6 Things Yogi Berra Can Teach Startup Marketers

Startup-MarketersA few weeks ago, we wrote a blog post on the need for startup’s to develop great sales and marketing plans that was inspired by a quirky quote from Yogi Berra:

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”

Yogi Berra is an icon – and not just in baseball. Over the years, he has become almost as famous for his “Yogi-ism’s” as for his 3 MVPs and 21 World Series appearances. And as it turns out, his quotes are full of great wisdom for startup marketers. Here are my favourite Yogi Berra quotes (or quotes attributed to him) and what startup marketers can take away from them.

1. “How Can You Think and Hit At The Same Time?”

Being a startup marketer means being a Jack (or Jill) of all trades, and requires the placing of equal emphasis on analysis and execution. To make the job easier, embrace marketing and sales tools like CRM systems, Google Analytics, and low-cost marketing automation suites.

2. “You Can Observe A Lot By Just Watching”

Market observation isn’t new. It’s always been a crucial aspect of marketing. But as social media continues to take on more importance for sales and marketing teams, putting in place processes for social listening is vital. Startups that embrace the power of social insights will be the ones that are able to exploit tomorrow’s opportunities and better meet their customers’ needs. Here’s a great post from socialmediatoday on the top 50 tools for social media monitoring, analytics, and management. Be sure to check a few of them out.

3. “If You Can’t Imitate Him, Don’t Copy Him”

The world is full of ‘me-too’ products and services that attempt to replicate the success of others, especially with regards to marketing. Every once in a while it can be a winning strategy, but ultimately a business needs a unique and differentiated value proposition to thrive.

4. “I Never Said Most of the Things I Said”

By now you’ve probably read about Klout’s recent gaffe regarding Martin Luther King’s Klout score. In the end, they did the right thing and quickly released a public apology (unlike Chipotle). The lesson? In a world of social media, a gaffe or two is likely inevitable. Do all you can to try and avoid them, but when you screw up, admit it and move on.

5. “We Have Deep Depth”

As a startup marketer, chances are your marketing team is small (or it’s just you) and it’s tough to create great content. It can be difficult, but it’s important to involve your team – even if they aren’t marketers – in the content creation process. The more technical and product-focused members of your team are invaluable sources of information. Oftentimes they just need a bit of help translating their thoughts into valuable pieces of marketing.

6. “I Wish I Had An Answer To That, Because I’m Tired of Answering That Question”

The lesson here? Always have the answer. Know your product, your market, your industry, your customers, your competitors, and your own capabilities in tremendous detail.

Ultimately, Yogi Berra was a great baseball player. But it also looks like he would’ve made a heck of a marketer (though hopefully he would have hired a copywriter or a good editor). If you’re a startup marketer looking for help growing  your business, I’d love to talk about your challenges. Feel free to reach out to us over the phone or through email anytime.

6 Things Yogi Berra Can Teach Startup Marketers