The primary benefit of internal marketing isn't just self-promotion; it's making the marketing team a visible and approachable destination for ideas from across the company. The best campaign concepts often originate from unexpected sources like SDRs or engineers who, because of internal hype, know who to share their insights with.
Involve people from outside the marketing team and across different demographics (e.g., Gen Z) in the content ideation process. Their diverse perspectives and awareness of different trends can surface novel ideas that marketing-focused teams might otherwise overlook.
For a new product, don't choose between targeting executives or end-users; do both simultaneously. While mapping the C-suite (top-down), engage lower-level employees to gather intel and build internal champions (bottom-up). This dual approach creates pressure and relevance from both directions.
To keep growth aligned with product, foster a shared culture where everyone loves the product and customer. This isn't about formal meetings, but a baseline agreement that makes collaboration inherent. When this culture exists, the product team actively seeks marketing's input, creating a unified engine.
There is a direct correlation between a marketer's genuine excitement for a campaign and its eventual performance. Passion leads to higher quality execution, more interesting ideas, and authenticity that resonates with the market. Teams that are just “punching a clock” will produce mediocre work that fails to break through the noise.
Instead of waiting for top-down alignment, salespeople should take the initiative to bridge the gap with marketing. The most effective way to do this is by bringing marketing team members onto actual sales calls. This direct exposure to customer interactions is the fastest way to ensure marketing creates relevant and effective support materials.
Coming from product, Wiz's CMO sees marketing as liberatingly low-risk. A bad product feature creates permanent technical debt and maintenance costs. In contrast, a failed marketing campaign can be stopped instantly with no lasting negative impact, which encourages creative and unconventional experiments.
Encourage team members, not just founders or marketers, to build their personal brands by publicly sharing their learnings and journey. This creates an organic, multi-pronged distribution engine that attracts customers, top talent, and investors. It's a highly underrated and cost-effective go-to-market strategy.
Leaders who use public platforms to specifically name and praise behind-the-scenes contributors build a stronger, more motivated team. This public acknowledgment demonstrates that all roles are integral and valued, fostering a culture where people feel seen and are motivated to contribute at a high level.
Instead of just simplifying ideas, focus on making them highly repeatable and shareable, like a meme. This involves distilling a concept into a single, evocative phrase or visual that people will want to reuse, ensuring the core message propagates organically through an organization.
The viral "Spotify Wrapped" campaign began as an intern's idea before becoming a massive success that competitors like Apple and YouTube have since copied. Its history is a powerful lesson in corporate innovation, showing that company-defining marketing strategies can emerge from any level of an organization, not just from senior leadership.