Noob qn: Difference between sales vs marketing
Hi all, I'm spending a month learning about how to acquire more users and grow my product. Always been more inclined to making, coding and designing, and selling is something I definitely need to get better at. Something in the description of this group caught my eye:
As Courtland says... "More bootstrappers would succeed if they focussed on sales rather than marketing."
As a marketing/sales noob, I'm curious to learn more and hear from the group:
What's the difference between sales and marketing? And why is sales a better approach to succeed for indie hackers?
Pardon the noob question, but I figured this might be useful for folks like me starting off on sales/marketing.
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Hey @jasonleow - this question caught my eye as I had a similar a year ago and then saw that it was by you haha.
So my two cents: in the context of that quote above, Sales is more about a one-on-one conversation with users/potential users. Learning about why they'd use the product but also their objections. Marketing is about getting more people to be aware of your product. So marketing is more indirect compared to sales. So it would make sense to focus on sales early on.
Thanks @bhumi ! Ah ok got it. I can see why indie hackers should focus on sales initially. It provides feedback to shorten the iteration loops towards product-market fit.
Marketing/advertising is what you do to raise awareness of a product/service. Marketing results in leads.
Sales is what you do to convert those leads into customers.
In other words, marketing/advertising is used to get people interested enough to learn about your offering. Once they're on your site (or in your store), it's time to convince them to buy -- that's the sales part.
Do either one of them poorly, and you'll have a hard time acquiring paid customers.
Very noob-friendly explanation, thanks so much @iammike. Understand it better now. What's your take on the quote about IHers should be more focused on sales instead of marketing?
In general, I agree with @csallen -- IH'ers should focus on sales.
However, it doesn't always have to be done via a 1-to-1 conversation. It all depends on the type of product or service you're offering.
Quite often here I see IH'ers following a 'build it and they will come' path. Where they build first, then try to figure out how to sell it.
Not saying that model will never work, because it can. But, it will likely take much longer to make any traction.
There is no doubt that 1-to-1 conversations with your prospective customers will provide you with incredible insights. You will also build a rapport with them (if you're somewhat likeable), and that will increase the likelihood of them buying from you.
But getting prospects to chat with you 1-to-1 can be tough, so you just can't put all your eggs in that basket IMO.
You have to find a balance. Try gathering feedback from prospects via different mediums (1-to-1, short surveys, live text/video chat, etc.). The more you put yourself out there, even if you don't get a lot of 1-to-1 time with prospects, you're planting a seed in your future customer's minds. Plus, you may gather valuable feedback even without a 1-to-1.
Here's an actual example.
I'm coming out with a clothing accessory soon -- a physical product. A while back I decided to create a waitlist (via a Google Form), and as part of the waitlist, I:
Although I got very few people who contacted me directly, there were a good number of people who expressed an interest in being part of the Alpha test, and most provided great info as to why they needed the product -- sharing personal details.
I've used all that gathered information to craft the messaging, and to use as content for SEO on the site.
There are other similar examples as well, but you likely get my point.
A couple of final thoughts --
Creating a higher-ticket service/offering is not always possible. Though, I do agree that it's a good idea to develop a high-margin offering.
Don't under-price your service/offering (for many, many reasons). It's better to start with a higher price and selectively discount as/if needed.
oh wow thanks so much for the detailed reply. Super helpful indeed!
marketing makes the phone ring, sales answers it
Great one-liner answer!