October / Best of
Hard to believe, but I've already started planning our Buffer marketing strategy in 2020 (hard to believe because I rarely start this early and because, well, it's only October, right?). When do you typically start your annual planning? I'll definitely share more with you as our plans come together; until then, here are a couple early sketches of ideas: marketing's main areas and a partial graphic of a marketing flow. I'd love to know what you think and where you agree / disagree.
Wishing you a great October! 🎃🌔
— Kevan
Marketing
What does a product marketer do?
This "State of Product Marketing" report answers questions about role responsibilities, KPIs, org charts, and so much more. Super valuable stuff! (It's behind an email paywall; feel free to use hello@kevanlee.com to access if you'd like.)
productmarketingalliance.com
Benchmarks for your marketing budget
Stats from the report: Some teams have a marketing budget that's 25% of their total revenue. The biggest spend category for marketing teams is events.
growthmarketingstage.com
28% of companies don't do competitive research
Do you? The article tells you why you should and how to do it. (I just finished doing a competitor analysis for Buffer; let me know if you'd like me to share our template or discoveries.)
producthabits.com
Hot new job role: Retention Specialist
This role is really taking off with direct-to-consumer companies. I wouldn't be surprised to see it become a focus for tech and SaaS, too.
modernretail.com
How to achieve growth on TikTok (if you're into that)
What are your thoughts on TikTok? Do you love it? Loathe it? Feel ambivalent about it? The new app is growing fast and all over the news. This guide is one of the best I've seen about how viral growth happens on the platform.
medium.com
Management
How company culture will shape you
I loved this article from Casey Winters about the different spectrums that exist with company culture — things like "speed vs. quality" and "open vs. closed" — and how decisions about cultural values will influence the path of the company.
caseyaccidental.com
Miscellaneous
via @michellerial on Instagram
by Kevan Lee
VP of Marketing currently living in Boise, Idaho. I work with the lovely folks at Buffer.
Say hi on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.