Tech Marketer: A Job At The Edge Of Technology & Marketing

Digitalization changes work processes and sharpens the awareness for technologies within very different target groups. Decision-makers need to be informed about technology potentials in order to derive strategies and initiatives. Due to digitalization and innovation, new kinds of jobs, which require a basic technical understanding or at least a sincere interest for technologies, are created. Talented and ambitious experts and managers, who have no IT background, want to learn more about the functioning and latest developments of software solutions. Tech companies that put tech marketers in charge of knowledge-based marketing communication have a strong competitive advantage.

The Crux: Too Technical Or Too Superficial

The development of technology solutions is a complex and creative endeavor that requires the effort of many different experts. The success of this interdisciplinary, co-creational work is measured by synergies and results based on know-how, communication, and concrete actions.

An effective product marketing communication is derived from the knowledge of the market and ecosystem, the target group and the product itself. In most cases, communication specialists are too far away from these areas and depend on the input of sales, product management, and the R&D department. This results in long delivery cycles for useful marketing materials. Alternatively, some tech companies let their subject matter experts create first drafts of the content assets. In these cases, the classical marketer usually will not succeed to rework the technical documents into more market-oriented deliverables. Indeed, most tech-oriented companies struggle to find the right balance between information and storytelling. A tech marketer can close this gap.

Tech Marketers Wanted

In the US the job profile of a tech marketer is already established for many years. In Europe, we are starting to observe the rise of tech marketers. What’s their skill-set?

• A tech marketer is a marketing specialist with technical knowledge.
• A tech marketer is a strategic copywriter who develops content along the customer journey and sales funnel in different information depths.
• A tech marketer is a creative communicator who develops a consistent product story and is able to iterate the story regularly in a dynamic market.
• A tech marketer is a product marketing specialist who shows enthusiasm for the product but is able to distance themselves from “functions & features” in order to create customer-centric communication experiences.
• A tech marketer is well connected with media outlets and influencers and can support a budget-friendly content outreach. In the best case, they are opinion leaders themselves.
• A tech marketer doesn’t think in marketing disciplines such as online, inbound, growth or content marketing. They create stories for their target group that bolster company growth.

It Is All About Execution

Most important, knowledge-based communication must be executed. You can measure the performance of your content. You can analyze upfront which content might provide the best results. You can develop sophisticated content strategies. However, we observed that the bottleneck for most mid-sized companies is the creation of content. That’s why you can regularly observe the absurdity of online advertisements that reference irrelevant content. This equals wasted resources as only valuable content has the chance to grow brand awareness and drive sales. You recognize valuable content by its different depths of information, news value and the potential to steer the reader’s passion.

Creating superior content does not require perfectionism. Tech marketers who lose themselves in rework loops are not effective. Good tech marketers are able to distill the most important messages and embed them in sophisticated content. They create a strong market positioning and that is what finally matters.

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