 10,000 people registering for some of the most popular ones.

4) We have a top 25 marketing blog. We don’t write about our software. We write about marketing tips and marketing strategy. http://blog.hubspot.com

5) We offer free marketing certification. at http://www.InboundMarketing.com we offer a series of online seminars and then an exam. None of the content relates to our software, it is all about marketing strategy and techniques.

You are right that the strategy needs to come first!

I hope more software companies in all industries read this article and start to figure out ways to deliver a more complete solution that includes strategy help. For us, we have found that the more education and strategic help we offer, the more people want to do business with us.