Why Yahoo is a Cautionary Tale for Tech Marketers
The tech world has long perpetuated the “if you build it, they will come” myth — the idea that great products will inevitably find their market and fly off the shelves. But a great product is not enough. Without a clearly defined sales and marketing strategy, even the giants among us can fail. Wendy Lee’s recent piece on the uncertain future of #Yahoo CEO #Marissa Mayer brings to light a cautionary tale for tech marketers.
Mayer’s strategy for Yahoo relied heavily on attracting a talent pool to build great products, thereby drawing a large audience and hence, advertising budget. But without integrating product, sales, and marketing from the get-go, Mayer’s strategy amounted to a chain reaction that never set off. Successful strategists iterate the marketing and sales processes in tandem with product development. And you don’t need to be a Yahoo or a Google to get the job done – check out our survivor’s guide to #tech marketing for more on do-it yourself marketing and scaling effectively.
