On Marketing, On Our Team

As you read this letter, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the purpose of marketing?
• What do you bring to this team?

Part I: On Marketing

Last month in San Diego, I was asked how I think about our team and what we do, since it is different. (I’ll share the answer I gave later in the letter.)

Marketing has always been a little weird and different here at Apptegy. Today’s letter is about how we can keep it weird while also getting clear about the purpose of marketing.

Generally, marketing is about making sales easier. That should be true of all marketing teams.

What makes sales easier?

• Getting and keeping attention
• Establishing trust and credibility
• Making the complex simple and accessible:
  • Ideas, brand, product, features
  • Communicating an idea or strategy to many
  • Giving words and perspective to what people know but can’t quite articulate
• Persuading someone to take action

At Apptegy, Sales does some of the above. Marketing, however, uniquely makes it easier for Sales to start and hold a conversation with the entire K-12 market, namely superintendents and communications directors.

For me and for our team, I believe we couldn’t do what we do if we weren’t in K-12. “Making sales easier” at Nabisco or Walmart doesn’t hit the same way as establishing a dialogue with school leaders. We uniquely inspire and equip our audience with the THINKING and DOING that can make a difference in their work—whether that’s before or after they talk to Sales. And whether school leaders buy our products or not, we as a Marketing team, serve and help them. That’s precisely what’s made our team so effective.

Back to the question I was asked in San Diego. Our work and marketing activities are quite different, so, “How do we think about what we do and if it’s effective or not?”

I returned the question with another question, “Why would someone engage with your company if they thought they didn’t need your product?” Within that question is the je ne sais quoi or secret sauce to what we do so well: Marketing makes it worthwhile for any school leader to engage with Apptegy, regardless of their needs or certainty about what we do (or don’t) offer.

There are only a handful of companies I would engage with based purely on their reputation and what they put out. I’d take a call with them any time even if I didn’t want their product. Why? Because of how they think and what I’ve already learned from them, or because their work is something I want to model my own work after. As a team, we are a significant part of making that possible for Apptegy.

Part II: On Our Team

As our team changes and grows, it’s worth remembering the why behind your work. A few months ago, we identified our team’s values:

1. Creativity: Problem Solving / New ways of looking at things
2. Intentionality: Doing our work with purpose for someone
3. Accountability: Carrying our work through to the end

With the conference and a new magazine behind us, now is the time to use those values in our decision making, in individual work, and in teamwork.

This week, I’m going to walk us through how we’re going to structure our team in a way that lets us 1) be more effective, 2) hold each other accountable to our values, and 3) expand on the foundation we’ve built to go higher, faster.

The more our team leans into one another and builds conduits into one another’s work, the better we get. How can we be more dynamic team players in Q4 and in 2025? It is tempting to focus only on the work you are responsible for. In my experience, the best work comes from bringing different ideas, skillsets, and people together in new ways. How can your skills benefit others within Marketing and Apptegy as a whole?

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Before that conversation, I wanted to share some thoughts and observations about our team. First, some disclaimers. This is in alphabetical order and it’s also reductive. There’s more to each of you than what you’ll read below. Finally, you likely already know all this about yourself. My hope is that you feel encouraged after reading this and can see your colleagues’ strengths more clearly.

Alex: Creative. Not just visually but in the way you do your work. You’re a learner who enjoys a good challenge—whether that’s in a game, a design, or code. I’m amazed that you are as open to new ways of working (see A.I.) even though your core work is one of the oldest ways of communicating ideas: visual art. At its most basic level, your work quite literally invites others to discover ideas that will change how they lead and educate. It also pays homage to the work of your colleagues.

Barrett: Diligent. You’re known for thoughtfulness. What I see and experience every week is your diligence. You’re intentional and accountable for your work. It’s an imperfect analogy, but in many ways, you’re the mechanic of marketing. You make sure the bolts are tight, the engine sounds right, and that wherever we’re going we have what we need for the journey. Your consistency and constant effort allow the rest of us to do our work well and make it reach the right people.

Brittany: Dynamic. From work to your personal life, you’re able to handle, manage, and glide through change unlike anyone else I’ve worked with. You’ve been dealt some wild cards over the last 18 months. Despite that, you’ve taken on new challenges, empowered many on the team to do more, and seen what’s possible in the short and the long term as a team. Your creative solutions to challenges and your intentionality with everyone who interacts with you are front and center in all of your work.

Eileen: Incisive. Although we haven’t worked together as much, it’s clear that you’re able to cut to the chase and get to the point which is refreshing. You are perceptive. Even in your interviews, you were aligned with the team’s work. From editing to podcasts to conversations, you’re able to zero in on the real point, the real thing that needs to be said. That ability is a huge value add, and you’ve added value faster than most people.

Heather: Strategic. You are focused on the purpose of the work. You bring conversations and tasks back from the clouds of ideas to the ground of doing. At your best, you challenge and push yourself and others. You say what others worry about saying. You’ve challenged me time and again, and I’m so grateful that we didn’t lose that voice to San Antonio.

Marie: Perceptive. I nearly picked empathetic because you are so gifted with people. I chose Perceptive because I believe your empathy is rooted in the ability to see people and opportunities in a way that others don’t. From your poetry to your prose, you give voice to others’ experiences. Our conversations are often a highlight for me and help me perceive the real why of our work.

Marisol: Intuitive. For someone who creates visual work, you’re an exceptional listener. You really listen. Your ability to intuit and understand what someone needs, what changes should be made, or what you’re creating comes from empathic listening. You’ve done a phenomenal job working with different personalities in your time here, all of whom quickly trusted you because they felt and knew that you wanted to create something for them. And, you’ve stayed true to your own design and intuition.

Melissa: Empowering. You make others more effective in their work by making it clear what the end goal is and the path to get there. We’ve said it a hundred times, but it still bears repeating: The magazine was transformed when you became editor. The operationalization of the magazine makes it possible to deliver on our brand promise and do it in a way that respects the time and efforts of our team.

Ryan: Visionary. You’re able to take the vaguest and ugliest description of an idea and turn it into something that gives people goosebumps. I am constantly amazed by your ability to do that. You can see what someone’s intent is and you can create a literal vision. You’re a great thought partner and willing to balance your creative instincts with the limitations of time and team.

Tanner: Efficient. Your roots before Apptegy and early work at Apptegy have given you a unique ability to be creative and highly efficient. You’ve handled change time and time again, and throughout it, at your best, you see the goal and drive hard towards it. Whether it’s an ambiguous project or a repetitive task involving many rows in a spreadsheet. You thrive when you have clarity in your work and believe in your ability to get it done.

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Without making this letter longer than it already is, spend some time writing and thinking about:

a) what you perceive the value of Marketing to be and, b) what you bring to the table and to the team.

Come prepared with three thoughts or observations for both.

I’m looking forward to meeting as a team and talking about what’s ahead for us.