The Daily Carnage

The “toothpick rule” was born thanks to politics. To cut down on bribing, meals were banned for lobbying discussions. An exception was made for “food that you have to eat standing up using a toothpick.”

So now, officials have to be primed with finger foods and more convincing conversation than a prime rib and rare vintage. The goal was to reduce lobbyist influence on politicians. Did it get the job done? Not entirely. But it’s a step forward towards that larger goal.

So what does the toothpick rule have to do with marketing measurement? It’s about starting small. Let’s paint a little picture for you here…

The Problem: Fear of imperfection

Too many companies get lost in the sauce when it comes to developing a strategy or product or organizing their own data. They want everything to be perfect and they don’t move forward until it is.

On the road to perfection, their actual goal is lost.

The Solution: Focus on small improvements

To avoid getting analysis paralysis, seek progress, not perfection. Take smaller iterations towards the big picture. This is where it can pay off to be scrappy or take risks as well.

Is an imperfect step less attractive, less transformative, and less exciting? Yeah, but the truth is that large, sweeping fixes are hard to come by. It’s more productive to focus on what you can do each day to make your marketing practices slightly better. Then watch them add up.

Check out the full exerpt from Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts on Think with Google’s blog for example on small changes you can make in your marketing. This includes small tweaks to your personalization, surveys, spending.

How can you persuade hesitant stakeholders to embrace modern marketing, such as TikTok or influencer marketing? Well, as a marketer, you know how to research an audience and understand how to speak their language. That’s the same approach you need to take here. Every situation is unique, but here are some principles to help:

• Observe, ask Qs, and listen. The credibility of your advice suffers in the absence of empathetic listening. Get to the bottom of the objectives already at play, and the perceived risks of new methods.
• Help them understand media consumption. Someone with an old-fashioned approach to marketing often has an old-fashioned approach to media consumption. Since many wrongly assume that everyone consumes media the way that they do, you have to demonstrate different consumer behaviors.
• Reason by analogy. Analogies are the bridge between what a person already knows and what they need to know. To give you a shared point of reference to start from, educate yourself about their current methods and marketing vocabulary.
• Be prepared to provide proof. What’s new seems risky until proven otherwise. Gather hard data regarding the media consumption of their target audience, surveys from their own audience, visuals like slide decks, or anecdotal customer success stories.
• Build confidence in the team and process. Effective leaders know they don’t need to understand every nuance of a new platform if they know a team implementing it can get results. Build trust by demonstrating expertise from team members.
• Help them learn from past success. Help stakeholders connect the dots from the success that came from adapting in the past to the success that can result from adapting in the present. The pandemic especially has been a lesson in the need to adapt.
• Connect them with helpful resources. The internet is an endless resource of video, audio, and written content. Point them in the direction of accurate information that will demystify modern marketing methods.

Check out the full post from Carney’s blog to equip yourself with all of the right questions and approaches. Need help to back up your efforts? Hit up the Carney team to discuss your upcoming projects and goals.