Military marketing language always makes me sorta cringe. I’ve done a lot of work on products for kids, and no parent I know feels good when their child is "targeted." Marketing "campaigns" are "launched" like missiles, but too often the marketing departments fail to arm the warheads.

But a co-worker sent me this Inc.com article yesterday written by software guy Joel Spolsky . I was sorta cringing as I read it, given that it was shaping up to be one mighty military metaphor. Then I got to this part:

"Instead of paying attention to what your competitors are doing, start reading your customer feedback email personally. Get online and listen to what people are saying about your products. Keep a running tally of what customers ask for through your company’s Web site. If you actually do this, you’ll probably stand apart from the crowd in your industry."

Bingo.

Takeaway for marketers: Are you paying more attention to your customers or your competitors?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 7:21 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.