A Partner Marketing Manager is a strange combination of roles – marketing advisor & planner, budget controller, administrator extraordinaire, brand advocate and police(wo)man. No two days are ever the same, as are no two partners.
However, having been in this role for almost three years, I thought I may try my hand at a blog. Sharing the often unique viewpoint I have of the channel, marketing and IT as whole – or maybe just wittering on about partner and marketing ideas that swirl round my head – with a (hopefully interested) audience.
So to kick off, here’s a few thoughts on a subject that has been twirling round my brain as I walk my dog in the morning:
Is Marketing A Science?
Over the last few years there has been a huge swing in the way people think of marketing. When questioned even 10 years ago most people would plump for ‘Art’ when asked if marketing was a Science or an Art – I can still remember arriving at my desk one morning to be greeted with a pack of crayons some wit had left there.
Now with the ever increasing focus on ROI, measurement, process – marketing looks increasingly like a science, and I am glad to say – seems to get more respected year after year, as us marketers prove our worth.
However although I agree with the science tag, I have to qualify this with saying it is not an ‘exact science’.
Many experts and purveyors of marketing platforms, promise that if you do A, then B will follow. Scout’s honour. 100%. A certainty. When in fact, if you do A, a whole host of unpredictable factors come into play. Because we are speaking to humans, and humans can read the same thing at different times, and have a whole different reaction.
And sometimes, something may have no logic behind it – but your instinct tells you it is the right thing to do.
No great inventions were ever created by following rules – science is about having a thorough understanding of your subject – combined with playing a hunch, using your instinct, pushing the boundaries. Sounds like marketing to me.
So when my partners ask me – what can we do that will 100% deliver a result, I can never give a simple answer or guarantee an outcome, cos marketing is an amazing, fascinating, powerful tool – but maths it ain’t.
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Great post! Thanks for sharing.