We work with a lot of clients that focus on verticals, many that consider focusing on verticals and several that go back and forth in terms of their commitment to verticals. I asked myself — why aren’t companies better at this? Here’s the answer:
- World-class vertical marketing takes executive level commitment. No commitment, no success. As we mention in CMOs: Step It Up, this is the responsibility of the CMO.
- Companies must recognize that this is a significant cultural shift, not a casual “marketing” shift. Products may change. New solutions may be developed. New positioning is required. New alliances are almost certainly required, along with new channel partners. Companies may require a retooling of their sales organization as well. This is a big deal.
- The vertical “shift” will take time. A long time. Many years will pass before the organization can determine success, and as we know, ROI is hard to measure on this particular topic.
So, what’s a world-class marketer to do? Here’s a greatly simplified list to get you started thinking about the key issues to address.
- Determine the right verticals. This is based on size and your ability to differentiate a solution within a vertical.
- Identify the hot spots within the vertical. What and where is it that people really want to buy?
- Determine who the buyers are. You will find they are different from who you sold to via a horizontal approach.
- Determine what the “whole product” needs to look like. It is different from what you have today.
- Determine what partners you need to deliver that whole product. You will almost certainly need a new set of alliance and channel partners.
- Determine your go-to-market strategy (with which partners, with what solutions, into which markets?)
- Build the teams you need, with the right domain expertise (people who understand that vertical), both internally and externally.
- Develop your positioning and messaging around your new solutions. See Marketing Gets the Message for more info.
- Pilot your approach into your highest priority vertical.
- Rinse and repeat for each vertical.
Too simple? Too complex? What do you think?
Why do you think companies aren’t better at vertical marketing?
