Marketing, is it an art or a science ? MBA programs try and teach marketing with spreadsheets but it’s hard to quantify consumer purchase behavior because there really isn’t any one rational reason that consumers choose certain brands. What I have also seen in my experience is that a lot of marketing people are really good at piling it on. There are very few really great marketing people because most of them are more interested in their title or getting their names in the press than they are in moving brands forward.
Sure there are some really good marketing people out there but the ration of good marketers to bad marketers maybe as high as 1:9. That’s right only 10% of marketers are really good at what they do. These are the people whose names you never see in articles but they are responsible for some great things. Here are some secrets that marketers know but rarely, if ever, talk about..
1ne: It’s about me and my ego
Be very wary of marketers who strive to get their names in the press via your PR people or press agency people to submit their names for marketing awards. They are more interested in title and have their sites set on bigger things than making your brand succeed.
2wo: Even if you succeed there is always room for improvement and feedback
Everyone should critique every marketing and branding initiative and ask “what did we learn ?” and “how can we build on what we just accomplished ?” .
3hree: I love having power over my agencies and when I visit them I expect to be wined and dined.
They expect agencies to treat them like kings even though they may not know what the hell they are doing. They also expect agencies to submit their names for awards to stroke their ego’s.
4our: There are too many people with big titles.
Look on LinkedIn and see how many people have titles like SVP or EVP as compared to just being a plane Director. Title doesn’t matter we all have to roll up our sleeves and get the work done.
5ive: As much as 50% of my marketing budget is for non-essential stuff that doesn’t drive conversion.
“We do a customer rewards program because..well because we have always done it. We’re on social media because we need to be on social media” Our agency is charging us high 6 figures for social media and we’re spending a lot of money on search and have no idea if we could spend less and get the same results”
6ix: It’s better to throw a lot if mud against the fan and hope some sticks rather than learn more about our customers.
You should have a complete psychographic and demographic profile of your customer and it should be updated on a regular basis.
7even: I prefer soft metrics rather than hard metrics.
“Our campaign had a reach of…and X% of consumers are aware of our brand”. Yeah but what the hell good is it that if your products aren’t selling ?
8ight: I can’t keep up with all the changes in the marketplace.
It’s your job to keep up and you’re supposed to help management separate the real opportunities from the BS. Marketing today is a 24/7/365 day job because consumers are changing how they shop for products.
9ine: I don’t expect to stay with my current company long.
CMO’s average less than 24 months in their jobs and always are networking for that next job where the world revolves around them.
10en: I know it all and don’t have time to teach everyone about marketing.
The reason the CMO of GM was given the boot was because he didn’t generate buy-in from senior executives and as this they saw him as someone who felt he was above them. The biggest mistake any marketer can make is not teaching others the value of marketing and generating buy-in before doing things. Always reach out to company influencers to win them over.
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