Why It’s Essential to Put Strategy Before Tactics
Marketers often think that strategy and tactics go hand-in-hand, but we know that doesn’t amount to very solid marketing strategy. It’s easy to get caught up in shiny new tools and tactics—especially when you Google “marketing strategies” and the search engine brings up 15 sources that are nothing but tactics.
Today’s Listen is here to change that mindset with ways to build a strong strategic foundation first and foremost. And let’s not forget, “The greatest source of lead generation is a happy customer.”
- (01:00) What marketing strategy is and what it is not
- (02:20) How to build a strategic foundation first
- (02:25) Understanding your ideal client
- (02:48) What it means to have a “brand promise”
- (03:15) Why it’s crucial to build supporting identity elements after you establish your core message.
- (03:40) How you’re going to guide the customer journey – “not our job to corral or create demand but to be around and organize the behavior that the buyer actually wants to participate in”
- (06:00) How to map out your most profitable clients and what characteristics they have
- (06:40) Clients are often profitable because they had the right problem
- (07:00) You get to choose your clients, but not unless you don’t know who they are
- (07:50) Why you shouldn’t pick clients because you can, but pick clients because they’re good fits
- (08:20) Why nobody wants what you sell
- (10:10) The value of Google reviews
- (11:45) Content as the voice of strategy
- (12:35) Why content is so nurturing
- (13:00) Once you start producing content, use it as a referral tool
- (14:15) The idea behind the “marketing hourglass”
- (16:00) Why marketing doesn’t end with “Yes, I want to buy.”
More insights inside →
Read
How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge
Sometimes being a marketer is like trying to steer a battleship with a spatula. You know where you need to get, but the stakeholders at your company, or a client’s company, just won’t move the ship in that direction.
It’s dang frustrating. You’ve pitched something amazing to your boss, but you’re just met with blank stares. Then they say, “Interesting idea, but instead of $1,000 to do that, we’ll give you $10 to test it out.”
You know that’s never gonna work. So how do you make change happen when you’re truly not in charge? According to today’s Read, you have to establish frictionless clarity.
Here’s how to do that:
- Clearly define a tactic. Saying something like, “we must invest in content” is too vague. Stakeholders don’t understand that. They don’t understand how much, or how little, effort is involved. Instead, try saying, “we should hire a professional editor to manage content production.” That’s something a stakeholder can write down and plan for.
- Explain a relevant benefit of executing the tactic. Saying, “we’ll improve engagement,” means nothing to your boss. Translate engagement into a real business goal. Explain how more engagement means more social media traffic, and then detail exactly how much of that traffic turns into customers.
- Show that inaction has a clear downside. “We are losing share-of-voice and will continue to do so if we don’t increase visibility. That will continue to hurt search rankings and brand strength, which will hurt revenue,” explains how dangerous inaction is.
Okay, we’ve got clarity figured out. Here are a few more steps to actually make it all work:
- Have the answers at your fingertips. Fast responses to relevant questions reduce friction.
- Maintain a consistent narrative. Don’t contradict yourself.
- Don’t beat a dead horse. If it’s clear the stakeholder won’t buy in, just move on.
There is still so, so much more in today’s Read.
Fishy Business
If you’ve ever played Pictionary, you know it’s way more fun when you get the answer wrong. More laughs are had when someone is trying to draw a bicycle, and his/her teammates are yelling out, “PALM TREE! LAMP! ROLLERSKATES!”
A new ad campaign from Pictionary plays off of people getting it wrong by showing them living with their wrong guesses. For today’s Watch, we’ve got a guy wearing a fish as a necktie. The ad puts him in everyday situations—eating lunch, giving a presentation, at a party—while wearing the fish. Pretty safe to say that a necktie and a fish aren’t very similar, but when you’re in the heat of Pictionary, you never know what guesses you’re going to throw out there.
The ad finishes with the new tagline: Fun when you get it. More fun when you don’t. Something we wholeheartedly agree with.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
Dr. Suess
