In this article, you will discover some of the fundamental reasons why, and how to avoid these common pitfalls.
CEOs are losing trust in marketers because they cannot consistently show the fruit of their strategies, activities, and campaigns in the boardroom. The prevailing focus among marketers is that of short-term campaign results. However, the results of these campaigns are usually insufficient to justify the amount spent on the campaign.
Furthermore, the goals of too many marketing communication strategies are still poorly defined, nor are they measured using metrics that really matter. Make sure your goals are aligned with the business' over-arching goals - and don't take vanity metrics such as new followers on Twitter or Likes on Facebook too seriously.
The dearth of new ideas in the advertising industry is nothing new. The practice of "lifting" ideas from competing brands continues to flourish; just look at all the fuss about which washing powder is better with "just one wash". Not only does this stifle creativity in the industry, but it also perpetuates the misconception that marketing teams are more concerned with brand "fluff", than the impact their role has on the bottom-line of the business.
Marketers need to understand that brand differentiation is the key to sustainability in an economic crunch. Brand awareness does not translate into winning mind-share and/or customer acquisition. The marketplace is only getting more competitive, so focus on your brand's one BIG thing; it's "unfair advantage"; it's "cool-factor".
Taking jabs at the competitor is a losing battle, but positioning yourself ahead of the competition is how to win customers - and your boss' respect.
In a recent article by Chris Moerdyk, he surmised that as much as 40% of marketing budgets amount to nil, especially in larger organisations. I can wholly agree with that estimate, and a large amount of that wastage comes from media inefficiencies.
Marketers still follow a shotgun approach. Here is an excerpt of the usual internal dialogue of a marketer when media is considered: "We'll buy a whole lot of space on TV, radio, outdoor and print. This way, the customer is bound to see the advert and take action. My CEO will also see the advert, be overcome with a warm fuzzy feeling, and stay off my case. AND we get discounts! My work here is done, it's time for coffee."
Wrong. Buying media in bulk does work in favour of price, and your CEO will see the advert, but it has greater disadvantages. Remember when the Dove advert about re-defining woman's beauty came out? It's a great advert! The problem: it played ad nauseum ... PVR is a wonderful thing, so is the next channel on the radio. We're programmed to tune out and kill the noise. And technology is helping us do this - you need to tap into that.
It is time to start "buying customers", not space. A wealth of data on your customer base exists at your fingertips. Want to know what people REALLY think of your advert/campaign/deal? Open up Twitter or Radian 6. It's time to start extrapolating meaning from all this data, and using it to reach potential customers in a way that builds affinity and closes the sales cycle.
How does your brand's message translate across the customer's journey at any given touchpoint? If you are only concerned with the 4P's, you need to look deeper. What about customer satisfaction, the total cost of ownership, convenience, internal equity?
Never forget that any incongruence between your brand's promise and the customer's experience will only serve to hurt the brand. But this is where customer care comes into its own. The customer will invariably complain on social networks, and then you have a chance to win them over with personal attention to their needs, bring down your cost of customer retention, and re-affirm your businesses core values.
This topic can form a two-page post in its own right, so it will be left out of this discussion. Suffice to say that most marketers come from a traditional media background, so there is a misunderstanding, and often fear, of digital.
Owned channels such as social, web and mobi present the greatest marketing opportunities this side of the millennium. The problem is that these channels are often only an after-thought, and fall by the wayside, being forced to run with inadequate resources.
Now, fellow marketers, take this advice and show your CEO why your seat in the boardroom is there to stay!
