I attended a conference in San Francisco last week called InfluenceHR. The reason for the conference was to put marketers of HR technology software in a room for a day to discuss tactics, trends, and insights from people who make HR software purchasing decisions at companies. There were folks from big and small businesses. I think Kin may have been the smallest.
The speakers were great. I heard Mark Organ, Josh Bersin, HireVue’s Josh Schwede, and Susan Strayer LaMotte share their respective strategies for product development, market trends, sale psychology, market and developing channel partners. The audience was filled with well-informed, sharp minds able not only to hold a candle to the speakers, but to challenge and expand upon their premises.
Whose needs are we talking about?
Yet I felt alone. Alone because I hoped to hear from actual companies and what they actually _need_ to create a better workplace for their employees. I felt alone because I didn’t have MBA credentials and a marketing team to slip out of my holster and show to the crowd. I was hoping that in all of the marketing, there’d be a kernel of interest for doing what’s right for employees and, in turn, for businesses. A quaint and midwestern notion, perhaps.
The wrong problem set
Then I felt proud. I felt proud because I sat in a room full of HR technology vendors who weren’t discussing the right problems in my opinion. I felt proud because in my Kin outreach I’ve heard stories from dozens of companies just like ours who need, yearn, and seek simple help. I felt proud because after feeling alone for the day I realized, shit, I have what few others in this room have: a small, proud business and a common language with our audience.
Passion as Craft
I recognize that marketing is the science of the sale. And ohhh man is it a science. The audience at this conference was interested in the experiments, the data, and the patterns from the field. But what I don’t recognize is any evidence that engineered principles and stealthy methods of crawling into a consumer’s mind trumps this: passion, authenticity, and ownership.
I walked away from this conference with what I believe is the real truth about marketing: A consumer will sniff out a liar from half way around the world. Authenticity, passion, and ownership are the true flagship qualities of good marketing.
The speakers I listened to on Monday knew this. They expelled upon it. They yelled it out. And amidst the audiences questions, discussions, and yearnings for technique, data, and instruction, I had nothing to add.
A level playing field
We need marketing tools and tactics at Kin. We’re competing against some seriously sophisticated cats. But what I have to remember is that they’re just tools. Open and available tools that pretty much everyone is using. The distinction is in the message and the drive. If we get our authentic and passionate message out there, we’ll do just fine. If we persevere and connect on a human level, we’ll do just fine.
Kin. Made by small, for small.
Small companies need help being better workplaces. They know it hurts and much of the time they don’t know why. We’re building a simple, intuitive hr solution for the most common operational problems small companies endure. It’s not a science. It’s not enterprise. It’s not a miracle. It’s an uncomplicated way to improve the employer/employee experience. It’s a tool which can be put to use immediately. It’s a tool which will help thousands of companies be more efficient and transparent workplaces for their people.