Imagine you’re the marketing lead at a small company and you’re gearing up to launch a product, service, or even the company. One morning, the CEO informs you,

“The marketing budget is now $0, and we will figure out a way to get to market.”

That’s one of 6 things that CEOs of small companies and start-ups should be saying to their employees this year, according to Guy Kawasaki.

Guy’s advice speaks to the heart of what’s been going on in tech marketing lately. We’re seeing some changes in C-level thinking about marketing spend. It’s not the usual knee-jerk reaction to a tech recession, such hacking away at marketing budgets and staffs. It even goes beyond the dreaded zero-based budgeting maneuver.

Company leaders are looking for entirely fresh thinking. They want more effective programs for generating sales leads or reducing cost of sales.

In the article, Guy points directly to using social media to get to market. There’s much merit in that.

I would add that it’s vital to start by identifying the people making and influencing purchase decisions. Then use social media to the extent that it makes sense as a way to engage with them.

Otherwise, you run the risk of using social media as a trendy replacement for traditional mass communications.

And that won’t deliver a good return… not even on a $0 marketing budget.