I was recently re-reading the book Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares and I always have the same realization whenever I read ‘how-to’ marketing and go-to-market growth 101 advice. While it’s very helpful to understand the marketing universe – the 19 different traction channels, the tactical marketing quiver of tools and approaches, as well as the marketing tech stack needed to manage modern marketing initiatives – putting everything together in the right way is hard. It requires expertise and a lot of testing because each industry is different, each product is unique, and the market timing is always fluctuating.
For some reason that made me think of how marketing is really like cooking and baking and a great marketer, is like a great chef in these 10 ways:
A great marketer, like a great chef:
- focuses on what their guests enjoy eating, what they are looking for in a meal – start with the customer in mind as you prepare
- is clear about what it is they’re going to make – and has a specific goal to work toward
- knows that you need to use the right high quality ingredients and the right tools
- is a strong storyteller; everything is well described, enticing, and visually appealing
- combines the ingredients at the right time, the right temperature, the right order, and in the right quantity
- combines ingredients in new and creative ways to make magic happen
- is always testing and learning from experience
- knows how to scale and that there is a difference between preparing for a small group of people vs. a large group
- recognizes that taste preferences, meal times, regulations, and expectations are different from one country to another
- understands when there is flexibility to try new things in a recipe, and when precision and predictability is required
If your business is stuck, you’re unsure about where to spend resources, and you’re not growing the way you had hoped, is it time to bring in an expert chef instead of a cook or get your team the training to take them to the next level? Let’s talk about how we can help you.
