6 ms·

I got a wake up call this week in just how much my company spends on “email signature marketing platforms” and it nearly made my hair go white, along with causi

by dvtrn 6y ago

I got a wake up call this week in just how much my company spends on “email signature marketing platforms” and it nearly made my hair go white, along with causing a strange series of emotions, none of them very positive-given some of the battles I’m fighting as a manager strapped for funding, and watching my team and other teams go through “covid related pay cuts”.

WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
It's because all of the budgeting has been shifted to Marketing and Sales departments. Someone complained about a bill from IT and we told the vendor to suspend the account for 1 month... it took three days before that same person had to come to us and ask why it wasn't working.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  It's because all of the budgeting has been shifted to Marketing and Sales departments. I'm sure. It's made for some painful discussions that I've just given up trying to have, and now I just point back to all of the saved email chains when interrogated for answers by superiors. We're talking in the tens of thousands of dollars for email signatures.
  - cutemonster 6y ago
    That's per year? Sounds like a lot. The execs think email signatures are obviously important because that's in front of their nose more often? Or why are they ok with paying a lot for that
    - dvtrn 6y ago
      I honestly don’t know. I asked my executive about it, and he seemed equally alarmed, but resigned to it? If that makes sense?
shostack 6y ago
As a marketer, why are you so fixated on the cost instead of the comparative value it may add? Do you know what incremental value it is adding to the mix? Has anyone tracked the time saved from sales people and the impact of the touch point from an attribution perspective (presumably with Bizible, GA, or any other tools and data)? It could very well be negligible lift, but if it stops a large sales team from having inconsistent, inaccurate, and off-brand signatures, automating and centralizing that could be worth it on its own merits. Be cautious about being so quick to dismiss a tool just because it's expensive.
- htrp 6y ago
  > (presumably with Bizible, GA, or any other tools and data) You mean Bizible, GA, AND every other SAAS marketing attribution tool under the sun
- dvtrn 6y ago
  Be cautious about being so quick to dismiss a tool just because it's expensive. How much caution, expressed in dollar amounts is warranted? If you had the visibility into our accounting that I do, would it change your mind?
  - Cederfjard 6y ago
    Well that depends, right? If you’ve analyzed it thoroughly and come to the understanding that the ROI is poor and the budget would have been better spent elsewhere, then obviously you’re probably correct and someone else is not doing their job right. But if it’s more of a shallow, knee-jerk reaction like ”this much spent on EMAIL SIGNATURES!? This has to be a waste of money!”, then perhaps you’re wrong to jump to conclusions quite so fast. You haven’t really elaborated, so we don’t know which one it is.
    - dvtrn 6y ago
      I didn't think it was wise, nor really my place to elaborate on the specifics of my company's finances, beyond to express-as a ranking manager-my surprise at the costs incurred weighed against common indicators a bit more relevant to a wide audience such as HN.

by dvtrn 6y ago

WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago

It's because all of the budgeting has been shifted to Marketing and Sales departments. Someone complained about a bill from IT and we told the vendor to suspend the account for 1 month... it took three days before that same person had to come to us and ask why it wasn't working.

dvtrn 6y ago
It's because all of the budgeting has been shifted to Marketing and Sales departments. I'm sure. It's made for some painful discussions that I've just given up trying to have, and now I just point back to all of the saved email chains when interrogated for answers by superiors. We're talking in the tens of thousands of dollars for email signatures.
- cutemonster 6y ago
  That's per year? Sounds like a lot. The execs think email signatures are obviously important because that's in front of their nose more often? Or why are they ok with paying a lot for that
  - dvtrn 6y ago
    I honestly don’t know. I asked my executive about it, and he seemed equally alarmed, but resigned to it? If that makes sense?

shostack 6y ago

As a marketer, why are you so fixated on the cost instead of the comparative value it may add? Do you know what incremental value it is adding to the mix? Has anyone tracked the time saved from sales people and the impact of the touch point from an attribution perspective (presumably with Bizible, GA, or any other tools and data)? It could very well be negligible lift, but if it stops a large sales team from having inconsistent, inaccurate, and off-brand signatures, automating and centralizing that could be worth it on its own merits. Be cautious about being so quick to dismiss a tool just because it's expensive.

htrp 6y ago
> (presumably with Bizible, GA, or any other tools and data) You mean Bizible, GA, AND every other SAAS marketing attribution tool under the sun
dvtrn 6y ago
Be cautious about being so quick to dismiss a tool just because it's expensive. How much caution, expressed in dollar amounts is warranted? If you had the visibility into our accounting that I do, would it change your mind?
- Cederfjard 6y ago
  Well that depends, right? If you’ve analyzed it thoroughly and come to the understanding that the ROI is poor and the budget would have been better spent elsewhere, then obviously you’re probably correct and someone else is not doing their job right. But if it’s more of a shallow, knee-jerk reaction like ”this much spent on EMAIL SIGNATURES!? This has to be a waste of money!”, then perhaps you’re wrong to jump to conclusions quite so fast. You haven’t really elaborated, so we don’t know which one it is.
  - dvtrn 6y ago
    I didn't think it was wise, nor really my place to elaborate on the specifics of my company's finances, beyond to express-as a ranking manager-my surprise at the costs incurred weighed against common indicators a bit more relevant to a wide audience such as HN.