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It’s Only Common Sense: Marketing Isn’t Fluff, It’s Ammunition

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard someone dismiss marketing as “fluff.” You know the tone: a little smirk, a little condescension, and the implication that “real companies” don’t need marketing. They say, “We make a great product. Our work speaks for itself.”

No, it doesn’t. Not anymore. Maybe your reputation could carry you 30 years ago, when competition was thinner, supply chains were local, and the same three buyers made every decision. But not in today’s global, hyper-competitive market, where your customers are drowning in options, noise, and price pressure. If you think your work speaks for itself, you’re on your way to the morgue.

Many PCB company owners treat marketing as fluff or a necessary evil. I cannot understand how people who are so smart can be so dumb in sales and marketing. You can buy all the cool equipment, build the best things, but what good will it do if nobody knows who you are? Stop and think: if people can’t find you, you won’t win customers, and you will fail. Marketing isn’t optional; it’s survival fuel.

When times are tight, most companies cut marketing first. That’s like deciding to save gas by ripping the fuel line out of your car. When orders are slow, the competition is eating your lunch, and buyers don’t return your calls, that’s when you need more marketing, not less. You don’t starve yourself when you’re running a marathon; you load up. Marketing keeps your pipeline alive.

Companies that succeed in downturns double down on visibility when everyone else goes silent. The weak cut their voices, while the strong make theirs louder. Which one do you think customers remember when the dust settles?

I’ve worked with some fantastic companies with excellent technology, engineering, and boards, and they’re going broke. Why? Because nobody knows they exist. Here’s the truth: quality is table stakes. Everyone claims it. Everyone has a certificate on the wall. If your strategy is, “We’ll be the best-kept secret in the industry,” congratulations, you’ll remain a secret until the bankruptcy auction.

You can have the best on-time delivery, the tightest tolerances, and the cleanest shop floor, but if your prospects never hear from you, they’ll send their RFQs to the loud guy down the road who’s in their inbox every week.

I’ve seen tiny companies outpace giants because they market boldly. They look 10 times bigger than they are. They act like leaders before they are, and soon they become leaders. That’s the magic of marketing: perception becomes momentum, and momentum becomes growth.

You don’t need to be the biggest company or have the deepest pockets. But you need to be visible, consistent, and unapologetic about telling your story. Customers can’t buy from you if they don’t think of you first. Out-market your size, and the business will follow.

Most people don’t realize that marketing isn’t only about awareness; it’s about trust. When you show up regularly in trade publications, your logo pops up on LinkedIn, prospects see your name in newsletters, and your technical articles teach them something useful, you become familiar, and familiarity breeds trust. By the time you finally call that buyer or meet that engineer at a trade show, you’re not a stranger. You’re the company they’ve been seeing everywhere. They feel like they know you. You’re pre-sold. Marketing softens the ground so your sales team can land.

Let’s end with the simplest truth: marketing is sales on a loudspeaker. Sales is one-to-one. Marketing is one-to-many. When you send a rep to knock on doors, you reach 10 people. When you publish the right column, post the right video, or run the right campaign, you reach 10,000. Why wouldn’t you want that leverage? Marketing makes every sales call easier, pitches more credible, and closing deals more likely. Remember:

Marketing isn’t fluff; it’s ammunition.

It’s how you arm your sales team to win battles before they walk into the room.

It’s how you punch above your weight in a noisy market.

It’s how you stop being invisible.

And it’s how you survive when weaker companies retreat into silence.

You wouldn’t send your people to war without ammunition. Why are you sending your sales team into the field without marketing?

Finally, and for the 1,000th time, marketing is sales on a loudspeaker. Turn it up, or get drowned out. It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.