Marketing looks very different now than it did as few as five years ago.\u00a0 And yet most still approach developing strategies from the viewpoints they always knew.\u00a0 They develop for push, when in reality\u00a0pull strategies\u00a0are more effective and even scalable.<\/p>\n
Approaches designed to take advantage of a connected society have allowed some brands and personalities to achieve\u00a0strong growth. \u00a0 However there exists a deeper problem:\u00a0 literally every marketing and communications company\/consultant claims to be able to produce digital marketing results.\u00a0 And\u00a0very<\/strong>\u00a0few actually succeed.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n OK \u2013 those are pretty general.\u00a0 What are some of the specific problems I see most?<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0 Lack of understanding what image they are trying to project<\/strong><\/p>\n You need to understand this from the start and have a style behind the image, along with substance to back it up.\u00a0 It also needs to resonate with key audiences.\u00a0 Most are not consciously sculpting how they are perceived or creating any reason they should get noticed in the first place.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 No path to acquire and grow an audience<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not enough to figure out ways to gain attention from random people for fleeting moments.\u00a0 You need to find a way to market to target groups consistently over time.\u00a0 And the tactics used should be compelling enough not just to attract an audience, but inspire the audience to grow itself.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 No cohesion of content Lack of consistent voice\/personality behind content will never allow you to build cohesion and have your ideas\/perspective reach critical mass.\u00a0 You need this in order to\u00a0condition others to share\u00a0your ideas.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 Placating executives by executing their bad ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n If this is happening to you \u2013 stop, now.\u00a0 No one wins when you\u2019re creating things merely because someone up top is forcing down a one off idea here-and-there they feel might work (especially if they have limited\u00a0 experience with digital marketing).\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t play into the strategy, it doesn\u2019t matter who it comes from.\u00a0 If you see this happening put a stop to it.\u00a0 No one wins when resources are drawn away from a winning path to placate bad ideas of the king.\u00a0 If the emperor has no clothes, say it \u2013 if you\u2019re that valued you\u2019ll be respected for it.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 Having to dumb things things down for the team<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have to consistently do this, you need a new team.\u00a0 There are far too many others fluent enough in modern marketing strategies, it\u2019s unnecessary to waste time doing this.\u00a0 If you have to dial down ideas for internal comprehension, it means your competition is already running circles around you.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0 Living and dying by data<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve had more than enough ideas be successful without data behind them to know that you don\u2019t always need it.\u00a0 In fact, if you develop an area where your team is free to\u00a0experiment, you may find the results there to be\u00a0even more<\/em>\u00a0effective than if your decisions are driven purely by data and not creativity.\u00a0 Let data guide your decisions and create a framework but never let it get in the way of a great idea by someone,\u00a0especially<\/em>\u00a0if that person is tapped into the niche\/market base.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0 Trying to reach the wrong group You want to reach a certain group \u2013 great.\u00a0 But in some cases (mostly B2B, but some B2C) the group you want to influence is too shielded to reach in any kind of efficient way.\u00a0 There is another path.\u00a0 Find a different audience that is more accessible and a proxy to your target.\u00a0 Going through them may be more effective and forge greater\u00a0trust\u00a0than trying to reach the end target directly.<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0 Misunderstanding the importance of content<\/strong><\/p>\n It kills me to see companies removing perfectly good\/resourceful content from their web properties that has attracted links, buzz and attention in the past.\u00a0 Yet it happens daily.\u00a0 So many businesses don\u2019t understand the importance of organically growing out digital archives of content over time \u2013 it benefits both\u00a0search and social.\u00a0 Additionally, looking at the content produced by most, the first thing I notice is a lack of\u00a0fresh thinking.\u00a0 This shows the value of content is underestimated or misunderstood.<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 No plan to actually reach anyone in the first place If you built it, they will come is a flawed approach to marketing.\u00a0 And yet I still see examples of this frequently.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have a consistent plan to reach people and tactics to execute on this daily how do you expect to be found?<\/p>\n 10.\u00a0 No difference from others<\/strong><\/p>\n The importance of\u00a0accentuating your differentiation point\u00a0can\u2019t be overstated.\u00a0 Uncover something to stand out and then don\u2019t be afraid to drive that point home consistently.\u00a0 Building a brand is tough, but you make it impossible if you can\u2019t be different enough to get tagged to something that is all your own.<\/p>\n 11.\u00a0 No forming of relationships\/alliances<\/strong><\/p>\n Digital alliances are an underused element in marketing.\u00a0 So many opportunities to work and grow together remain untapped.\u00a0 Bring alliances\/relationships\u00a0into your strategy \u2013 especially if you\u2019re small and agile \u2013 and you can encourage mutual growth.<\/p>\n 12.\u00a0 Lack of influencers on your team<\/strong><\/p>\n There is an\u00a0inequality of influence\u00a0on the web held by a minority.\u00a0 To ignore this divide in\u00a0digital influence\u00a0is like sticking your head in the sand.\u00a0 You need influencers on your team, they have their finger on the pulse of web culture\/trends and will be able to position you as appealing to others.<\/p>\n This is a shortlist of problems companies\/agencies face and definitely not inclusive.\u00a0 What else do you notice?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marketing looks very different now than it did as few as five years ago.\u00a0 And yet most still approach developing … <\/p>\n\n
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